Here are a couple of recent builds I have completed. I was having issues with my camera so I don’t have any in-progress shots. Now that I have sorted that out, here they are completed.
The first is an Israeli Defense Force (IDF) Magach 3, which is an updated M48A3 with the British L7A2 105mm main gun and a low-profile turret from about the 1973 “Yom Kippur War”.
To build it, I used the left over Dragon M48 hull from my M60 AVL build, a Revell M48 turret, Def Model barrel, resin IDF armored air cleaners I got from a member here (sorry, I don’t remember who it was), a Sherman commander’s cupola, and a few other bits and pieces.
Here she is.
Next up is the Ford GPA “SEEP” Amphibian. It is the newer Tamiya kit (35336) which is updated with an engine compartment, a small PE fret for the intake screens, and a crew of 3 (which I didn’t use). I used the Eduard PE set for it, which adds a lot of details, especially on the interior. I also used the Thatchweave rope bumpers on it. I modified the back seat from the kit bench to three individual cushions attached to a bar that runs across the cabin. They were done this way since the seat cushions were flotation devices and were removable. I replaced the wheels with a set from the newer Tamiya Willys jeep since the wheels in the GPA kit are bulbous and not well detailed. Tamiya should have updated them as well. I added smaller details like front and rear tie down cleats from lead foil as well.
Lovely job on both, but I really like the Seep. I looked into buying a real one a number of years ago after looking at one at a show I had my Jeep at. Not many around as you might guess, but purchase price of a fully operational one was north of $175,000 - so no go on that…
You did good. I rfemember during Armed Forces Day when I was a kid, we would go to the other side of town to Picatinny Arsennel for their displays and I would get to crawl all over the M-48 and other vehicles they had out.
I have never heard of the little guy being called a seep. What was its official name and how did they come up with seep?
That’s a very nice pair of builds. I’m really likeing the Magach and its’ Frankenstein nature of being cobbled together from several sources. I presume that the Revell turret is off one of the new Revell Germany M48 kits? And a very nice touch to have the searchlight on the rear stowage mount.
Thanks guys. I am glad you all like them. They were both fun builds.
The offical name was Ford GPA (G= Governmant, P= 80’ wheelbase, A= Amphibious). The unofficial name was Sea Jeep, which was contracted to Seep.
Yes, I posted looking for a turret and someone had one left over from the new M48A2CG kit that he converted into something else. I had to make a top deck for the turret opening on the AVLB hull anyways, so I was able to make the opening fit the Revell turret ring perfectly. It fit the rest of the Dragon hull like a glove as well.
As you might guess, the freeboard on a Seep in the water was not that great, and both entering and leaving from a steep riverbank was dicey. They could tow the same MBT trailers as the Jeep, which were amphibious as well.
We didn’t actually use that many, but the Russians did. A small fleet was sold to some fishermen in Scotland after the war which were used extensively and kept operational. A couple of the restored ones around today came from that group.
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