Thanks Gamera, and happy belated birthday!  

I decided that the kit 50 cal had too much wrong with it, so I swapped it out with one from an Academy equipment set.

It's 1990s quality, but it'll do.  We sure are spoiled by modern kit technology - I have a couple of Tasca's exquisite 50 cals, but they were too good to use on a "fun" build.  I did save the kit's pedestal mount, as it was okay.

While cleaning my room the other day, the duster flicked something onto the carpet, which turned out to be the front tow hook that pinged off while I was trying to straighten it out on the hull.

Who says the Carpet Monster never gives up its prey!  Actually, it was the Monster That Lives In The Shelves that gave it up.  It consumed a stainless steel landing gear part that was never found - even when I completely emptied the room to have it recarpeted!

I had started the task of making a new tow hook and mount, but gleefully tore the mount off the hull and scraped off the welds so that the original part could be glued back on.

Good to see some progress on this build continue.

Those Academy accessory sets are not going out of style any time soon. I'm still slowly parting out the one I have for builds. Even if there are much better molds and heck, shapeways ftw, there will always be uses for the older sets. Especially when you want to give I've to an older kit.

Nice save on that tow hook. Looks like you were working on some custom weld there and you shouldn't give up on those. They really are fun once you get the hang of it lol.

Mike, yep it is nice to build an old fashioned model, kind of like detox, not that I ever did that! 

Weld beads ARE fun to do!  I’ve done small ones in the past, but never had the opportunity to do a real long one.  I have found that using stretched sprue pre-shaped to the weld cross section combined with a “hot” liquid glue like Tamiya works a treat.  Selecting sprues made of soft plastic also helps make forming the beads easier.

The older Dragon plastics work well as they are really soft and melt easy.

I've saved a lot of those sprues for welding.

Mike, I also have a stash of both soft and hard sprue!  I wonder what our families would think when we pass away and they find a box of nothing but cut sprue in the stash?

I forgot to mention that the Academy accessory set had some fuel cans that were wa-y better than the ones in the kit.  But I'll need to either fabricate new racks or source a spare PE set that has some.  I think I have a surplus M551 set somewhere.

Lol. Funny you should mention that. I've used PE racks and I've made my own, but I most recently used some of the Academy fuel cans on my M-48A2 GA2 because I misplaced the kit cans. Which if I remember correctly, weren't that great.

G: BIG improvement there with the Academy parts. And congrads on finding the lost tow hook. There's a rule that if you scratchbuild or order a replacement part the missing one will show up again... 

And thanks for the birthday wishes, I'm getting used to being old... 

Gamera,

Yeah, that old rule about a lost part turning up only after a replacement is sourced or fabricated holds true once again.  I'll be darned; I tore my work area apart leaving nothing unturned.  But somehow dusting the area around my desk dislodged the part from its hiding place and deposited itself right in front of my feet.  Weird.

Anyway, without the onerous task of having to make a teeny tow hook, I decided to add the missing ribbing on the sides of the sponson storage boxes.  I used 0.010x0.020 strip styrene to simulate the stamped ribs.  If I were scratchbuilding this project, I'd have embossed 0.010 sheet plastic to get a more authentic look.  But this is a fun build so simple strip plastic it is.  I'm not sure how accurate the pattern on the forward boxes are, as I just guessed based on the box art.

And welcome to the 50+ Old Farts Club!  

Mike, gonna hit the mantlet cover next!

Those ribs on the forward box need to be vertical and not on a slant. That artwork is misleading.

Ha ha, too late!    The glue is already dry!  I’m going to overlook that mistake as part of my un-AMS therapy.

Onwards, onwards, to the mantlet cover!

Well,Gawly!

    If'n that ain't the cool Beans. I love it when that happens. Would you like to come look for a 1/96 " Banana " antennae I lost? Naw , looking good ! T.B.

I love this thread, real modeling! I used stretched sprue to do the stiffener ribs on mine, and did the same thing, copied the box art and slanted them. I'm okay though.

It wouldn't bee too hard to fix; shave off and reapply.

Awww Rob, you gonna make me do it?

Real G

Awww Rob, you gonna make me do it?

 

Too late bro, the AMS has already kicked in.  I’ll redo it tonight.

Looks good! 

And it shouldn't be too hard to shave off the ribbing. 

Looking good. That ribbing shouldn't be that hard to shave off. 

So I caved to peer pressure!    I shaved off the ribs and started over using Mike's photo as a reference.

I dove into the internet to have a look at the opposite side's pattern.  Two photos in, there was a nice clear left side view which showed the ribs perpendicular to the slanted top of the tool box.  The redo was not for naught, as I had incorrectly guessed the pattern.

It's all loosey-goosey, eyeball guesstimated approximations, so apologies if I didn't get it exactly right!

I also added a guard to the loader's periscope, using the kit box art as a guide.  The plastic from the kit was brittle, so the stretched sprue immediately broke when bent.  I used a stick of incense (the skinny kind for altars, not the huge fruity scented hippie kind) to carefully heat the areas to be bent.  Now I know from firsthand observation of this type of guard that the ends are bent flat, turned inwards and attached to the hull, but I went the lazy way and just drilled holes and stuck them in.

The guard is too thick and probably not the right height, so shhhh....

I won't tell a soul! I too work in approximations and I'm not always on the mark with scale. Just what looks right.

Oops, that was Rob that posted the photo of the tool box - sorry Mike!

Oh wait, it's ALL you guys' fault!    Ha ha!

Looks good, really like the periscope guard. 

Thanks Gamera!

Here are pics of a Tamiya M41 that Hawaii AMPS prez William Florig built for our display at the Aloha Great Guns Show over this past weekend.  It's OOTB, no ifs ands or buts.

Good thing he finished his, since I didn't finish mine!  

That is definitely OOB. But I do like the worn and faded look he gave it. 

Well;

   " Tanks to You" I will dig one out of my box of Doom for Armor and finish one.

Coming along nicely. Amazing what you can do with an old kit. 

Real G

Thanks Gamera!

Here are pics of a Tamiya M41 that Hawaii AMPS prez William Florig built for our display at the Aloha Great Guns Show over this past weekend.  It's OOTB, no ifs ands or buts.

Good thing he finished his, since I didn't finish mine!  

 

Oh WOW, that looks sharp! 

The model I am building, when complete, will be handed to it’s owner when he returns from Japan - if he returns at all!

He’s having too much fun over there.  He ran into Mr. Tamiya while visiting the factory in Shizuoka, got to chat with him and got a full tour of the facilities.  On top of that, he ran into Mr. “T” again at the All Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo and got invited to lunch!  OMG, I am not a jealous kind of guy, but man I am JEALOUS.

Anyway, I mentioned to him that Mr. “T” has two daughters...

Real G

The model I am building, when complete, will be handed to it’s owner when he returns from Japan - if he returns at all!

He’s having too much fun over there.  He ran into Mr. Tamiya while visiting the factory in Shizuoka, got to chat with him and got a full tour of the facilities.  On top of that, he ran into Mr. “T” again at the All Japan Hobby Show in Tokyo and got invited to lunch!  OMG, I am not a jealous kind of guy, but man I am JEALOUS.

Anyway, I mentioned to him that Mr. “T” has two daughters...

 

Oh wow MISTER TAMIYA himself!!! I'd be more jazzed over that than any Hollywood superstar! 

Yes, I am a geek... 

Well, my friend looks super Japanese and is fluent in the language, so no barriers there.  He's a Gunpla modeler recently turned Tamiya convert and is ga-ga over their 1/48 armor line.  His enthusiasm shows and he has a likable personality.

Lucky bum.  

I should paint his M41 pink and paste "itasha" girly decals all over it...  Naw, that would violate my programming and force a CPU shutdown.