AFV Club M41G Walker Bulldog kit

Here are two reviews. They're in German but I put the pages into Google translator so I'm not sure how well the links would work.

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Ok, so those links didn't work. Here is the original page, in German mind you:

http://www.panzer-modell.de/ausgepackt/archiv/afv-club/35s41.htm

The other link turned out to be just an in-box viewing... not a review...

This is a review of the M41A3, also by AFV Club. But the two kits should be very similar considering they're both of the M41...

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35041.htm

Well, the Germans write, they like the kit a lot and are thankful to the Asians for thinking about them :-) So - highly recommended. I made AFV Clubs M42A1 - and liked it a lot. So if the kits are somewhat similar it should be worth building. Good luck with it, have a nice day

Paweł

That pretty much sums it all up! I could translate the review for you if you want me to (German is my native language).

The last post on this site mentions some incorrect parts called for in the instructions if you want to build a German version. I'd offer my translation services for that one as well, although I don't know if the information is correct...

JayF

Hi

I have the AFV Club M41G Walker Bulldog tank in my stash, and was wondering what you think about it.

I bought it "used" for a fair price, maybe 1/3 it's normal cost (used meaning someone else bought it before me but never touched it).

Is it fun to built and paint ? I don't have much 1/35 vehicles under my belt, so I'm wondering if it is "newbie friendly". What should I be expecting if I decided to give it a try ? I would want to built it OOTB.

Thanks !

Jay, is this kit # AF35S25? If so, what you have is the reboxed Skybow M41A1 kit. AFV Club and Skybow both released different versions of the M41 Walker Bulldog. They both basically took a hit when the market couldn't handle two kits of a minor tank subject. Skybow lost more and eventually had to sell out their 1/35 scale molds to AFV Club. AFV Club then reissued the Skybow kit as the German tank.

Skybow's M41A1 (which is probably the kit you have) was considered a better kit than the AFV Club M41A3, but both are excellent kits. Decent builds and easy enough for someone new to armor. The German vehicle might be a little more difficult than a US version, but because of the camouflage paint scheme; just about all other users painted them OD green.

Just make sure if you decide to look for aftermarket, that you get ones for the Skybow kit and not the AFV Club kit. Mainly for photo etch and mantlet, both which were available for each  manufacturer's kit. While tracks and gun tubes would be interchangeable, the PE and mantlet won't.

What I have is the kit #AF35S41 (here is the link on Scalemates :  http://www.scalemates.com/products/product.php?id=100225)

Looking at the instruction booklet they say to simply paint it Olive Drab (even though it's a german version of the tank). Is it me or they appear more with a grayish hue in real ?

Thanks for the aftermarket tips, as I will maybe go with a new set of tracks and a gun barrel.

Hello!

From what I read, the early West German machines were one colour green. Try searching for "Bundeswehr Grun" for a colour conversion. Good luck with your project

Paweł

According to Wikipedia all Bundeswehr vehicles were paitned in RAL6014 "Gelboliv" untill 1984.

MikeyBugs95

..........Here is the original page, in German mind you:

http://www.panzer-modell.de/ausgepackt/archiv/afv-club/35s41.htm

For what it's worth, here's a temporary english assist.

Original German text:

Die Bundeswehr Markierungen umfassen taktische Zeichen ohne Zahlen, Turmnummern, Balkenkreuze und Nummernschilder.

Contribute a better translation