UVS: Vietnam - M48A3 WIP 04/09/2022

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Is it any good?

I found it informative (but it is not my general area of interest).

It certainly adds to the information in the Tet Offensive book I bought back in 1990.


The new book does lack the war-games table type pictures (like the one on the cover of the Tet book).

[Paul @ Empress Miniatures]

Yeah I like those images. They explain things well and usually look good. 

[Ultravanillasmurf]

It has been a while.

Not helped by mislaying the headlight clusters for more than seven months (who would have imagined finding the remaining white metal and resin components in a ziplock bag boldly labelled "Patton"?).

There is a small hole on the searchlight to fill and plenty of soft stowage to add.

[Blackwolf]

Well done!

[carlos marighela]

Nice work! I like what you’ve done there. It’s a fun kit to work on. Might want to add the pipe for the crew heater over the right fender, although I think it might have been deleted on some tanks in Vietnam. They certainly weren’t using the heater itself.

Just don’t be daft and hack away, adding suspension dampener arms on the running gear like I did. Nobody will bloody notice anyway, save for the silly sod who carved away resin and buggered about with various sizes of plastic rod.

[tomrommel1]

nbice piece of kit

[Grumpy Gnome]

Just came across this thread, great stuff as usual mate. Clever idea with using Zona Alfa for a solo Vietnam game. Any more info on that?

[Paul @ Empress Miniatures]

Looking good.

Are you adding the tank tracks to the turret sides?

[Ash]

It's a very nice model, looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Thanks.

Carlos, your post on detailing the M48 kit was on my screen while I was working on this.

I had added the heater pipe (okay it only reaches the edge of the trackguard as I had added the "ammo" boxes beforehand). It was not clear on the previous picture (and not much clearer here - for extra fun I added two because I had looked at a plan of an A1, then removed the second one)


I also made up a gun cradle.


Paul, I keep looking at the track, not sure if I can get them on the side as my handrails are a bit low.

Should they be tread side out or inside out?

First two new pieces of soft stowage added.

[CapnJim]

From what Vietnam tankers told me, it was easier hanging them with the center guides facing outwards.  But they did it both ways.

[carlos marighela]

Looking better and better!

Yeah, they swapped the crew heater to the other side between the A1 versions and those that followed, the exhaust hung over the left track guard on the A1 and it was a twin pipe.
That said, some A2 versions seem to have kept the left side position, albeit with one pipe.


All kinds of little detail changes in the early models. I bought the Corgi M48 prior to getting the Empress one. It purports to be an A3, which it is for the most part but you need to cut off the track tensioning wheels at the rear if you want an accurate A3. All very tank nerdy, I know. 

[CapnJim]

I bought the Corgi M48 prior to getting the Empress one. It purports to be an A3, which it is for the most part but you need to cut off the track tensioning wheels at the rear if you want an accurate A3. All very tank nerdy, I know. 

Hmm.  I just got one of those Corgi M48s to support my Vietnam US Army platoon.  I haven't yet given it a thorough once over, but now I will.  I'll do the requisite surgery if needed...

Also, on a semi-related note, we hanged (hung?) spare track blocks and spare road wheels on the bustle racks on our M1s.  And we did the track blocks center guides facing out...

[carlos marighela]

Oddly enough, not all of those Corgis have the track tensioning wheel, so there must have been at least two runs of that model and possibly some expensive re-tooling. I bought the one marked as Eve of Destruction and it had the track tensioner. They were all supposedly removed during the upgrade to A3 but who knows, maybe there was one out there with the wheel.

[Paul @ Empress Miniatures]

Thanks.

Carlos, your post on detailing the M48 kit was on my screen while I was working on this.

I had added the heater pipe (okay it only reaches the edge of the trackguard as I had added the "ammo" boxes beforehand). It was not clear on the previous picture (and not much clearer here - for extra fun I added two because I had looked at a plan of an A1, then removed the second one)


I also made up a gun cradle.


Paul, I keep looking at the track, not sure if I can get them on the side as my handrails are a bit low.

Should they be tread side out or inside out?

First two new pieces of soft stowage added.

They should fit easily and you can always cut sections off them