M48 Patton FINISHED! Page 16

Oh, Happy Day!

I've been waiting and lurking, just for this blog. Seriously. Doog, I've been told the Acad M9 blade is not a bad conversion to the M8, but I can't find ANY pics or plans, and have a hull and turret started, just waiting for that info......

tasty building!!  lot of fine quality modelling being done here,  not my area of expertise so im just along for the ride on this un!

Karl,

Congrats on the engagement and remember this saying "When momma's happy everyones happy."

The build is coming along great, I'm looking forawrd to seeing it progress once you get back from your travels.

I think Chris is right about the loaders hatch I have the Patton book by Hunnicutt and this is the picture shown in the book.

Cheers, Thom

Hey guys--I've arrived safely in Spain--got the free complimentary "Business Class upgrade" on the way over, but I'm still roached from the time change,lol. Anyway, just wanted to respond before I crash..,

Thanks, Kevin, and Rob--thanks for the pic, Rob. I think I actually built am A5 at one point? I think it's at home in Pennsylvania at my parent's house? I know I did build a German one too--the "A2Ga5 or something like that.?

.!

toadmanstankpictures

Nice work there Karl!  This is only the second time I've seen the turret shimmed.  Looks good.  BTW, you may want to check your loader's hatch again if you plan on keeping it open.  The reference photo you used looks like it's from a M60A1 turret. 

Or does anyone else have shots of the loader's hatch? And specifically--does it have a "head pad" on the interior, as it is molded on the Tamiya part?!

RBaer--I hope I give you something to inspire you! If you get any info on that blade setup, let me know! Unfortunately, until I do, I won't be adding it if it's an incorrect part...

lespaul--thanks, and welcome to the forums! I hope you learn a lot here--you're definitely at the right place!

Well, I'm beat--gotta run, and got a busy few days ahead, but I'll be back hopefully soon! Good night, all!

Hi Karl,

Great WIP on the M48, thought you only did castles? Anyways I'll be following this thread with interest. 

Never knew about the shim for the turret and only heard about the high ride, that's why I was wondering why my Magach recently posted was short in the head and high heeled.

Referring to your WIP will make sure the next build will be more accurate. As for the hatch, let me check my references.

Cheers,

Richard 

Doog, I've found pix in the Squadron/Signal M48 in action that show the loaders hatch with the head pad in all variants thru the A5 model.  hope this helps.

T Ellis

Thanks for replying, Richard, and tellis---tellis, I didn;'t see anypic show up in your post; maybe FSM removed it for copyright reason?

By the way, I have that book, but as I'm away from home right now, I wouldn't have access to it right now. It's good to know that if the book I have is the same, it will be in there. Thanks for pointing this out to me!

Doog, do you ever thought about starting up a TV show for MTV and call it 'Pimp Up My Tank"?  That would be awesome!  You can play us songs at the end of shows on top of the pimped up tank.  Heck I won't be able to enjoy your music but I won't mind hanging out with your friendly lady Rockers.

I will be following your work for sure... always a great toot for us rookies.  Thanks for doing this!

Karl, I'm looking for the mount info as well, seems like there was a build log on another forum a few eons back, but I can't find it. Until then, I'm pretty much stuck, since I modded the suspension arms to show the weight bias of a lifted blade......

....so until I get some more info, I'm in limbo.

How's yours coming?

Andy--lol, a TV show? Geez, as if I don't get enough MTV time, lol!

RBaer

How's yours coming?

North Carolina!!!??!!

That's where I live.

Welcome to the land of the fickle weather.

90 + one day and 59 overnight .....

68 the next ..........and 88 the next and so onnnnnnn and on.

Thunder and spectacular lightning.......    tornadoes .....  a complete smorgasboard of events....... sometimes all in ONE day. 

Today's another 90+er..........enjoy.

Good luck!

PS - This heat sucks soooooo bad .

Karl, That build is coming along nicely. I built the Tamiya kit when it first came out in the early 80s and I borrowed a maintenance manual from a friend. If you can get hold of any of the manuals, they are FULL of very useful reference material, especially for detailling open hatches.

Congrats on your engagement. Its wonderful news.

disastermaster

North Carolina!!!??!!

 

PS - This heat sucks soooooo bad .

Narayan--thanks, man! Good to hear from you! I don't think I'll be able to find those manuals, but thanks for the heads up!

Hey guys--

I'm finally back to working on something here. I have some updates for the Patton.

I tool the advice to fix the sprockets to the more-common "early" solid-faced pattern seen in Viet Nam. Here's the photo-- #1 is the kit part; #2 shows a circle of styrene cut out using a circle template. #3 putty and then sand the top, #4 mark holes in pencil and then drill out the holes with a micro-drill bit, and fill with .040 styrene hexagonal rod. #5 Shows the sprockets after a quick test-coat of paint. Not too bad, I think?

Thanks to Gino, (Heavy Arty), I got some casting numbers transfers through the mail and have applied them on the top and side of the turret...

...and to the rear hull towing pintle and engine access doors. Not sure if these are 100% entirely "correct"< but they sure look the part.

I also corrected my boneheaded mistake of the wrong M60 hatch, and have made a new one. Thanks to "Vespa Boy" (Narayan) for the use of his manuals to get this detail on the correct, new hatch. This was done with styrene and spare PE scraps.

I also went through the trouble of re-doing the basket with .025 styrene rod. It is recommended to replace this, and suggests brass, but I just love the ease of working with styrene. Also, I've replaced the tie-downs with spare PE from my old Hetzer update set! NEVER THROW ANYTHING OUT, lol!

The tank is coming along...here, I've re-positioned the gun, bringing down the barrel a bit.

Here's a bummer--the AFV Club aftermarket tracks set has a freakin' BIG knockout mark in each of the track shoe sides! Every link will have to be laboriously cleaned-up! Set aside about three hours.....

Call out anything that needs attention, guys! Don't hold back if you see something glaring?

That's it for now! Stay tuned!

Update ho!

Nice work on the sprockets, I wish I've done that on my model... Please check the location of the antenna base behind the commander's cuppola - on my Patton it interferes with the open commander's hatch, so something's wrong in this area. Other than that your machine looks great, good luck with the build and have a nice day

Paweł

Nice work on backdating the sprockets! Also like the basket, and loader's hatch. Too bad about all those marks on the tracks: think of it as a meditation exercise  as you fill, and sand all those marks!

Nate

My Goodness has the world come to an end and all the saints have risen from the dead.

Good job you've done on the new parts Karl.

Tony Lee

It's looking great Karl.  The new sprockets look good.  Those casting number sets are a breeze and add lot of detail.  Keep up the good work, almost there.

Karl; I haven't done much armor, but I love good work.  It's this kind of stuff that gets me closer to doing something without a propeller.  Well, I may not build it, but I still do love it.  I've got a couple of photos from The Patton Museum at Fort Knox, and The Ropkey Armor Museum at Crawfordsville, Indiana.  They show some pretty decent detail.

I'm not sure, but I think this in the M-48 family.

M-47, but the road wheels and suspension look so similiar, and the detail was so crisp.

Hope you can get a little good out of these.  Rick

Wabashwheels

Your top pic is an M48A2.  The M48A2 was the predecessor to the M48A3 that Karl is building.  There were quite a few changes between the different versions. 

Middle pic is an M60A1.  The M60A1 came after the M48 series and used many of the same automotive components on a new hull and turret. 

Bottom is an M47.  The M47 was the predecessor to the M48 series.  Many of the same style of components; road wheels, sprockets, same basic gun, etc. carried over to the M48.  The M48 components were beefier and bigger though.

Thanks alot, guys! I genuinely appreciate the warm approval--it's nice to be back in gear here and making models again!

Pawel, thanks for that tip on the antenna base and for the nice comments!

Thanks, too Nate--I'll certainly need some patience while cleaning up those darned tracks!

Tony--your comment cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh, and the nice comment!

Gino--thanks again for the great tip on those casting numbers! Small details like that make your model stand out, IMO--and thanks again for that list of fixes. It's certainly been a great roadmap for proceeding with inspiration! I appreciate your help and your comments in this thread!

Steve, thanks for looking in too, and for a good chuckle! Ironic, that it's a German outfit on--what was his name--Marty something?

Rick, thanks for those photos! And don't feel bad--I get these tanks confused all the time too, lol! To a German fan like me, these big, fat, olive drab tanks almost look all alike some time! lol. Cool shots, though. Man, I gotta get down to Aberdeen one of these days and see what's left!

Again, thanks again guys. It's good to be back!

Hot diggity doog!  Your back!  Looking good too. Building rusty cars has not cuased you to lose your edge.

I saw you posting armor modeling work.....and all I can think of is

Outstanding scratch work....nice....I love the Archer Transfers....they make life soooooo easy. Moving along nicely.

Hope you can stay for a while!!

Rounds Complete!!

Nice work on the sprocket fix Doog. The other details also definitely add some life to this one. Nice to see you back at the bench!

Doog, it was Arte Johnson.

A regular on "Laugh-In" every Saturday night back in the sixties.

Thanks, Marc! It's good to hear that I "haven't lost my edge"!

Mike--I had to laugh at your post there, because if I had posted "Back i the Saddle Again", I would have posted the Aerosmith version, lol! A generational thing, perhaps? lol  And don't worry; I plan to be around for a while now. Hopefully! ?

Bill, thanks for looking in too, and for the thumbs-up!

Steve---that's it! Arte Johnson! For a moment there I had him confused with Sgt Schultz form Hogan's Heroes! lol! I remember Laugh In from when I was a wee little turd!

A generation thing!!! You are assuming I am an old gas passer (that's besides the point)....I thought of Aerosmith..and it is a classic.....but the Gene Autry song is like you "an Original Classic"

Rounds Complete!!

About time you got back on this mofo...chop-chop...

Manstein's revenge

About time you got back on this mofo...chop-chop...

A very demanding fan base.