M48 Patton FINISHED! Page 16

great work as usual karl,thanks for the thread.

Looking good...artisitically I think its great...realistically I think the rust is overdone on the body, but hey, we know all about that tired debate......nicely done...I love seeing these old kits get the 5-star treatment...

Wouldn't it have been cool if the barrel decal read: "Disaster Master" instead of just "Disaster"?

Hey Karl,

This build is really starting to look like something special buddy!

The tracks look beautifully weathered and the overall build is just 'WOW'!

I'm feeling the need to paint something green again - it's a good job my next WIP is my Firefly!

Top job - beautiful!

ATVB

Ben

Nice job for sure doog.It was worth the wait.

Doog,

I rode an M-48A3 for 15 months in Vietnam with the 11th Atmored Cavalry Regiment. I look at modeling as representation, not duplicatioin-miniature. The M-48 you're building looks A-OK to me. For all you armor fans, visit www.11thcavnam.com for many pictures. Also, click on 'Troop Home Pages' and view pictures taken by other 11th Cav troopers. Pictures I took are located at H Co., Photo Album3.

You made the newsletter, yeah.

Thanks, Jon and Bill! I appreciate the support! That track thing left me a bit shaken, lol!

Jon, that's a familiar story if you're used to working with indy-link tracks. I think everyone has a horror story in their past!

Definitely like where this one is going Karl, glad you were able to overcome the tracks problem and get that resolved. Looking good!

Looks to me like you got that well used and combat abused appearance you were after! Its amazing how you can make plastic look like metal. Great job Karl! The tracks look good to me. I recently completed a 1/72 M60 that had link and length tracks. The instructions for them were slightly backwards and I wound up with track that was too long on the bottom and too short on top. Unfortunately I didn't really discover this until I had glued them down. Had to pry them off and reapply. Any how, I digress, good work, hope to see it complete soon!

Thanks Hans and Gino!!!

Well, guys--I'll be leaving tonight for Pennsylvania to stay at my parents for the night, and then on to North Carolina to stay with Jenn for a week--WAHOOOOO!! So I'll be away until November 7th.

I'm looking forward to finishing up this beast! I'll be looking in on the work going on here while Jenn is in class, but no new updates until I get home. Stay tuned!

The track fix looks much better.  Good job.

I probably just answered my own question.

Yup, you did... Ya pump grease into the idler arm..

Hell, Doog... Chalk up another keeper..

redleg12

Perfect......looks great......considering what you have gone through with these....don't touch, don't breath.....looks great. It was worth going back!!

Hummm Kevin 19 years.......I bet it's not more than16  Dammm....I guess we are part of the Flowmax/Viagra generation .....sorry Karl

Rounds Complete!!

I've got some cleaning up and repainting to do, and of course, the pigments will blend it all in eventually..

HeavyArty

The tracks look pretty good.  I would remove a link or two from each side though.  They should be pretty tight, like this:

Sorry you had an issue with them.  I have had no issues w/the M48 tracks.  Lets not talk about the T80 tracks for the M40 though, aaahhh!!! That brings back bad memories.  I ended up trashing them and getting a set of Dragon indi-link tracks that were one-piece each, as opposed to the 5 per for the T80s.

Perfect......looks great......considering what you have gone through with these....don't touch, don't breath.....looks great. It was worth going back!!

Hummm Kevin 19 years.......I bet it's not more than16  Dammm....I guess we are part of the Flowmax/Viagra generation .....sorry Karl

Rounds Complete!!

OK, well, here's the fixed track! It was a tight pull, but I managed to get it there!

The other side (the left side if you're in the tank) looks pretty ok--a slight slack in the rear, but that can't be fixed as that's all superglued together now   but the front angle doesn't bother me.

Here's a look at 'er...

Thanks again for your honest critique, guys--Gino and Mike, I appreciate being pushed to get the look right. Kinda a heartbreaker about the little slack there in the rear, but I'll have to live with that. Hope it doesn't ruin the look too much.

Looks great Karl!! I too noticed the slack-track but even so, this is far better than I could ever do! WOW!

Hans von Hammer

Just because they were brought up, Here it is: Battery, Dry, Non-Rechargable, 1.5 Volt BA-30..

Man... BA-30... now there's a term I haven't head in what... 19 years... Holy !

She's looking nice and dirty sir!  Keep up the good work.

Just because they were brought up, Here it is: Battery, Dry, Non-Rechargable, 1.5 Volt BA-30..

Karl, it look fine....pictures can be deciving.....ask Gino, he will tell you I am not half as ugly as my pictures

Soon you will be like Manny's sensitive man!!

Rounds Complete!!

HeavyArty

The tracks look pretty good.  I would remove a link or two from each side though.  They should be pretty tight, like this:

Unfortunately, with reducing the suspension, it left me right between one track too long and one too short. I couldn't take one more out--I would never have got them connected. Believe it or not, though I didn't show it in photos, I actually sawed the rear sprocket mount clean off and moved it back a few mm's, with the track on just to get what I have here. When I reattached it and glued it up tight, this is what I got.  I really can't see how or where I can take up the slack without cutting off the front idlers now and moving them forward, but even that's not much of an option because it would give me at most a millimeter, if that.

EDIT!!! Actually, I CAN take a link out of the one side! The one that looked "caddy wampus"--I'll be honest with you Mike; no one ever used that term to describe any aspect of any model I was working on, and it disturbed me so much that I "went the extra mile". I'm cleaning up the track right now. Pics before I go to bed!

Thanks for the extra push, guys!!!!

The tracks look pretty good.  I would remove a link or two from each side though.  They should be pretty tight, like this:

Sorry you had an issue with them.  I have had no issues w/the M48 tracks.  Lets not talk about the T80 tracks for the M40 though, aaahhh!!! That brings back bad memories.  I ended up trashing them and getting a set of Dragon indi-link tracks that were one-piece each, as opposed to the 5 per for the T80s.

Considering what you went through...great save ! I know it must be the photo angle but in the last photo the track on the left looks a little caddy wampus ....

I am sure after clean up (a couple of glue spluges) and a few more prayers they will look perfect! Great work!!

Well let me change the 8 track.....time to put on the Stones!!

Rounds Complete!!

HeavyArty

Mikeym_us:

The Tamiya PBR actually does have a vietnam era tape deck in it.

Yup, so does the below Academy set.  It looks like an exact copy of the Tamiya one too.

Yep.....used a lot of BA-30s, D cell batteries for non-military ....Eveready in OD green!

Rounds Complete!!

The Beauty is in the details

Tony Lee

redleg12

Center pin styrene indy tracks

Hang in the Karl

Rounds Complete!!

OK, so I have FINALLY got the tracks repaired and on. I still have to clean them up--hide the glue stuff and re-paint the fresh end connectors, so you might see some unpainted black ones in there....

Here's the tracks before they went all to hell...I painted the base coat with Tamya Flat Brown+Black; then a wash of Rust Brown, and a drybrushing of Gunmetal. Then I painted the rubber parts in Folk Art Dark Grey+Black. The guide horns were picked out in Testor's enamel Silver. Then a final drybrush of Folk Art tan.

I've added a second and third application of weathering oils here and there, then added the spare tracks finished the same way as the tracks. Still have to paint details, and add pigments and stowage. The crew is also going to be in the hatches when done, I wrapped the light in silly putty and sprayed white on the cover in preparation for painting that marking n it. Boy, the light really catches it in the photos, huh?

Here's where I am this evening...

Next up---pigments and stowage..and crew, of course.

Thanks to all who are following along and throwing in their comments!

Center pin styrene indy tracks

Hang in the Karl

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks alot guys!

Jon--your comments on my weathering style made me pause and reflect. Yes, I think that the "old school" of a an overall wash followed by the standard drybrushing is something that I'm moving away from. This produces a nice model, no doubt, but I think what I'm looking for in my models is something on the "next level". I want to show a model that "looks like War feels"--if that makes any sense? Dirty, random, unpredictable rough and mean. That's what I usually have in the back of my mind., I think too, that you have to be a bit fearless in your approach. Some modelers seem to settle into a comfort zone of what their abilities are, but I think that you have to be brave (or crazy?!) to really advance under fire! Thanks for prodding my brain!

Narayan, thanks for the idea about decal printing--I'm going to hit you up for hints about how exactly to do that. I need to print some custom decals for some cars I will be working on. Thanks for stopping by, and I"ll be PM'ing you in a while. By the way, I've still got those manuals--sorry, I've been tardy getting them back to you.!

Thanks too, RBaer, and panserguy! Happy to keep you entertained!

Mike-that's cool that this will be available in 1/72! And with the same markings too? Wow, I may have to pick one of them up!

Hans, Gino--an interesting sidebar discussion on the tape player! Thanks for pointing that out Hans--wow,, sharp eyes! And Gino, thanks for posting that photo of the accessory set! I just ordered one from eBay for under $10, free shipping!

TD--remember, patience is a virtue! lol! Thanks for your enthusiasm! I'm working away as we speak.

One thing I found out--Mike (Redleg) wasn't kidding about the fragility of the tracks--they were fine to handle unpainted, but after a painting and a few washes, those track pins became really brittle and couldn't handle the rough handling that I needed to put the track on---I snapped at least a dozen joints on one side! Side 2 went much better after I learned form the experience, but right now the model is "in the motor pool" getting some track repair....

More pics later tonight, guys--stay tuned!

OMFG this is killing me!

I don't like to wait.

It's lookin' awesome so far doog.

Mikeym_us

The Tamiya PBR actually does have a vietnam era tape deck in it.

Yup, so does the below Academy set.  It looks like an exact copy of the Tamiya one too.