AFV Club M42A1 Duster WIP - Done with pictures!!

Hello!

Eric - Thanks a lot, I gave my best - seems only fair, it's a DUSTER after all

Bill - Thank you very much! I wouldn't be so sure about "done" just yet - still have some fitting out to do, fiddly bits like tools, packs and the sight for the gun. But I'm sure closer to the end than to the beginning!

Thanks for your comments, please stay tuned and have a nice day!

Paweł

looks great!

Will you be elevating the guns a touch or leaving them drooped as is?

Hello Shawn!

Thank you for your kind words! I actually intend to leave the guns fully movable, so you can choose the elevation of them any time. But I heard in Vietnam, when the combat got really close and personal, sometimes you couldn't get the guns low enough.

But I've got another update to show - the tools!

Here's what they looked like after painting:

From the top we've got here the tow rope, the gun cleaning rod, axe, shovel, mallet and mattock handle. On the right there are mattock head and the tanker bar (will be put on the rear wall of the hull).

To mount it I used several PE straps, that came with the Eduard PE set for the Duster. After mounting the tools looked like the below photos show:

I hope you liked it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Tools look good Pawel! I'm not a modern armor expert so don't know if the modern tow cables and rods on the hull side would be as bright metal as they show in your last pic (could also be the lighting), they seemed the right color/contrast in the first pic so not sure if something changed in between?

Hello Bill!

Thanks a lot for your comment. Compared to the rest of the model the cable is indeed pretty bright, although not silver, the new Humbrol Gun Metal is just brighter than it used to be. But I heard from the vets, that tow cable was sometimes your ticket to safety, so they really cared for it, I tried to show that. I sure would appreciate photos of the tow cable on an operational vehicle - on museum ones they are usually painted over, that wouldn't be acceptable on an operational machine.

So thanks for the heads up, and have a nice day

Paweł

No problem Pawel! From what I understand, in-service tow cables were greased to prevent rusting for the very reasons you mention, hence their usually dark coloration as opposed to a brighter bare metal color. Hopefully one of the members with more direct experience can chime in as an authority on the matter.

Hello!

I've got a little update for you. To balance the vehicle I put spare track links and some tools on the left fender, too. Here's what it looks like:

We've got a wrench for track (laying diagonally)  in the top right portion of the tool tray, track tool in the bottom of the photo, and a flash suppressor wrench in the top/left portion of the tray.

I also painted the headlights, so now the front of my model looks like this:

Hope you like it, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Nice update Pawel! Almost done with this one.

WOW, Pawel! I dunno how I missed your updates, but man, you are KILLING this build! That track arrangement is stupefying! Cool!

I like the detailing you have done, especially the tools...cheers....Kenny

Bill, Karl, Kenny - thanks a lot for your kind words! Just a few details more! The fact you are reading this sure motivates me to mobilize myself and to finish it. Thanks again, have a nice day

Paweł

Just gets better and better Pawel!

Pawel!

Spectacular job  looks very fine.

Eric, Steve - thanks for your comments, and your kind words - I'm glad you like my model!

Sorry for replying so late, I was a little busy recently - but at last I've got a small update for you on this one. I finally managed to build the correct antennae for my model:

Those are made using a guitar string as the main material. The antenna on the left is an AT-912/VRC with a MX-2799 matching unit, as opposed to AT-1729/VRC which comes out of the box. Almost all pictures from Vietnam show the AT-912/VRC/MX-2799 combination, so I wanted to have it on my model.

By the way a question: What colour should the antenna "whips" be? Thanks in advance for the help.

I also put together the computing sight with the speed rings. Of course I couldn't resist showing the reflex sight removed and adding some lighting devices with cables. The speed rings come from the Eduard PE set. One speed ring shows light damage - as can be seen in my references:

Now I'm going to paint and install those details. Thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Nice to see this one moving along again Pawel. Got to love the look of this sight rings.

Nice job so far. The worn look of the  star came out really good. Did you use a cut down brush for that ?

Bill -thanks a lot! I'm out on a business trip again, but just for kicks, I'll post a photo of the Tamiya cast plastic speed rings for some laughs and contrast... Glad you like'em!

RX7850 - thanks a lot. As I already wrote, rather than using a brush, I used a small bit of a sponge for that effect. And it seemed to pay off You might want to look a few pages back for a detailed descrition of how it was done.

Thanks again for your comments, have a nice day

Paweł

Guess I missed that, will have to try that technique sometime.

Hello!

Almost exactly a year ago I started this WIP post, so this is kinda an anniversary update .

First, for kicks and maybe to attract Hans to this thread again, here's a side by side comparisom of the speed rings from Tamiya and AFV Club:

Noticeable difference, isn't it?

Next, there's the bolo knife with sheath I scratchbuilt from 1mm styrene sheet:

Finally - I installed the computing sights in the mount. Now the guns look like this:

The good news is I managed to keep the guns moveable, so you can watch all the gear working while elevating the guns.

Thanks for reading, hope you like it and have a nice day

Paweł

Hello again!

This time I put the knive and the antennae on the mount, this is how it looks like now:

I'm also working on the ammo for the forties. I'm using a kit from a company called Orange Hobby - it gives you turned brass shells and cases, and PE shell bases and four round clips. Those are quite fiddly bits, but the extra work gives you good looking results. First I did the painting by gripping every shell with a motor tool and painting the individual bands with a fine-tipped brush. Now I'm assemblying the individual clips:

I put the first three clips in the ready racks on the mount, I'll try to hang the rest of them on the mount wall, let's see how many I can stow this way.

I hope you like it so far, thanks for reading and have a nice day

Paweł

Great stuff there, Pawel.

Lee

Hard to believe you've been working on this for the past year Pawel but all your attention to the details have paid off for sure. Got to love the look of those ammo clips.

The rounds look awesome.  Very nice.

Really great work Pawel!!  You have inspired me to start mine.

Terry

Lee - thanks a lot!

Bill - yes, time flies when you're havin' fun! Thanks a lot for your comments!

Gino - thanks a lot, it's especially nice to hear from a man who knows a lot about rounds!

Terry - thanks, when do we see pictures? Please be sure to get me a link to them.

Thanks again for your comments, have a nice day

Paweł

Pawel as I tell my Hausfrau, " it is not the amount of time, it is the quality of the time and the results that matter"

Of course, I rush through my builds, get lously results and then rush to  read your posts to make me feel all better 

Seriously Great job so far, well worth the time spent 

Steve - thanks a lot for your kind words, I really like to take my time modelling. Have a nice day!

Paweł

Hello again!

I'm still taking my time - working mostly on the stowage. I finished working on the 40mm ammo, here's what it looks like:

I also added the microphone booms for the crewmen wearing CVCs. I used a kit from Royal Models RM018:

Also did the gas mask carrier hanging on the antenna base. I made the shoulder strap out of tea bag tissue - it's a good material for this, durable and doesn't get weak when wet:

I installed the water can in it's holder on the front of the right fender:

This stowage sure takes a lot of time! Still some more to do. Hope you like 'em, thanks for reqading and have a nice day

Paweł

Looking great from here!

Terry

Devil's always in the details Pawel and they can 'steal' away your time before you know it! Still your attention to those details is paying off very much, those rounds look 'live'!