whats out there, I want to improve my Tamiya 1/35 Walker Bulldog, th 50 teribble!
Will
Academy makes a plastic MG set and the .50 is nice. However, I’d recommend you even get the AFV Club M41 Bulldog as the Tamiya one is one of their earlier (and therefore less detailed and less accurate) models.
Agreed with T-26, but if you already have the Tamiya, heres a few suggestions. AFV Club individual M-41 track links. The Academy US machine gun set, the .50’s are great! Academy’s US Tank accesory set for jerry cans, packs, ammo cans, and pioneer tools, the ones on the kit MUST be replaced. Some brass rod to make the front lifting rings. For some reason, they are not included in the kit and are a prominent feature of the glacis plate fittings. Also you will need to add the raised “x” stamping portions on the sponson storage box sides. The kit has these molded flat/smoothe. Nothing here is time consuming or difficult, and all greatly add to this kit.
Yeah, but once you buy all that stuff, you could have bought the AFV Club M41A3 for less money!
Very true! Do hobby shops count as OCD?[;)]
Tamiya’s M41 was the first tank I built. It got me hooked on armor. There was… I dunno… 10-12 pieces[:)]. It was so easy and unintimidating that I would recommend it to younger modelers. Academy’s M41 is in a whole other class.
Thankyou for all your help. I knew it was one of their earlier kits, but I cannot be bothered correcting all the inacuracies. For one I cant afford it and 2nd I cant be bothered. Since I have allready got it (cheap) I might just get a fifty and maybe some stowage. P.S- Mortar there isnt many parts but not that few [:D]
Will
You want to see obsessive?
Ordnance PE/resin detail set $10
Ordnance resin mantlet and exhaust $10
Eduard PE set $8
Barrel Depot aluminum barrel $12
AFV Club M41 suspension $18
AFV Club vinyl tracks $8
Skybow .50 cal $8
Now add the price of the Tamiya kit to the above total and the cost is about $90.
I eventually found the AFV Club M41A3 for $22 and the Skybow M41A3 for $20.
WOW, I got my Tamiya M41 for AUS$19.95. The extras are in US dollars right?, imagine how much that would cost me!
Will
pmms has a great review on the .50 cals available.
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/misc/50cal/50cal.htm
Yes, US dollars. I started selling some of it, just the barrel, but one day I think I will actually build the old Tamiya kit using the items above to see what it ends up looking like.
A couple of years before the AFV/Club or Skybow kits came out I actually did build the Tamiya M41 using some of the same stuff Rob has collected.
From Rob’s list, I used:
Ordnance PE/resin detail set
Ordnance resin mantlet and exhaust
AFV Club vinyl tracks
Aside from that, I also added the .50 cal from Tamiya’s 2 1/2 ton truck detail set and some scratchbuilt bits.
Here’s what all that junk looks like on an $8 USD model:
This shot is supposed to recreate Tamiya’s box art:
I was fortunate enough to have this model featured in an issue of Tamiya News.
The kit goes together very easily, and is a great platform for a detailing project. But as has already been mentioned, the newer M41 kits are much better and cheaper right out of the box.
Tamiya’s M41 is a great starter kit, though…cheap and easy, and looks good when finished!
Will and Rob, I’m looking forward to seeing your finished Bulldogs!
Yours looks pretty good, and by chance at my LHS today, one of the few accesories and extra sets they had was the M41 suspe… from AFV club, but im too tight to pay AUS$30.00. I got the Tamiya weapons set, and I’ll use that .50 instead (it will only require slight modifications), and I’ll stow a fair few weapons on my Bulldog. Hulk, is that Tamiya Olive Drab (XF-62) on yours , because XF-62 does not nearly match to the colour shown on the box and the painting specs specify that with the Tamiya kit.
Will
Thanks!
Actually it’s Tamiya’s TS-5 Olive Drab, which is their spray can version of XF-62. I built this model about 10 years ago, before I had an airbrush.
XF-62 is generally considered to be one of the most “accurate” olive drabs on the market, but there are so many color variations on actual vehicles due to fading and a jillion other factors, just about any OD could be considered “accurate.” I used to love the old Pactra OD…it was much darker than other brands.
Cool, I think I’ll go for the XF-62 in the end and thanks for all your AM suggestions, I’ll make up my mind soon… or later
Will
Keep us posted!
Pactra Dark Olive Drab was an excellent match for the shade used on modern US armor prior to the MERDC schemes. Too bad they are no longer making that line of paints. Tamiya’s XF-62 is a great match for new OD 41 of USAAC/USAAF vintage straight out of the bottle. Testors 34086 Green Drab with black added is a good method for the modern OD.
Ok
Will