As always your details are a work of art. Nice work.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Mike.  Always good to have you check in.

Hey Gino, nice work as usual on the searchlight and the rifle case. 

The latter does confuse me. Was the rifle for the CO and why did he need this when he has a machine gun in the cupola turret? Just seems odd to me. 

Thanks Gamera - The rifle was for the TC (Tank Commander).  Sometimes you need the precision of a rifle over a spray and pray MG inside a cupola that is hard to aim, limits your line of sight, and can't really be maneuvered quickly.  A rifle can be quickly shouldered, aimed and fired before the MG in the cupola can be spun around to find the target through a soda straw sight.  This is the same reason many later M48A3 TC's in Vietnam removed the internal .50 cal and mounted a free .50 cal onto the outside of the TC's cupola on a pintle mount so it could be brought to bear quickly when needed.

Thanks Gino for taking the time to explain that. Makes a lot of sense. 

Hello Gino!

It's good to see you building again! I believe this one will fit your finishing style perfectly - I have heard the Berlin Brigade kept their stuff very clean. Some time ago I helped my friend restore a 51' M-38 Jeep, and we have also painted it in Berlin Command markings. Good luck with your build and have a nice day

Paweł

Thanks Pawel.  Yup, this one will be very clean and in semi-gloss dark green.  The Berlin BDE vehicles were on display to the Soviets as much as a show of force.  They were kept pristine.

One of my dream builds! Good to see you're on top of this one, Gino. :)

yes, and the right guy is on the job!

Thanks Mike and SprueOne.  I hope it meets your expectations.

I am really liking what I see here so far!  I am looking forward to the next progress report.

Thanks Stik.  I hope to have more this weekend.

I'm following too!

Here's a photo you may already have, an interesting study of tanker uniforms. Kind of a rummage sale.

So, a question. Maybe you will address this in your review. I have that kit too, but haven't started it. There seem to be several options in the box mostly concerning the running gear. Have you sorted those out? Is it A nothing versus A1?

Looking forward to watching this.

Bill

Thanks Bill, good pic.  As to the suspension, I am not following.  There is only one way to do the suspension in the kit.  The M48 and M48A1 had an extra tensioner wheel right in front of the sprocket on both sides (see image below).  This is accurately represented in the kit.

M48A1

GMorrison

So, a question. Maybe you will address this in your review. I have that kit too, but haven't started it. There seem to be several options in the box mostly concerning the running gear. Have you sorted those out? Is it A nothing versus A1? 

 

The main visual difference from the A1 to the "A0" is cupola/TC hatch. The original 48 had a hatch similar to the Urdan cupola later fitted to some M48A5s and on Magachs in IDF service.

BTW I found that, I think it's from

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/235070-slingshotmodels-ssm35004-m48-patton-early-type-commander-s-cupola

I talked to Constantinos. It's still available for 15.5 EU inc. shipping.

I don't need to tell you guys that an Urdan and an A cupola are different.

Gino, you need to rewatch Elvis.

The M48 also had a smaller driver's hatch, along with the "Urdan-like" low-profile TC's cupola, as linked above.  There are no M48 parts in the box.  There are a bunch of parts that I think would allow you to build an M48A2 or possibly an M48A3 though.  You end up with a bunch of left-overs when done.

Gino-

Sprue D and J, and the extra sets of swing arms (2 each side) on sprue C.

Are D and J parts for a A2?

You use a few parts off of sprue D and J, but most of those parts are for A2 and/or A3 builds.  The extra roadwheel arms are just that, extra.  The same C sprues are used in their M103 kits, which were built on elongated M48 chassis with an extra roadwheel per side, hence, 2 extra roadwheel arms.  You end up with quite a few extra suspension parts from the M103 kits, which also has more shocks, return rollers, and other suspension parts.

Thank you for the info. It is a nice looking kit. I've got two projects in mind. I'll be watching this one. My only other M48 was the Mono one.

Other interesting things in your F-25 photo.

The weapon the MP is holding.

The font for the "25" on the turret. See the horizontal on the 5? It has the same style as the font on the sign on the roof of the checkpoint.

And the U-Bahn station sign in the background.

GMorrison

Other interesting things in your F-25 photo.

The weapon the MP is holding.

The font for the "25" on the turret. See the horizontal on the 5? It has the same style as the font on the sign on the roof of the checkpoint.

And the U-Bahn station sign in the background.

 

The MP looks to be carrying an Ithaca M-37 riot gun, a Winchester Model 12 riot gun, or a Stevens 620 riot gun in 12 gauge. 

I've made more progress on the Berlin BDE M48A1.  It is ready for paint.  Hopefully I will be able to lay some paint down soon, but it will most likely be a while as life keeps getting in the way.

I completed the hard rifle case.  I used scrap PE straps and a buckle for the flap and strap.


I also finished the cover for the Crouse-Hinds search light.  Surprisingly, the man-hole cover from an M1A1 Abrams, with a few bolts removed, fit perfectly and the bolts lined up perfectly as well.


I added the interior details to the TC's and loader's hatches as well.  I used scrap PE and thin solder for the latch mechanisms.  Dragon left both of these smooth and featureless on the inside.


I cut the mud release holes into the outer rear sprockets that Dragon also left off.  They are at the 12, 4, and 8 o'clock positions.  I used a 5/64 bit for the larger end near the outer sprocket ring, and a 1/16 bit for the smaller end near the center of the sprocket.  Then cut between the holes to connect them and smooth out with a file.


A detailed description is below.


Lastly, I worked on some of the details.  F-25 had a wooden box on the right rear fender.  I stacked a couple of ammo boxes out of an Academy accessory set and detailed them with sheet and rod styrene.  I also used an AFV Club .50 cal barrel with flash suppressor, mated to the Dragon .50 cal base.  Lastly, I detailed a couple of fuel cans that will be on the turret sides.


Like I said, this may be the last update for a while, we'll see.
 
As always, all comments are welcomed.

She's lookin' good Gino. 

Really nice work on the insides of the hatches and opening the drive sprockets, when I dig out my M48 I'm going to have to follow your lead. 

Thanks Gamera.  I did get a chance to do a little moer work on it.

I started on some of the custom decals that will be required for F-25 that Dragon left off.  The main one is the 40 AR BDE "patch" that will go onto the cover for the search light.

It looks like a standard AR division patch, w/a 40 on the top, like below.

I will be resizing (the one on the tanks were elongated) and printing this on computer decal paper.

Gino,   Great  subject, Great model and idea for a part of the cold war.

There were still guys over there that remembered that  “little fracas”   6 years later.   

     ‘course we had those fun loving Russian “vacationers” swinging into Czechoslovakia in ’68 to keep us troopers awake and “amused” by their goings on

Thanks Duster.  I hope to get some more done on it soon.

Love the rifle case....nice details so far.

Rounds Complete!!

Thanks Mike.  I hope to get it finished up soon.