M-41 Walker Bulldog

Great buy littlemoe. Can't wait for some pictures of it.
mark956

washes and dry brushing really bring out the detail in armor models specially dark colored ones....

can any one offer any advice as where and what color wash to use????

On the M-41 you see in the previous pix, I washed the entire vehicle with a thin black wash.

OK, now i need some advice/help....... just as a reminder, i'm building Tamiya's M41 BullDog......


In the instructions, it shows the option of making a Gun Sheild Cover out of poly bag and string.... has anyone done this???? this is my first armor kit, should i try this????? The directions are a bit confusing.... please help.....

by the way, the buikd is going good so far, but i'm basically doing an OOB, my only regret is not filling the holes on the bootom of thetank that would beused if it were motorized .... kinda too late now, 'cause i already put the wheels and sprockets, as well as some of the smaller peices on lower hull already.

I'm afraid if i start to sand and sand , i might break something.....

Anyhooo, sorry for rambling.....


Thanks

ok, one more thing, whichway are the tracks supposed togo??? Does it Matter???? shold the tracks remain black???

Hi, Littlemoe!

Filling in the holes in the bottom of the hull is completely up to you. Unless you pose the tank on its side or upside-down, nobody will know!

The Tamiya "gunshield" (mantlet cover) plastic bag suggestion is best avoided! It is commonly acknowledged in hobby literature here in Japan to be a very poor way to represent the mantlet cover. And I've seen pictures to prove it! I used the nice Ordnance Models resin piece on my M-41, but I've seen some really great covers made by hand with a variety of putties. AFV Club also sells a vinyl mantlet cover for 400 yen (about $3.60 US) if you can find it. I'm not sure if it would fit the Tamiya kit very well, though.

The tracks do have a "proper" way to be put on; with the "pointy" end of the semi-triangular pad pointing down (looking at the vehicle from the front). Be careful if you have the kit with the box art showing the tank from the rear! You may confuse the direction of the tracks if you mistake that to be the front of the tank (and it's easy to do!).

As far as painting the tracks goes, I left the AFV Club tracks the original black and drybrushed dark metallic gray on the metal parts (everything but the rubber pads), then washed and weathered 'em.
The Tamiya tracks are already a metallic gray color, so you may want to paint them acrylic flat black and then do the metallic gray drybrush thing. Or, you could just paint the pads black and use a wash to darken the silver parts.
One thing about the stock Tamiya tracks is that there is no detail at all on the insides, so what I did when I originally built this kit with the original tracks was to simply draw with a pencil and ruler lines across the insides of the tracks to represent the individual links. After a bit of weathering, the effect was quite convincing, and much better than the original smooth surface.

Good luck, Littlemoe! I hope this has been helpful.
Post some pix if you can!

WOW thanks Mr. Hulk!!! Some great advice!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!! Hopefully tonight i will post some "in progress pics"..... although there isn't much to see, just OOB!!!!!!!!

Cool! Looking forward to your pix.
And there ain't nothing wrong with OOB, my friend!

littlemoe - I'm coming into this thread late, but I've built the Tamiya and Skybow BullDog Light Tanks. I have some information on both at my website that might help you out:

Tamiya's M41 Walker BullDog

Skybow's M41A3 Walker BullDog

Below is my Tamiya Walker BullDog.



Jim

Very nice work, Jim!
Thanks for posting your links, too. (I couldn't access the Tamiya M41 pages from the first link, but I could via the second)
Gonna come in handy when I start my AFV Club M41A3!

OK Littlemoe, forget everything I said. Let's listen to Jim!

Thanks J-Hulk for the compliment & I fixed the link to the Tamiya page.

Jim :-)

Great stuff Jim ..... thanks for sharing with us.

QUOTE: Originally posted by guntruck Thanks J-Hulk for the compliment & I fixed the link to the Tamiya page. Jim :-)

Hey Gunnie, I see you finally decided to pop in.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rob Gronovius QUOTE: Originally posted by guntruck Thanks J-Hulk for the compliment & I fixed the link to the Tamiya page. Jim :-) Hey Gunnie, I see you finally decided to pop in.

Heh heh - yep - it's been a long time since I visited here...

Gunnie
(Jim)

Well, well, well, the gunmeister is here. Glad to see you here Gunnie too.

HOLY COW Jim!!!!! thatsasweettank!!! i can garuntee mine won'y look anything like that!!!!!

Thanks for the links.... what did you use for the Gun sheild cover on the Tamiya model??? Is something i can do???


thanks

Good question! How'd ya make that mantlet cover, Gunnie?

well,i'm embaressed, but here are some early pics of the bulldog.....


for the first time, i'm trying to do a wash, Tamiya's flat black, water, and a touch of suds..... just doesn't look right.... the paint got much darker... am i doing it right??? I put the wash on then blot off the extra with a paper towl.......

o well i just might repaint it and start over........ should i have shot Future on it before the wash???


Please tell me what you think,,,, I can take it.........

Actually, I'd build the whole thing before trying a wash, Littlemoe.
If the wash seems too dark for your taste, try thinning it even more, and wiping it off the model before it dries. That way, only the nooks and crannies will be dark.
Some folks glosscote or use Future before a wash, but I actually prefer washing over a matte finish. Particularly for armor, it gives the model a nice, grungy "texture" that I like.

Hey littlemoe, if you are going to use photoetch, remember to paint it!

It's a nice little kit of a handsome little tank. Build it, spray it OD, put it on the shelf to menace your hot rods. Don't worry about the etch.

littlemoe - sure your efforts can look like mine - and better! Just takes practice, that's all. Keep on building them!

I made the Mantlet Cover out of simple Kleenex Tissue...

Gunnie

tissue paper???? ummmm i think i will skip taht step!!!!!!

Thanks for the pictures of your tanks Guntruck and littlemoe.
mark956

Ron - the tissue paper technique is quite easy to do.

Don't toss it to the curb yet, consider it and we'll explain how to do it.

ok gentlemen, please explain.........

And Here I am thinking Kleenex was only good for the tears after watching a model shatter from a drop!

lol chris..... shremie, can you tell me how to do that?????


Thanks

Take an tissue and cut it approximately the size that you want your cover to be. Mix white glue and water 50 / 50 in a small container. From here you can go two different ways.

Method 1 - lay the kleenex over the area you want covered and apply the glue/water mix with a soft brush. Just keep pushing the kleenex into place with a toothpick. Repeat until the area is completely covered. Allow it to dry completely. Then paint it Khaki Drab or whatever colour you need.

Method 2 - dip the tissue into the white glue / water mixture and then lay it over the area you want covered. Push into place with a toothpick. Follow the above steps until complete.

Here's a couple of pics of a Sherman I did using the first method.





Very easy to do ... give it a try.

thanks shermy, i might have to give it a try
thanks