USMC M4A3 Dozer Riff Raff . Camera broke . No updates . 6/3

Dano , i've not yet heard of how well the Academy M4 dozer builds up so i'll be interested in seeing one built . So far this Verlinden version isnt build up with too much difficulty . Thanks for stopping in

John , its been good seeing you again my friend , thanks ! 

Bill , thanks buddy ...............thanks for taking another look !

She's coming out beautiful, Shell

Tread , good having you look in . Thanks ole buddy

Finished up building the "A" frame that attaches to the dozer blade .

Here's a diagram of the cables that run from the left and right arms of the dozer blade and atttach to this central point on the "A" arm . Not sure of the function of the cables but it looks to me like they are a device for keeping the blade level ................?

Here's the kit supplied diagram .

My rendention .

Some of pre "A" arm assembly .

Tapering off the tips of the pins made them easier to insert .

All work is inspected by the resident work bench "Gunny' .

Lookin' in.........

Take your time and look around Steve .......we're open all day

I attached a "lifting eye" in the center of the blade .Not called for in the conversion kit but i,ve seen it done on some modern dozers . Added the weld marks .

They look better with some primer .

SWEET !!   welds and lifting hooks   what ya using for primer ? it looks O.D.

keep it coming ,Carl  

tread

Better with each post Carl..........       A+

Tread my man thanks . I'm using Model Master Panzer Gray . I had a spray can of it . I de-canned it , thinned it and sprayed it with my air brush .

Bill , thanks buddy .

That dozer blade is looking great. The cable assembly on the A-frame is for disconnecting the blade from the tank. The best I can gather is that cables run through the side arms to pins that release the dozer from the tank.

The Academy dozer kit is pretty good. I converted it to the VVSS suspension for a ETO build. Had to narrow the dozer blade down to fit the suspension.

 Dan

Dan , thanks for that info . The  "release cable" must be the cable at the end of the "arm" that sticks out at the "7 oclock" position on that pulley . Any idea on where the other end of that "release cable " is ?

Not sure where yet. The pictures I have show a jettisoning cable bushing in the hull transmission row of bolts just below the machine gun. I'm thinking that the cable went inside the tank. 

I have the instructions for the Resincast M1 Dozer that where sent to me by a friend. They have some pictures from the Army T.M.  You are welcome to them...PM me your e-mail address...

Dan

Thanks Dano

I made some modifications to the hydraulic piston so i can raise the blade off the deck . I cut off the resin piston and attached a piece of aluminum in its plase that is longer than the kit suppied piece .

Looks great here too

Thanks Rob .

  EPIC!

You're really going all out with this one Carl...looking very sharp.

I agree with Wbill... VERY SHARP indeed!

Steve , Bill and Tread  thanks for following the build . I greatly appreciate your comments .

I've been slacking off on any good progress for a few weeks . I finally got back to work on the model today . Here's some of the work i did on the turret . I made a few corrections to the Tamiya turret as per this article   http://www.usarmymodels.com/MANUFACTURERS/Tamiya/tamiya35122.html

I'm putting the base o.d. on now . Let me know what you guys think .

Shell : )  .... looking FANTASTIC !......please check private messages ... urgent

again, to the turret mods !!

tread

I am back too.  Excellent texture on the turret!!!   Thanks for the link to great site.  Sometimes I forget about those kit errors.  

Tread , Andy thanks for the comments .

Error has been sighted and corrected Tread .

WOW it's really looking good. I also have this kit and dozer blade in my stockpile for a future build.

Thanks MajGen

That's some spiffy putty work Carl, ought to look good with the OD on. Bring on the paint!

Ok Bill , here's some o.d. on it I mixed MM enanels fs34086 and fs34087 .