Some new 1/48 tanks for gaming use.

[Marine0846]

Excellent work on the tanks.

I have 2 of the M1s by the same company.

For the price, you can't beat them.

[Schriv]

"One "criticism" M1 vanilla were usually in CARC forest green, never in MERDC. I have seen some pictures, but if you look closely they are XM1 rather than production M1. Anyway your MERDC is fabulous, much better than mine. I suppose airbrush..."

Yep, airbrush all the way.
The worst part is doing the sand white. I'm still trying to get the mix right so that it doesn't splatter.

Anyhow...I agree that almost all of the European based M1's were in overall green until the 3 color CARC paints were ready.
But, the early M1's could also be found in MERDC schemes at various parts of the US. They were issued Forrest green and had to be turned back in in the same, but unit level camo was authorized. The training companies at FT. Knox KY had quite a few in a modified Summer Verdant and the ones based out at FT. Irwin CA were in gray desert.
The FT. Knox Summer MERDC left out the sand and the black was large, wavy looking X's rather than the traditional crows feet. It's a very interesting scheme.
I joined the Marines in 1983 and we still had MERDC painted vehicles going into the first Gulf War. Our new vehicles ( Hummers  and trucks )had been showing up in Forrest green or 3 color from 1985 on, but anything in inventory didn't get repainted until it got an overhaul.

[Schriv]

This tank just arrived in the mail from Shapeways on Monday.
It is my first time dealing with a 3D printed model and I'm pretty impressed with the thing. The only downside is that it has a slight grainy texture over the whole surface. Since it is nothing more than a gaming piece, I can deal with it.
Other than the machine gun and antennas, everything you see on the tank is part of the print.
It was pricey, so I won't be buying more than one. But I wanted a 1/48 Sheridan and it is apparently the only game in town.

Anyhow..It is painted in the same winter MERDC that I'm using for my late 70's, early 80's tanks.

[von Lucky]

Looks the part. Again, nice painting.

[Lobsterback]

If I can could you please define "pricy" for the Sheridan if you can - I've been trying to find one of these for ages.

Is this on their website or was it a one-off you had made?

Thanks!

[Happy Matt]

It was probably one of these

So $66 it looks like for the 1/48

[Schriv]

Yes, it is a standard offering.
Look on mpennocks page. Part number mv05-m551-sheridan-aarv-1-48.
It's expensive, but I wanted and M551 real bad.
The same sculptor also makes some decent 1/48 Xenon searchlights like those used on M-48 and M-60 series tanks. I bought a dozen and have been adding them to new builds and retrofitting them to some earlier models. Add some grab handles and build up the mount and they look pretty good on a gaming tank.

[Schriv]

Here is the Shapeways searchlight added to a Tamiya M60A2.
I made the cantaliever mount from a bit of sprue and added some grab handles from the junk box.




These 1980's era USMC M60A1's are some old Tamiya kits that I got off ebay fairly cheap. The accessories are worth more than the tanks, but I think they came out perfect for the game table. The stowage is all from BlackDog.
The searchlight really helps the overall look.







This latest tank was a turd polishing experiment.
I wanted to do a Desert Storm version of the USMC M60A1 but didn't want to waste one of the Tamiya kits. So,I used the awful Academy "1/48" scale M60A1 as the base since it had no detail and the add on armor would cover most of it. And..It was only $10.
The hull is too long and narrow for 1/48 scale, but it should look 'OK' next to a Kitech LAV-25.
The armor panels are nothing more than plastruc 1/4" square sheeting with I-beams for support to the turret. painting and adding all of the stowage took longer than it did to build and modify the kit. The whole thing was done in a day.

[Marine0846]

Very nice.
Prefect for gaming.

[Happy Matt]

Sorry

It looks like I got too clever. I hyperlinked the word "this" in my last post. But this forum doesn't high light links so it looks like I'm being obtuse.

Is there any chance we can a picture of your whole motor pool?

[von der Tann]

I love that Spaceship!
Too bad those are so hard to get in 1/48 ... at least in Germany.  .
Did you scratchbuild that "rack" at the back of the turret or did you actually find an up-grade kit?

[Schriv]

The bustle rack was scratch-built using Plastruct railing and strip styrene.
I had planned on doing two of them, but the rack was a major pain to do and the second one got built as the early prototype without the rack.

[carlos marighela]

Really lovely work. The ERA looks the part. Clever use of a dodgy kit.

[Schriv]

Some of my latest builds.

A USMC M1A1 AIM.
Built from an Aoshima remote control model.
I scratch built the USMC style grenade launchers, the bustle rack APU and the extended bustle.
It's a decent enough for gaming replica of the 1996 to 2010 Marine Corps M1A1's.
All of the stowage is from Blackdog CZ.







A West German Leopard 1A1. Late 1970's to mid 80's.
Modified from an Arii remote control kit.




An M60 slick in the typical late 70's early 80's Summer Verdant MERDC that was used by stateside Reserve and national guard units.
This is a slightly modified Tamiya advancing (motorized) kit.
The searchlight is from Shapeways. The bustle rack, tie rails and small fittings are salvaged from Zhengdefu armor kits that I buy just for those parts.





A USMC M109A2 in what we Jarheads called '4-color' camo back in the 80's. This is the same as the Army's Winter Verdant MERDC.
The kit is an Aurora M109 from the early 60's that had a broken gun and broken tracks.
I replaced the short gun from the early 109's with the extended version found on the A1 through A3 series. The muzzle brake was salvaged.
These guns served up until the Gulf war and were replaced by 155mm towed artillery.

[Marine0846]

Love your latest tanks.
Always wanted a M-109.
Very cool.