That’s an almost 20 years old scale model project of mine, built in only few hours. The model represent one of the M-42 Duster twin 40mm SPGs, used to operate with Hellenic Army colours. In fact, I found this M-42 Duster with exact s/n, stationed on Tsimandria beach at the island of Lemnos back in 1992, propably under some Army artillery movements for onshore protection versus LCVPs. Because I have no experience in AFVs or tanks, I took few pictures to avoid possible mistakes while building this model and relied exclusively on these photographs to build it. The M-42, was as dusty as it looks in scale, with the downward .50" BMG as you see, spare barrels, etc.
Ouuu a Duster, haven’t seen one of these built in a long while. Nevertheless, love the camo and Hellenic markings, very different.[Y] I don’t know if it’s your lighting or not, but your model does seem rather glossy. Maybe you should dull it down a bit with dullcoat or Krylon Acrylic clear matte.
***I wish Tamiya would re-release this kit with all new molds.
I agree… The model could use a dull coat and possibly a bit of dust to tone down the drastic color variation in the cammo. Other than that, this looks quite fantastic! Its a very unique subject and you have great attention to detail! Nice job!
for a moment I was afraid you are going to go all-out on this one, which would threaten my Duster rebuild[6]
Anyhow, as many problems as this old duster might have you just couldn’t resist changing the fenders and the ring sights (the originals are just terrible). In the end I like it, keep 'em coming and have a nice day
LOOKS GREAT! [Y] Could use a tone down job then its perfect! My father-in-law drove this tank when he was in the service in the 60’s. Now I have to hunt for this kit and buy it. Wondering if there are aftermarket kits for this one…
LOOKS GREAT! [Y] Could use a tone down job then its perfect! My father-in-law drove this tank when he was in the service in the 60’s. Now I have to hunt for this kit and buy it. Wondering if there are aftermarket kits for this one…
…but after paint stripping in 2010 and repaint again, the result is the following. I did some modifications with styrene, but no additional PE parts used. The main modification I made was to reduce the thickness of the turrets armor, into more realistic levels (feel free to check differences between THIS and THIS picture). Adding some extra fuel canisters, tools & shovels, flashlight, hoses etc seemed right to me. Spare 40mm cannons and few more elements made of wire & plastic, adding some detail to this oldie. Off course, I could use the PE / resin upgrade kit for best results, but I didn’t want to spend more time & money trying to re-birth a 20+ years old kit. The sights are 1/48 scale afterburners actually, taken from an old F-5E Tiger II kit.
Yes! The main modification I made was to reduce the thickness of the turrets armor, into more realistic levels (feel free to check differences between THIS and THIS picture), but no additional PE parts used. Adding some extra fuel canisters, tools & shovels, flashlight, hoses etc seemed right to me. Spare 40mm cannons and few more elements made of wire & plastic, adding some detail to this oldie. Off course, I could use the PE / resin upgrade kit for best results, but I didn’t want to spend more time & money trying to re-birth a 20+ years old kit. The sights are 1/48 scale afterburners actually, taken from an old F-5E Tiger II kit.
Nice work on this one Nick, you really must like this model! I’m working on my duster too. The trick with the sights is very cool - the Tamiya duster has many issues, but the one that gets spotted as first are the kit supplied peep sights! What is your next project goint to be? Good luck modelling and have a nice day
