Perfect timing, right? Takom has releaseda trio of very nice M48 models, reviewed as better than Dragon's and at reasonable prices, so why not pull the next-to-the last Tamiya M48 out of the stash and build it? I admit to having wanted to build a Vietnam-era M48 for a while now, both to use the AM I've had stashed for a while and to have one in the case. The two I'd previously built were gifted or sold, the most recent built about ten years ago. Plus, I picked up the Model B Dragon kit recently, from a stack right next to a bunch of the Takom kits for less than the minimum amount of AM I'd feed to the Tamiya kit, giving me an example of better detailing and correct hull nose shape. I'll also build the Dragon kit, maybe as a Model B, maybe something else in IDF service, not sure yet.
Item one to fix on the Tamiya kit is the hull's nose. Tamiya missed the shape, making it blunt and pointy at the same time. Pic shows a Tamiya hull and the Dragon hull from the top.
IMG_3847 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Using Aves putty and MrSurfacer, I sharpened the nose and softened the "beak", seen below.
IMG_3849 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_3850 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Motorization holes were plugged in the TAmiya hull and a spacer was made to enable use of a spare Dragon rear engine door set, with other bits scratched, Dragon parts or scrap box. Another issue with the Tamiya hull I'll fudge on is its depth, to accomodate batteries and a motor.
IMG_3845 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Tracks fitted are from the Dragon kit, new to me and not from the old DS material. They required cryo glue to join and appear to be more similar to AFV Club's tracks. I'll use them on one of these, not sure which yet.
Then to the turret: After seeing a few pics of sandbags piles on turrets and having what I think is a cheap-o knock off of a Legends set, I decided to use it here. I already had a turret started with an old Barrel Depot gun tube and the mantlet cover filled in with Aves putty, so on it went, actually fitting well. I have a few more bags in the set, probably for the hull front. The only issue here is the poor molding quality of the side bag clusters. Apparently the real things were stacked on top of track links fastened to the turret side rails, and the molding was really poor, so I fudged in some parts to fill holes and blobs. Ther will be more links hung under there, below the rails.
IMG_3837 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
On the Dragon kit, I assembled the basic hull added the swing arms, remembered the road wheels did not have the rims done correctly, so out came a Takom "Brave Tiger" kit I'd already robbed for parts to get the road wheels. Easy enough to do, much more accurate.
IMG_3838 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
And then I thought about the Tamiya wheels: thick rims with no lips at all, and shallow. I have a bunch of old Tamiya and Academy road wheels around, both unused and from recycled models, so I experimented. I rigged an arbor to chuck a wheel in my motor tool, made up a couple of cutting tools and cut a recess in the rim to at least give the impression of an "overlap". The result is satisfactory, and I can save one of my Takom kits for something else.
IMG_3846 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Also done was separation of the Tamiya swing arms and bump stops to enable lowering the ride height to a more accurate level and moving the pivot of the front right swing arm to the correct position. Spare Dragon bits will be used to finish up the Tamiya suspension.