As usual Mike, your builds are incredible. This build is beyond me, so I look forward to this one as you go along.

Earl

Hello Mike!

I'm excited to see you build this one - I have the Revell kit and I also bought a discounted M47 to try to improvise something. Do you have any references for this build that you could share?

I will be watching this build, good luck with it and have a nice day

Paweł

Earl - Thanks for the kind comments

Pawel - You can look at my personal pictures here  

www.redleg2scale.com/.../M53.html

If you want the full camera copies so you can use them, send me your email and I will forward them to you.

Thanks for the peek. As I go along more ideas to come!!

Rounds Complete!!

Mike am I glad you're building this one,now one of the big companies will do a really nice one in plastic.

Thanks heaps buddy

Tony lee

If I build it they will come!!! LOL....

Thanks for the peek Tony. You and your lovely bride have a fantastic 2015!!

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Mike we're sure going to try but the financial forecasters are saying otherwise.

Same wishes to you and your little lady too

Tony lee

Back to show some more holiday work.

On the turret much of the rod type parts were in sad shape from the kit so I replaced them with styrene. Also the fuel cans were molded all in one in the kit. I have replaced it with PE holder and will use resin cans and PE straps. The last few items added including PE tie downs. At this point the turret is ready to head to the paint booth for priming.

On the chassis added a bunch of PE handles and PE bolt heads for the grille mounting bracket. The exhaust grilles are a molded blobs from the kit. I replaced them with a scratch PE grill and styrene frame. The handles on the side boxes are fabricated from 24 gauge wire. Lastly had to repair with styrene, some of the molded details, which were broken.

Here is a view of the chassis from the rear. You can see the “putty work” to close the seams and to seal up some of the areas of major gels or air release bubbles. The chassis is also ready for priming

The last major assembly is the recoil spade. This is the worst fit item in the kit and as you can see requires a fair amount of putty work to fill in the poor fit. Still need some more work and then will need Archer weld marks.

Not shown are the road wheels. I spent time cleaning up all the road wheels and assembling the road wheels. They are also moving to the paint booth.

Warming up the paint booth next!

Looking great Mike.  Excellent job so far.

She looks great really nice work! I've looked at a few resin kits but never worked up the guts to try something like this.

I cannot even tell you how jealous I am that you're going to have a model of this in your display case! I have been hoping that the big boys would come out with some proper big gins like the kind that used to line Aberdeen's entry road! An M53, M44, and all the rest of them. That Renwall kit is just too bizarre to waste time on.

I can't wait to see this done up right, Mike!!

Karl - Like Tony said, once I finish it I am sure someone will come out with a styrene version. I will say it is a big boy and with it being resin it is also quite hefty!! Thanks for the peek.

Rounds Complete!!

Great modeling!

Can only imagine how much all that resin weighs Mike. Don't drop it on your foot! Looking good.

Bill - I have to be careful not to put it in the center of a shelf or the shelf will sag!! It definitely answers the question....where is the beef!  Thanks to you and RB for the peek

Rounds Complete!!

As I said we will move to the paint booth. The turret assembly and barrel were primed with Vallejo OD primer. After priming I seated the barrel. In to fit things I used some tissue soaked in white glue to make a putty to taper the mantelet to the barrel. I also cover the putty with airplane tissue for the fabric look. At the end is a paper wrap as the mantlet lock ring. 

The chassis was primed with Vallejo OD primer.

The road wheels were assembled. Then they were primed with Vallejo OD primer then rubber is painted with Ammo Rubber and Tire.

I am using the Vallejo Air Viet Nam paint set. It comes with the OD primer and the colors to create a shaded VN painted model. The next step after priming is to lay down a base coat, which is a mix of Model Air 043 OD Green and 254 Bright Green. Here is where I stand right now.

Next up is shading and weathering

Nice color big guy

Tony lee

Hello Mike!

Looks very nice! Just don't make it too green, I heard the OD shouldn't be green at all - but you've seen it in person much more times than me. Or is it going to be a Marine gun? Anyway, good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Nice looking build and an interesting looking subject.

Tony - Thanks and thanks for stopping by

Pawel - Yep, still looking to see how the finished color turns out. I will be doing a Marine Corp version. It was the USMC that deployed the M53 to VN. Still have to work up the markings.

Bish - Thanks, always fun to do the different.

Thanks again guys

Rounds Complete!!

Looking really good, looking forward to seeing how the shading work outs.

Gamera - Thanks for stopping by and the comments

Rounds Complete!!

Cool, Mike! Are you actually going to do like, airbrush shading with lowlights and highlights? This would be a perfect model for that! A little bit of black in the base coat for the lowlights, and some tan in there for faded highlights--could be VERY cool!?

It's looking monstrous. I'm still green!

Excellent! I'm doubly impressed, considering the "quality" of the kit itself.....

Karl - Yep....the Vallejo kit sets up the base color and mixes for the light and dark highlights. The light side is the bright green and the dark is a mix of the OD and a Russian green. That is the next step. Looking forward to it!! I do agree this will be a great model for this.

RBaer - a Double Thanks for the comments!!

Rounds Complete!!

Not a lot of work this weekend. Accomplished the shading using the Vallejo set mix of 50/50 OD green and Russian Green for the dark areas and the underside. On the top exposed areas the light highlight with Bright green. The canvas of the mantlet used Vallejo Canvas green (which is not in the VN set).

Next will be setting up for some blending, highlights and weathering. Also will begin working on the tracks

The shading came out great! I've got two of these shading sets though mine are AK Interactive and wonder what I'd do without them now, I could just add a drop or two of tan to the green as I go but they make it so much less muss and fuss.

She is coming along very nicely Mike.  Great job as always.

Yeah, lookin' very nice already. But I'm still puzzled with the colour - somehow I'm expecting some other shade, maybe darker? Any comments on this, Mike?

I'm also wondering about the chances to see drawings or photos of the interior of this - it would be a lot of work to build in scale, but still.

I bet there would be a nice base to show your model off - what are your plans here?

Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Gamera - Thanks. Thought I would give the ease of one of these sets a try.

Gino - You are always welcome at the firing point....thanks

Pawel - Overall the current "bare" color does even appear light to me. As I add wash, weathering and a "satin" finish I am hoping the overall color darkens up.

As for the drawings...would need to get a copy of the TM for the system. That would be the best place to see the layout of the inside.

The base i am still completing the thought but will be going a bit ore on the muddy side. Looking to use some Vallejo Still Water for some puddling

thanks again everyone

Rounds Complete!!