Yeah, the hand grips above the side hatches aren't glued on yet for that reason.

Contact Tamiya customer service about getting replacement parts. I have always had superb service from them.

Also, little things like those are best left till later in construction when handling is not likely to knock them off. No matter what the instructions say.

Now I lost the tow hooks off the rear of the hull, above the tail lights. I guess they were tow hooks. I guess they come off when I was gluing the hull to the tub. Oh well. Lost to the carpet monster. I might just patch the holes with styrene from the inside.

Tojo72

Did you get Lulubelle decals,I got mine here,they say out of stock but if you email them they will notify you when they run them again

https://company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/products/afv-decal-us-m3-lee-lulubelle?variant=39127879118

 

 

Thanks, Tojo. I'll contact those folks.

TankerEasy

Gotta love when the carpet decides to eat a part lol. It's amazing how fast something can disappear 

 

Yikes!! I actually found the M-3's horn just now. The tiney O.D. Green part laying on a dark blue carpet. It nearly jumped into my hand.

Following along myself here. I must have built this kit a half-dozen times now, still have two of the more recent examples in the case, and I found one in the stash, still in the wrapper. I'm thinking about doing something with it, now that I have a real stash of parts kits to pull good bits out of, most especially some accurate tracks.

Of course I could buy a Takom Lee, but what's the fun in that?

Did you get Lulubelle decals,I got mine here,they say out of stock but if you email them they will notify you when they run them again

https://company-b-models-and-miniatures.myshopify.com/products/afv-decal-us-m3-lee-lulubelle?variant=39127879118

Gotta love when the carpet decides to eat a part lol. It's amazing how fast something can disappear 

Coming on nicely there frank. That missing part is indeed a horn. I never figured out why a large lump on metal with a lud engine needed a horn, but they do have them.

Looks good!!! Assembling all those road wheels and bogies are the hard part- it's all downhill from here!

Getting close...

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When I install the .30cals, they are going to be brass rods instead of the plastic sticks provided in the kit.

I did lose a part the other day. It was tiny and round and when I picked it up with the tweezers it shot across the room and disappeared into the carpet.

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The part in the yellow circle disappeared into the carpet. It looks like a siren. Who needs a siren on a tank?

The M-3 "Lulubelle" is coming along well. I'm assembling the bogies right now. Most of the turret is assembled. No guns are attached yet. I had to thin the deck where the turret attaches because the friction fit was just too tight. Plodding right along.

I'm getting my shopping list ready for Modelpalooza in September. I'll be looking for some of the figure kits we were discussing earlier. Maybe I'll get lucky and find them at a good price...

If it’s from King and Country most of their stuff is 1/30 scale, not 1/35. He would be way overscale for the Tamiya M3 Lee. And yes, K&C stuff is not cheap, but instead quite pricey. A local shop carries their stuff. Somebody else gets to do all the fun stuff of building and painting, and all the customer does is plop down top dollar for the stuff. Personally I prefer my own skill level to what I see in their product.

Well, I found the Master Sergeant Joe Gunn resin figure. Kinda pricey at $49.00. No discounts to be found anywhere.

From king andcountry.com The figure appears to be prepainted. I'm gonna hafta pass on this. I think I can recreate Sgt. Joe Gunn pretty well from kit supplied figure or from one of the aftermarket figure sets. Much cheaper!

The Tamiya M-3 Lee appears to be the correct kit to represent the tank from Bogart's 1943 movie. I bought the M-3 Grant tank last year by mistake and have since given it away. I'm going to look for that resin figure of Bogey as Sgt. Joe Gunn. Having that figure would be just awesome!

fotofrank

I didn't pay close enough attention at all, did I. When I saw this picture, I saw a Sherman not a Lee. Must be the new eye glasses...

 

If you look closely, it's the Austrailian version of the M3 Lee used in the Belushi movie. Instead of the .30 cal cupola of the US version, it has the plain split hatch used by the Grant turret. The original movie had a very patriotic feel to it since it was made during WW2. The remake is as good, but doesn't capture the same feeling as the original.

So if you want to represent the movie version (old or new) there are differences in the tanks. Once upon a time, I think there was a resin Bogey figure as Sgt Joe Gunn.

Apparently belongs to a private collector in Australia. 

fotofrank

You can really dirty 'em up I you want.

 

I'm going a weird direction with mine.

Real G

Hey, that Tamiya M3 Lee was my first "real" tank model too!  Before that game changing kit, I only recall building a Revell T-34/85 that was smaller than 1/35 I think.  The M3 gave me a taste of Tamiya that I decided I liked a LOT!  Gosh, that was back in 1976 or so.

 

Around then. The hull on my kit has 1974 molded into the inside.

Hey, that Tamiya M3 Lee was my first "real" tank model too!  Before that game changing kit, I only recall building a Revell T-34/85 that was smaller than 1/35 I think.  The M3 gave me a taste of Tamiya that I decided I liked a LOT!  Gosh, that was back in 1976 or so.

following long

You can really dirty 'em up if you want.

Cool, I'll be watching this build. I just finished the Tamiya Lee and now weathering.

Tojo72

 

 

fotofrank

I don't know what the premise is for the Belushi movie but they operate a Sherman tank. I'm not a big fan of movie remakes/updates.

 

 

 

 

The Belushi remake of Sahara is a close adoption of the Bogie movie,but it does depart a little bit.Not a great movie by any means,but entertaining for sure.But they do without a doubt drive a Lee in both versions,no Sherman in either.

 

Yes, I was pretty amazed that they were able to come up with a running M3 to film the new version. 

I didn't pay close enough attention at all, did I. When I saw this picture, I saw a Sherman not a Lee. Must be the new eye glasses...

fotofrank

I don't know what the premise is for the Belushi movie but they operate a Sherman tank. I'm not a big fan of movie remakes/updates.

 

The Belushi remake of Sahara is a close adoption of the Bogie movie,but it does depart a little bit.Not a great movie by any means,but entertaining for sure.But they do without a doubt drive a Lee in both versions,no Sherman in either.

I don't know what the premise is for the Belushi movie but they operate a Sherman tank. I'm not a big fan of movie remakes/updates.

The three guys in the coveralls/fatigues would be appropriate for North Africa. Actually the other two in the tanker jackets would be also, but for cooler weather periods. 

The TC figure with the kit is not bad either, but the Miniart and Masterbox figures are much nicer!

I’ll keep an eye on this one. I like what you have in mind.

stikpusher

That Tamiya Lee is an oldie but goodie. It is actually the Diesel engined version. Which I believe did not see combat service with US forces in Africa. 

This figure set would help for your plan, but it’s based off the Jim Belushi remake rather than the Bogie original Sahara

 

Yeah, Stikpusher, that's one of the figure sets I've looked at. The Jim Belushi figure is the only one I wouldn't use. Probably use the head or hat of the French soldier for the Senegalese soldier to better represent the soldier in the movie.

This Mini-Art crew might work too:

I know they're ETO, but the set could work.