Thanks, my friend. I finished this one months ago. I just took more pictures in different lighting. Nothing has changed yet.

As far as the kits defects are concerned, you can see that it still builds up out of the box as a nice model.

Hello Mike!

Nice to see a finished M103! This tank is kinda special to me - I've had a tech drawing of it in the book that I learned to read from (you better don't ask - that's a longer story...)

Anyhow, the model looks good!

I also have one in my stash, but I'm a little afraid to start it - it's a shame Dragon effed it up like this and I'd probably start to correct those errors "a little" and end up cutting the whole model apart to do it throughly... So I better do some easier builds first, like my CEV - dang, that modelling disease!

Anyhow, congratulations on a very nice model and thanks for sharing, have a nice day

Paweł

Usually I do. But all of my stuff is packed up. I did manage to keep the camera from ending up in a box though.

These pictures are still not satisfactory and I know it, guys. I will be taking more later when I can set some stuff up properly for it.

Still, its not too shabby for just being built out of the box. Even with all of the innaccuracies with the kit itself. It still looks like an M-103 lol. I think I need to set it next to one of the other kits just to see the size differences. That should be neat lol. I haven't seen anyone do that yet.  :)

From what I can see it looks really good, Mike. but yuou should really invest in a better lighting system to get better photos. Especially if you're an active commissioned modeler; it would help your business to have better representations of your models in photos.

She looks great to me Mike, I love the dirty and grimy without being overdone look you've got going on there. 

And yeah a Jeep would look cool there, kinda showing off the turret is bigger than the whole friggin' Jeep! 

Thanks Gino. I need to build up a little bit of road and then "plant" some shrubberies lol. The sand on the base is some sort of tectured paint dad added on there while I was away. Its stuck real good so building on top of it should be easy. Just need to get some fine sand and make it an uneven surface.

I'm currently thinking of just having it on a road during manuevers. Nothing special. But more dust is needed for sure.

Perhaps a jeep off to the side with someone "pointing the way" would be more interesting though.

It is looking good.  The large base really accentuates the size of the gun.  To fill the dead space in the foreground, an AFV Club M38A1 or a Tamiya M151A1 would look perfect with it.

Okay. I took some more pictures. Not great pictures because I have different lighting, but I have some that are better than the last ones for sure lol. With this base its going to need a lot more dust. Lots of little plants and things to add to this base as well. Just need to find the time.















And here's the rest of them that need some finishing touches, just sitting in a box. lol

I've got some top loading UNarmored air filter boxes from Shapeways that need to get fitted onto the M-60A1. They are a mm thinner than the AFVC air filters and were made for the Tamiya kits, but they should work... if I can pry off the AFVC boxes without damaging the fenders.  :/

Ye, the stuff on Salisbury Plain, mixed with grass twigs and what ever else, used to set like concrete.

Yes it was... and all the time you spent in line waiting for your turn at the wash rack you were chipping away at the stuff...

stikpusher

M. Brindos

"We did wash them occasionally" Said my father lol.

As soon as you roll out of the field and before they are parked back in the motor pool... 

 

And isn't it a pain in the butt to get that crap off, even with those hoses.

M. Brindos

"We did wash them occasionally" Said my father lol.

As soon as you roll out of the field and before they are parked back in the motor pool... 

M. Brindos

Yeah, I'm thinking of more cold war era tanks for sure. I'd love to try my skills out on a Leo. Someone has inspired me with that one.  lol  :)

Yes! Cold War armor rocks!

once upon a time in Germany...

"We did wash them occasionally" Said my father lol.

Yeah, I'm thinking of more cold war era tanks for sure. I'd love to try my skills out on a Leo. Someone has inspired me with that one.  lol  :)

Well, AFV's are often clean at some point lol. I think you have achieved nicely what you set out to. There's plenty of kits out there to get down and dirty with.

Thanks Bish!  :D

As much as I wanted to add a bunch of fun stowage and dress this up a bit with more faded and dirty weathering it didn't look like that in the photo I was instructed to replicate.

So it turned out exactly as it should have, based on the artist's rendering. The confirmation from Tanker Dad as to its authenticity was definitely a boost for my confidence. But yeah Bish, I'd love to have gone and had some fun with this kit lol.  :)

Nicely finished build Mike, and good to see something different.

LOL.

I fixed my above post and changed up the pictures a bit. I haven't tried to do a re-shoot yet.

Thank you for the comments guys.  :)

Mike, nice finish to this plastic beast  

stik, this model tank would probably need a chair like this:

http://www.hahabird.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/IMG_4240.jpg

Mike, I use a similar set up for taking photos. Just a suggestion but if you drape a plain solid color bedsheet over the base and chair arms and back, you get a nice non distracting background. A neutral color or plain white sheet works great.

By the way, very nicely done!

Sorry. Using the droid still. I'll fix this when I have a chance. :(

Finally!

It was hard to get this beast to fit in my little shooting area mostly because of the enormous AA cannon they wedged into it.

One last minute change was to correct the "O"12 into the correct "D"12.

I need a bigger area to take photos in lol.

So here it is. One "clean" M-103A2 as it would have looked in Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis era while on base, circa 1962.

In hindsight there are few things I would do differently, but I'm happy enough with the final results.

Thanks for the support and advice during this project. You guys are the best and I'm glad to be counted among you as a respected peer.

Thank You all!

Update incoming.

I'm just learning to navigate this wonderful and insightful forum, when I came across this; Oh My!  WOW!  I can't believe what I'm seeing.  Speechless.

Toshi

Mike your build is looking fantastic. The person your building it for is going to have a model to be proud of!!!

I dunno know how accurate the colour is but I really like the variation and 'depth' to it.

Very nice paint work, Mike. You're starting to get some real depth.

Hey Mike,

I've been busy as of late, but wanted to say that your model here looks pretty good. The finish is appropriately "busy" and I like what you did spattering the wheels. :)

Thanks Stick. I've got a lot of detailing left on the tracks to do still and the vision blocks need to be blacked out as well. Yeah, its all the little things. That's right lol.