M48 Patton FINISHED! Page 16

I have been doing some semi-serious research about the M48A3 as compared to the Tamiya model.

The turret without a doubt NEEDS to be raised in the manner it was done here(maybe even the angle corrected). I compared about 100+ maybe more, pictures to the model turret from many different angles and sizes. It was obvious the more you looked the worse it got.

Also, there are 3 types of drive sprockets on M48s that I could see. The one Doog did was most common, the next was similar but had a small recess similar to the Tamiya kit and the one the Tamiya kit uses. All had 3 slots, I think. The third type I discounted and did not pay attention to.

The other two I did and I only saw one tank without the slots, it was wrecked from a mine. So I figure either it was the angle of the picture which did not show the slots or they used a back part in the front to make the tank usable, thus making a full sprocket. I'm not sure and just don't know. Like I said it was one picture. All the rest had the hot-dog slots.

What I did was just sand the sprocket piece down and use a razor and I have the same effect as what Doog did. The sprocket it self seemed too thick anyway. What is missing I think, I can't tell on the finished model is the 3 small holes on the sprocket.

There are 3 holes, what for I have no clue, each one is lined up before the slot. And the bolts are recessed so I am going to try and dig a little deeper but I think it looks right now. If the sprocket is too think I can use the Legend add ons to it, sand them down and drill out the holes. That would work but I think all I have to do is make the slots and 3 holes in the top in between the bolts. I might have to add a very thin spacer between the 2 haves though now that I sanded it down a bit.

I went over so many pictures. I would put them up but I don't know how yet. If y'all want I will figure it out and do it. There are also some other M48 things that are minor but I am just scratching the surface. I am going to start making sketchings of each area of the vehicle I am going to do to get the details down.

Whatever it is I think Tamiya made a pretty good model and Doog did an outstanding job. I just wish these guys got it right, do they do that on purpose? What does a company come out with a fix kit. It's easy. They came out with a bunch of BS to put on top of the tank. I saw ONE tank with that sandbag stuff a company sells as a kit for it.

Thanks, Levent! I'm glad that I could provide some help for your project! You should post some of your work here!

Sorry for being a lazy follower. I could only check the finished M-48 today. It looks great Karl. Thanks for all the informative texts and methods that you had applied in this project. I personally took many tips for my Turkish Army M-48A5 project :)

the doog

macattack80:

 

the doog:

 

 

macattack80:

Fantastic build Mr. Logan!  Makes the armor bug bite a bit harder....

 

Thanks, Kevin!!!

 

 

 

No problem sir.  I am sure you know that Revell reissued their M48A2 Patton.  Would you recommed it to a beginner armor builder?

 

If I am correct, I believe that that was also boxed by Monogram in 1/32 scale? Is that the same tank? If so, that's the first armor model I ever built, when I was like, eight. A great kit. In any case, it couldn't be a bad kit for a beginner. I would go for it!

Thanks for the reply Doog.  It is a neat looking piece of armor.  I will add it to the wish list.

BigDaddy, I agree 100% with you about not getting so hung up on details and "correct" paint colors and whatnot that it ruins your enjoyment of the hobby. That's a sure way to ruin a good thing!

Rob, thanks for watching in this WIP, Glad to have you along for the ride! Hope you didn't get muddy! 

Beam17

Yeah Karl, do you have a special "Christmas build" lined up? Do you? Do you???

NARAYAN--THANK YOU for the manuals, which gave me some valuable insight and info! I'm mailing those out to you on Monday! I appreciate you giving me access to them, and am indebted to you!

macattack80

 

the doog:

 

 

macattack80:

Fantastic build Mr. Logan!  Makes the armor bug bite a bit harder....

 

Thanks, Kevin!!!

 

 

 

No problem sir.  I am sure you know that Revell reissued their M48A2 Patton.  Would you recommed it to a beginner armor builder?

If I am correct, I believe that that was also boxed by Monogram in 1/32 scale? Is that the same tank? If so, that's the first armor model I ever built, when I was like, eight. A great kit. In any case, it couldn't be a bad kit for a beginner. I would go for it!

Nice work Karl. That is great build you have there. I really like the dirt spatter technique. The in progress shots are always so helpful in breaking done how you achieve the final effect and are super-helpful. Thanks for sharing this in detail from start to finish.

Hinksy

Hey Karl,

Wow man, what a superb build! All round she is pure beauty!!!

I'm taking a LOT of notes and adding particular pages into a special 'modelling favourites' area that I've made up on my computer. Basically, whenever I see something that I think is just freakin' awesome or something simple that will help my building I save the page into 'modelling favourites' page. A lot of bits that you've done on this build have ended up in there; infact a good portion of the stuff in there is either work by yourself, Tony Pvt Mutt, Bill Plunk and Andy (Deafpanzer).

The Vietnam conflict was the first main conflict that got me REALLY interested in 20th Century warfare so I must start doing a few 'Nam era builds-starting with this one. I'd also like to do an 'Apocalypse Now' based PBR with the full crew too. The addition of Coke Cans and modern day stuff like that on a build really appeals to me!

Again, a great job all round and as always, faultless & flawless! 

What's on the agenda next Karl - have you got a special 'Christmas build' lined up?

ATVB

Ben

Yeah Karl, do you have a special "Christmas build" lined up? Do you? Do you???

Awesome looking work.  Have really enjoyed your WIP and I hope to see a new build very soon.  Keep the good work coming

Rob

I wasn't in Nam, came in later but we used all the stuff except the M48. I know one track definitely had patched up bullet holes and was a Vietnam rebuild(M113A1).

I do have a message to those who do the research, don't get too caught up in it. There were things going one that nobody knew about. The services would send stuff over there that nobody documented that well and saw action or was kept in the rear for some reason. A lot of stuff ended up on the black market as it is happening now in the Stan. Many soldiers traded with others from other units and countries and may have ended up with a FN FAL from the Aussies. You had guys also bring Daddy's WWII Thompson SMG and things like that. Remember the show MASH, well that's what guys did like Radar did. I even found some old magazines for my M-3 grease gun, yes I carried one in HQ Troop, a WWII era M-3A1. They were not issued to me, I scrounged them.

So you can take some poetic license with your models up to a certain point. Try to get a picture of it and don't trust too much in eye witness accounts, many swear there were M-60s in Nam and I really doubt that, but it is possible toward the end they sent a few for testing and they failed. They did use the M728 and Bridge versions so it's possible some parts were used from them on an M48 and some thought they were M60s. I think the M-88 also used the M-60 chassis. The Marines had the M55 155mm SPH there and they used the M-48 chassis(I think) so I'm there were parts from that too that were used. Speaking of the M55, nobody makes one in 1/35, only an older one in 1/32. So that's something some day I might scratch build using an m48 kit bash.

It was War and you used whatever you could scrounge up to get the vehicles and weapons out there to the troops. There were shortages then as there is in any war, just ask someone serving now. I'm sure some crafty Marines raided Army depots which had newer and more gear. It was also possible that the Army sent the wrong stuff to Nam, stuff that was supposed to go to Germany and ended up in Nam, so they used it. It could have been M-60A1/A2/A3????? parts and they slapped them on the M-48. They even had shortages of the A3 and brought into service the older A1 model. if something broke you used what you could find and fought on. It's called field expedience one of the mottos of the CAV.

the doog

macattack80:

Fantastic build Mr. Logan!  Makes the armor bug bite a bit harder....

 

Thanks, Kevin!!!

No problem sir.  I am sure you know that Revell reissued their M48A2 Patton.  Would you recommed it to a beginner armor builder?

wbill76

Yes, been busy quite a bit at work with some things that have changed there recently and that's been keeping me away from the bench but still manage to get some time in on the forums and stay as current as possible.

Well, I hope it moderates soon for you. Your loss around here has not gone unnoticed, and I'm confident that I'm speaking for everyone when I say that we can't wait to see your next build at the top of the page!

Yes, been busy quite a bit at work with some things that have changed there recently and that's been keeping me away from the bench but still manage to get some time in on the forums and stay as current as possible.

macattack80

Fantastic build Mr. Logan!  Makes the armor bug bite a bit harder....

Fantastic build Mr. Logan!  Makes the armor bug bite a bit harder....

Thanks, Bill! I appreciate you leaving a comment. You've been busy lately, no?

I'll try to shoot straight out there! I should be having some venison after the turkey!

I've come to this one a bit late Karl but have been following along since the start. Very nice work all around in terms of bringin this one to life. Work on the figs and the weathering conveys what you were after as does all the little details that you've added to this one. Definitely deserves a proud spot on your shelf! Good luck with the deer this season!

Once again, thanks a lot guys, seriously. I honestly appreciate all the kind comments!

deafpanzer

You are DAMN SO GOOD!!!   I smell FSM cover... especially that they haven't done a tank during Vietnam Era for a long time I think.  Thanks for taking your time to show us the WIP.

BigDaddyBluesman--you flatter me, honestly! I'm most happy that I seem to have captured something that gets high marks from guys like you who have actually served and been there in that red mud; man, that humbles me profoundly. I was only five years old in 1970, but I remember the time, and the soldiers who never got their due. In some small way, This is my tribute.

I went to "The Wall" in D.C. when I was there in the 1980's, I remember walking aloNG the wall as it started at my feet, and then it was up to my knees. my chest...pretty soon it was at eye level and then over my head...and the names--all 58,175 of them --just kept coming....wow, man. All those boys--most no older than myself at the time, gone, wiped out--I'm not ashamed to say that I cried, openly. I didn't even know a one of them, but it broke me down.  Anyway, hearing that I brought something special to this model really puts a smile on my face!

Thanks, Eric, Steve, Pawel and Marc! You too, John and Anthony. Anthony, I'm "well chuffed" (as they say across the pond!) to have gotten the flesh tones on the African American guy!

Thank, Manny! I do appreciate your approval! Yeah, those "cheap" acrylics are the bomb for anything that doesn't need real "finishing finesse". They're good cover-alls, and they come in a HUGE palette of colors!

Ben, thank too!

WHAT'S NEXT?!!? Well, deer season is next, lol. Hunting down in Pennsylvania with my Dad. SO I'll be a little slow on the workbench again for a bit. But I have at least one more "Armor" surprise to show soon, and then I'll be working on something totally different--a 1/24 scale International Payhauler mining dump truck. I'm going to build it as a derelict, abandoned old coal hauler like the ones that I've seen recently in the old coal fields of Pennsylvania. THAT will be a cool build, I assure you--and a real finishing challenge. LOTS of textures, degradation, scratches and old rust that will draw heavily on my armor weathering skills.

Thanks again, all!

Hey Karl,

Wow man, what a superb build! All round she is pure beauty!!!

I'm taking a LOT of notes and adding particular pages into a special 'modelling favourites' area that I've made up on my computer. Basically, whenever I see something that I think is just freakin' awesome or something simple that will help my building I save the page into 'modelling favourites' page. A lot of bits that you've done on this build have ended up in there; infact a good portion of the stuff in there is either work by yourself, Tony Pvt Mutt, Bill Plunk and Andy (Deafpanzer).

The Vietnam conflict was the first main conflict that got me REALLY interested in 20th Century warfare so I must start doing a few 'Nam era builds-starting with this one. I'd also like to do an 'Apocalypse Now' based PBR with the full crew too. The addition of Coke Cans and modern day stuff like that on a build really appeals to me!

Again, a great job all round and as always, faultless & flawless! 

What's on the agenda next Karl - have you got a special 'Christmas build' lined up?

ATVB

Ben

Great WIP thread and finish Karl...like I wrote earlier, its great to see you take some of these "older" kits and bring them up to this level with a little elbow grease and some TLC...

I noticed you use some of the "cheap" acrylics that can be found in places like Hobby Lobby etc. for some of you detail/weathering work...I use those as well, especially for ground color, weathering suspensions, buildings and in distressing wood, as they react well with water---and they are under $2 a pop!!!

5 star work here...

Fantastic lesson.The tank and weathering look great,aslo the flesh tones on the figures look so realistic.I can't recall seeing a completed figue of a black man,he came out really well.Thanks again for another great build.

Dang, that sure is some fine looking work Karl! Well done indeed!

An a'nudder one bites the dust........

What's next?

Looks great doog, tank and figs! Looks like its had its fair share of use to be sure!

Yeah the kid did it well....amazing for someone who never served on one let alone was never in.

A real triumph of the creative mind, taking a piece of plastic and making it into a work of art in true scale and realism. I think even the great masters would be proud and I'm talking about Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Seriously, had they been in Vietnam.....

I think this should be left with a sticky or something so people can follow it in the future easily. This is a classic and for me a schematic for all my builds now.

There maybe other ways to achieve the same results but it doesn't mater how, it matters that it was done and done so well.

Bravo......

You are DAMN SO GOOD!!!   I smell FSM cover... especially that they haven't done a tank during Vietnam Era for a long time I think.  Thanks for taking your time to show us the WIP.

Wow Doog!! I am stunned by that spectacular model! You've really brought that to life and I'm gonna save the pics so I can try to utilize some of your experience here to make my Patton in 1/72 scale. I'm out of words to describe how stunningly awesome this tank is!

Karl your Patton looks awesome. I like the soda cans.

I'm gonna have to try that mud technique. Looks like it works pretty good.

If I were to "ditto" all the things other said that I agree with, I would be late for my job.  So I iwll say that this is may be your finest hour.  Build, figs, mud... nice