Gamera, I think the tracks snap together and the rubber shoes glue on afterwards.  I’ll take a closer look tonite.

Those are interesting looking tracks. So each link comes with two parts that sandwich pins to hold them together?

I guess I have no excuses to not crack on with the build, as the AFV Club plastic tracks I ordered arrived minutes ago!

I just hope they fit the Tamiya sprockets...

And I just noticed the track pads are molded from a soft material - vinyl?  If so, I hope the tracks are ABS not styrene.  I have never had any success with vinyl parts on styrene.

Gamera, ha ha, yeah I didn't think about a welding rig for Woody!  Buzz is still in hypersleep in his box, but will be activated at an appropriate time.  

I got some work on the M41 over the weekend.  I gotta say it's refreshing to work on a kit with so few parts!

I almost felt like I had forgotten to add something to the hull.  The gun crutch would not snap into its socket, so I bevelled its locator pins to allow it to be carefully jammed into place.  Amazingly, it stays in place and still moves.

Since I wanted to use as much of the kit as possible, I started thinning the headlight guards.

The result is nowhere near P/E and more time consuming, but the hard work is rewarding.

I gave Woody the day off after I sent a tow hook flying off to the ether.  It was just slightly misaligned, so I tried bending it.  It was really glued in good, but suddenly snapped off.  Gaaah, now I have to scratch a replacement.

Nice work on the weld seams! 

Now I'm picturing Woody wearing a mask and handling a welding rig... 

Or maybe he'll just get Buzz, I'm sure his helmet can dim and he can probably laser-weld as well. 

My all-time fav Tamiya armor kit is the Chieftain Mk5-ish, followed by the M113, 8-Ton Halftrack w/ 20 mm Flakvierling, and the T-34/76 1942 Model.  The last one gets my vote for “Most Accessories Included In A Tamiya Kit”.

GM, I’m sure the 1943 model came with the same load of fun bits yeah?  When I opened my kit, my brain almost overflowed seeing all that extra stuff in the box!  I think the only other time I remember feeling that way was when Revell came out with their first 1/72 F-16 in the red/white/blue prototype scheme.  I filled all the pylons with tanks and bombs, and STILL had ordnance left over.  Heady days.

After mowing the lawn, I think I’ll switch on the A/C and continue the build.  Woodie too, as it is awkward holding him in place while trying to take photos!  I’d better check his boots for snakes.  

RBaer

I nominate Woody for "Presenter of the Year".

And Mike, yeah, I did a LOT of weld beads on mine too, along with quite a bit of texturing.

Funny, I'm getting a bit nostalgic for an old Tamiya build, even though I probably do two or three a year.

 

Here's my alltime favorite

and this one

I plan some day to crack out the Willys Jeep and do a '50's era  "Follow Me" truck painted bright red with a checkered flag on the rear bumper.

I noticed the weld beads alright. Looks great with those tracks you added to yours.

I nominate Woody for "Presenter of the Year".

And Mike, yeah, I did a LOT of weld beads on mine too, along with quite a bit of texturing.

Funny, I'm getting a bit nostalgic for an old Tamiya build, even though I probably do two or three a year.

Welds! So much fun on this build. A few pictures for reference if you care to go for it.

That build gave me a TON of weld beads practice. I've gotten pretty good at them since lol.

Real G

Good for you. My kind of post.

Quite innovative and entertaining.

Those periscope covers are a perfect place for weld beads. In reference pictures there are double stacked welds along the sides.

Heh heh, fun stories all!  Weren't motorized models so cool?

Back at the M41, I noticed the separately molded guards for the commander's and gunner's forward facing periscopes were really thick, which impeded fit.  Woody points out the culprits.

The parts had their edges beveled to "cheat".

Woody also poined out that the left exhaust fouled the body, so a small notch was cut into the exhaust backplate to allow it to slip in place.

And the dreary work of cleaning up the road wheels has been done.

Despite only having a few wheels compared to a Tiger or LVTP5 (or Objekt 279!), I'd forgot how boring the work was.

I'd better continue work on Woody too, as he lacks legs at the moment.  

Years ago I was in with a group of war gamers who built motorized 1/35 Tamiya kits, either American or German.

These games basically came down to which side would over run the positions of the others. Starting at maximum pellet gun range, the tanks advanced one side at a time so that the opposing engineers would be able to clear the range.

This all involved a several-day camp out on the desert.

I helped build, armor and engineer the AFVs but certainly never was in the game.

Real G

Oh, as an aside, the Tamiya M41 kit holds a place in my personal model lore.  A friend had one that was motorized, and we frequently tore up his back yard to perform "tank torture tests".  His M41 was the fastest and most reliable running tank any of us ever had, never threw a track, and ran UNDERWATER - once.  The motor got messed up, but it ran repeatedly under the muddy puddles like some kind of crazy submarine all afternoon!

That brought back a memory!

No RC...but my younger brother and I used to battle our Tamiya 1/48 motorized tanks in the garden patch in our back yard. My Swedish 'S' tank--totally unplanned--demonstrated the ability to zip through puddles like a jet-ski. I think the hull was just 'boat-like' enough to plane through without sucking in water.

Both our AV's eventually fell prey to 'heavy artillery'...in the form of a .22 pellet gun. Loads of fun!

Yes, that box art does kinda throw one off. As I remember (or not), the old Renwal kit of the Bulldog had basically the same pic. Same angle from the right rear. Don't remember if the CO was in the turret in the picture though.

Rob;

   You made me laugh! Years ago I R.Cd an M-113 from Tamiya. The thing floated like a slightly drunken boat! No water in the running gear though .It finally met it's end .

    Squished with some other stuff when movng to another, bigger Boat. Box slipped, fell almost to the water, between the boats. Boats came together with a Terrifying crunch.  Oh Well! T.B.       P.S. The guy who made the crunch wake found out about his damage in a No Wake Zone. He bought me new kits to replace the broken ones, though. I think the Game warden told him. He was a fellow model builder too.

Tangent follows: my best running motorized tank was the Tamiya Matilda. The design of the running gear kept the track on and unlike tanks with open sprockets, it kept sand and debris from going inside the lower hull where the gearbox and batteries were.

Second best was the M113.

Oh, as an aside, the Tamiya M41 kit holds a place in my personal model lore.  A friend had one that was motorized, and we frequently tore up his back yard to perform "tank torture tests".  His M41 was the fastest and most reliable running tank any of us ever had, never threw a track, and ran UNDERWATER - once.  The motor got messed up, but it ran repeatedly under the muddy puddles like some kind of crazy submarine all afternoon!

Thanks guys for the input!  Aftermarket is so prolific and easy to get these days, that I have become dependent on them for almost all my builds.  Back in the 1970s there was a dearth of A/M, so it was all DIY.  Funny how all those kits got built anyway.  

Aside from the tracks, I have decided any mods will be DIY.  I plan on thinning the headlight guards, adding the missing vision blocks to the driver's position, and making the mantlet cover (but NOT from the bags the kit sprues came in).  I'll use the box art for reference to add any further details like the stamped ribs on the side of the hull and periscope guard on the turret.  Yeah, it's weird that the box art shows a crewed tank with the turret traversed to the rear in the travelling position.

I also plan on using the included figures to make a new TC in a slightly more interesting pose than the one provided.  Maybe not a raging dude firing an M16 from the hip while screaming and tossing a grenade () but at least more animated.  Maybe.  No promises.

The kit, once completed, will be turned over to my buddy "The Evil Mad Cao" (our resident MiG mud master) for scratch-n-dent/weathering.  And then I'll turn my attention to repainting my PT-76 as an NVA machine.

Thanks guys, will have to pick one up. Very interesting history of the vehicle, seems it served all over the world. And recently read a history of General Walton Walker, one hell of a life story. 

Instead of detaling it I could go with a quick, cheap, and dirty build right now. 

I always thought that the box illustration was kind of weird.

It shows the tank in operation, commander in the cupola. But the view is from the REAR with the turret rotated around and the travel lock for the barrel up.

Gamera

Cheers to you and Woody!!! 

And nice work there RBaer and Mike! 

Funny, never built the Tamiya kit, I guess since I concentrate to Second World War and modern stuff it fell though the cracks in between. 

 

The markings are probably based off of a display tank since there aren't any company/platoon bumper numbers on it.

It's a great kit to practice making your own weld beads with, Gam. It has a lot of room for extra welds all over it.

It's a simple, but fun kit. Also good practice for dressing up the .50 Cal. It's a basic block on a stick lol.

Turning this old kit into a good model, is just good old fashioned fun.

Cheers to you and Woody!!! 

Don't mess with Woody... 

And nice work there RBaer and Mike! 

Funny, never built the Tamiya kit, I guess since I concentrate to Second World War and modern stuff it fell though the cracks in between. 

The tracks, even lacking the inside details, can still be somewhat decent looking with some weathering.

This one of the best starter tank kits. And if you go to Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon, they are regularly $17.99, but with coupon it's about $11.

...and less of a hassle to use!  I really have to learn to dial it back.

They was cheep!

They look okay too, better than the kit tracks fo sho.

IMG_0578 by Russel Baer, on Flickr