Happy to see this thread back up in the top 10.

I like that mottled scheme as well.

Ohhhh, I like the mottled OD green and black camo. That looks sharp! 

I also like that giant B&W elephant insignia on the decal sheet. And the white ones- can't tell what they are- a cockatoo and a dragon? I may have to build some AVRN armour- that's pretty friggin' wicked! 

Wow, has it been 3 months already?  Time flies when you are old!  Anyway, I have been faffing around with other random projects as my whim sees fit, when some AVRN aftermarket decals showed up:

I am unfamiliar with the maker, and registration of the yellow bars are questionable.  But this scheme caught my fancy:

It has an interesting striped camouflage and an ACAV shield for the commander's 50 cal.  And I had a spare Eduard M551 Sheridan PE set in the M41's box, so:

But now the replacement 50 cal from Academy is looking lousier the more I look at it.  Maybe I can find another kit with a better gun.  The donor kit would then get a Tasca gun.

Well, my friend looks super Japanese and is fluent in the language, so no barriers there.  He's a Gunpla modeler recently turned Tamiya convert and is ga-ga over their 1/48 armor line.  His enthusiasm shows and he has a likable personality.

Lucky bum.  

I should paint his M41 pink and paste "itasha" girly decals all over it...  Naw, that would violate my programming and force a CPU shutdown.

Real G

The model I am building, when complete, will be handed to it’s owner when he returns from Japan - if he returns at all!

He’s having too much fun over there.  He ran into Mr. Tamiya while visiting the factory in Shizuoka, got to chat with him and got a full tour of the facilities.  On top of that, he ran into Mr. “T” again at the All Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo and got invited to lunch!  OMG, I am not a jealous kind of guy, but man I am JEALOUS.

Anyway, I mentioned to him that Mr. “T” has two daughters...

 

Oh wow MISTER TAMIYA himself!!! I'd be more jazzed over that than any Hollywood superstar! 

Yes, I am a geek... 

The model I am building, when complete, will be handed to it’s owner when he returns from Japan - if he returns at all!

He’s having too much fun over there.  He ran into Mr. Tamiya while visiting the factory in Shizuoka, got to chat with him and got a full tour of the facilities.  On top of that, he ran into Mr. “T” again at the All Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo and got invited to lunch!  OMG, I am not a jealous kind of guy, but man I am JEALOUS.

Anyway, I mentioned to him that Mr. “T” has two daughters...

Real G

Thanks Gamera!

Here are pics of a Tamiya M41 that Hawaii AMPS prez William Florig built for our display at the Aloha Great Guns Show over this past weekend.  It's OOTB, no ifs ands or buts.

Good thing he finished his, since I didn't finish mine!  

 

Oh WOW, that looks sharp! 

Coming along nicely. Amazing what you can do with an old kit. 

Well;

   " Tanks to You" I will dig one out of my box of Doom for Armor and finish one.

That is definitely OOB. But I do like the worn and faded look he gave it. 

Thanks Gamera!

Here are pics of a Tamiya M41 that Hawaii AMPS prez William Florig built for our display at the Aloha Great Guns Show over this past weekend.  It's OOTB, no ifs ands or buts.

Good thing he finished his, since I didn't finish mine!  

Looks good, really like the periscope guard. 

Oops, that was Rob that posted the photo of the tool box - sorry Mike!

Oh wait, it's ALL you guys' fault!    Ha ha!

I won't tell a soul! I too work in approximations and I'm not always on the mark with scale. Just what looks right.

So I caved to peer pressure!    I shaved off the ribs and started over using Mike's photo as a reference.

I dove into the internet to have a look at the opposite side's pattern.  Two photos in, there was a nice clear left side view which showed the ribs perpendicular to the slanted top of the tool box.  The redo was not for naught, as I had incorrectly guessed the pattern.

It's all loosey-goosey, eyeball guesstimated approximations, so apologies if I didn't get it exactly right!

I also added a guard to the loader's periscope, using the kit box art as a guide.  The plastic from the kit was brittle, so the stretched sprue immediately broke when bent.  I used a stick of incense (the skinny kind for altars, not the huge fruity scented hippie kind) to carefully heat the areas to be bent.  Now I know from firsthand observation of this type of guard that the ends are bent flat, turned inwards and attached to the hull, but I went the lazy way and just drilled holes and stuck them in.

The guard is too thick and probably not the right height, so shhhh....

Looking good. That ribbing shouldn't be that hard to shave off. 

Looks good! 

And it shouldn't be too hard to shave off the ribbing. 

Too late bro, the AMS has already kicked in.  I’ll redo it tonight.

Real G

Awww Rob, you gonna make me do it?

 

Awww Rob, you gonna make me do it?

It wouldn't bee too hard to fix; shave off and reapply.

I love this thread, real modeling! I used stretched sprue to do the stiffener ribs on mine, and did the same thing, copied the box art and slanted them. I'm okay though.

Well,Gawly!

    If'n that ain't the cool Beans. I love it when that happens. Would you like to come look for a 1/96 " Banana " antennae I lost? Naw , looking good ! T.B.

Ha ha, too late!    The glue is already dry!  I’m going to overlook that mistake as part of my un-AMS therapy.

Onwards, onwards, to the mantlet cover!

Those ribs on the forward box need to be vertical and not on a slant. That artwork is misleading.

Gamera,

Yeah, that old rule about a lost part turning up only after a replacement is sourced or fabricated holds true once again.  I'll be darned; I tore my work area apart leaving nothing unturned.  But somehow dusting the area around my desk dislodged the part from its hiding place and deposited itself right in front of my feet.  Weird.

Anyway, without the onerous task of having to make a teeny tow hook, I decided to add the missing ribbing on the sides of the sponson storage boxes.  I used 0.010x0.020 strip styrene to simulate the stamped ribs.  If I were scratchbuilding this project, I'd have embossed 0.010 sheet plastic to get a more authentic look.  But this is a fun build so simple strip plastic it is.  I'm not sure how accurate the pattern on the forward boxes are, as I just guessed based on the box art.

And welcome to the 50+ Old Farts Club!  

Mike, gonna hit the mantlet cover next!

G: BIG improvement there with the Academy parts. And congrads on finding the lost tow hook. There's a rule that if you scratchbuild or order a replacement part the missing one will show up again... 

And thanks for the birthday wishes, I'm getting used to being old... 

Lol. Funny you should mention that. I've used PE racks and I've made my own, but I most recently used some of the Academy fuel cans on my M-48A2 GA2 because I misplaced the kit cans. Which if I remember correctly, weren't that great.

Mike, I also have a stash of both soft and hard sprue!  I wonder what our families would think when we pass away and they find a box of nothing but cut sprue in the stash?

I forgot to mention that the Academy accessory set had some fuel cans that were wa-y better than the ones in the kit.  But I'll need to either fabricate new racks or source a spare PE set that has some.  I think I have a surplus M551 set somewhere.