Author Topic: Some classic models of classic cold war armor (Read 2140 times)

Schriv · « **on:** August 11, 2017, 03:45:38 PM »

OK, I'm testing out IMGUR as a replacement for photobucket.

The first tank is something I have wanted to build for years and finally got around to doing it. It is a one-off since the expense to build just doesn't support doing another one. An M47 Patton II. A classic cold war tank that equipped most of NATO for two decades and served with the US Marines until 1959. It is now my 'personal' tank when we game this era and nobody else gets to run it.

I used parts from several busted up and incomplete 1956 and1963 vintage Aurora 1/48 Patton kits to build up the hull and the turret started life out as a Solido replacement part I bought from an ebay seller in France. Apparently the fad in the 60's was to paint random bits on your tank models in silver or red. most of the busted kits I have bought are done in that 'style'. No bigee, I'm an engineer and I can fix it.

The front glacis on the original kit had to be reworked to remove the blower and increase the angle of the front plate. Lots of plastruc sheet and putty. I also removed the sand skirts since I've never seen a picture of an active service M47 using them. I intentionally left off the armored cowls on the mufflers since pictures show some tanks with, some without. The kit needs all the detail it can get and hiding the mufflers under a flat plate wouldn't help.

The turret was attacked with a dremel to remove the crappy Solido gun and fuel cans. A plastic 90MM gun from the bits box and some rangefinder hoods made from 1/72 scale bombs make a big difference. Some fuel cans and grab handles from the bit box were added for detail.

Schriv · « **Reply #1 on:** August 11, 2017, 03:48:45 PM »

I've reduced the size on the pics so that an IMAX sized monitor is no longer required.

Westfalia Chris · « **Reply #2 on:** August 11, 2017, 05:35:52 PM »

Quote from: Schriv on August 11, 2017, 03:48:45 PM

Sorry about the size. I'll need to reformat.

Note that you can change the display size for the board by editing your post. The image tags have a set width and height, which defaults to 1000px wide for pics larger than that, so if you work out the proper proportions, you can just change those manually.

Back to topic, being on a bit of a Cold War roll myself right now, lovely stuff there. My nostalgia twang is 1/72 plastics, but those look marvellous, even if they are (as you pointed out on your "big thread") quite a bit toylike, but IMHO, it only adds to their charm.

Schriv · « **Reply #3 on:** August 11, 2017, 07:38:26 PM »

Excellent. I'll tinker around with the image parameters.
I've been more concerned with getting an account set up on IMGUR so I can tell Photobucket to piss off, and haven't had much time to get into editing.

SABOT · « **Reply #4 on:** August 13, 2017, 11:12:00 PM »

Great job on those - lovely colours and great pics.

Ballardian · « **Reply #5 on:** August 15, 2017, 05:56:24 PM »

Nice work, you've turned some fairly indifferent plastic into great looking models

Schriv · « **Reply #6 on:** August 16, 2017, 01:22:02 PM »

Thanks.
The kits are very dated due their origins in the mid-late 1950's, but they go together very easily.
Some minor tweaks, and they work great for what I need them for.
And are as far I can tell, they are the only 1/48 representation of an M46 ever kitted and sold.
The old 1960's Aurora kits along with the early 1970's Monogram snap-tite tanks have a high nostalgic value for me since I built all of them as a kid.
Now, 40+ years later, I'm pushing them around on a vinyl game mat rather than out on the sandbox.
I couldn't stop from growing old, but I never grew up.

The old Aurora IS-3 Stalin tanks are another of my nostalgic favorites. The kits themselves are horrible if you are a rivet counter, but fall into the same category as the M46 in that nobody has ever bothered to do a good version.

Both of the ones I have came to me via ebay in various states of disrepair. The 1963 version (115) was partially assembled, but the road wheels and return rollers had been glued in the wrong places. That took all of an hour to fix.
I dressed it up with some tape to simulate panel lines/surface detail and some scrap items from the bits box. Nothing will change it's cartoonish appearance, but it looks pretty good parked next to a 1/48 IS-2 or T-54 on my game table.
The second tank (101) was a 1976 reissue and had some panel lines molded into the hull but nothing else done to fix the overall kit. It had been stepped on or dropped and the back of the hull was cracked. Some extra fuel cans now hide the splice over the repaired crack.