I’ve managed to find Tamiya’s old Japanese Type 74 MBT kit, which I think has been out of production for a while. I’ve always thought this was a sleek and interesting tank, and it looks like a very straight-forward build-up.
My question concerns the correct color – the plans indicate simply Olive Drab overall, but Tamiya these days have a JGSDF Green in their acrylics range which is similar to Olive Drab, but definitely different. Does anyone know if the Japanese Army used a direct equivalent of US OD, or should a Type 74 be finished in a specific, different shade?
Nope, that kit’s still in the catalogue and in full production, and can be found in just about any hobby shop (well, here in Japan, anyway!).
In addition to the Tamiya JGSDF Green, Gunze Sangyo also offers authentic modern JGSDF three-tone camo paint in their “Mr. Color for Tank” series: TC07 Dark Green, TC08 Brown, and TC09 OD.
From the Tamiya catalogue there is JGSDF dark green and JGSDF brown (XF-73 and 74 i think) as new paints to their XF line only available in the smaller bottle size. I don’t see them on the US page and am assuming they didn’t come here yet, plus I haven’t seen any small size bottles available in US stores (seen them in Shanghai last time i went there, small and cute).
As far as the kit, i think the older version is oop (at least for US) since their newer winterized version build up to the regular version as well, even included the older figures. i got an older version off of ebay for pretty cheap for sentimental values sake as that was my first Tamiya kit that I built some 13 years ago.
So, the Tamiya Acrylics JGSDF Green should be the right shade for a 1970s-era Japanese MBT? Gotcha!
XF-11 to XF-14 are the WWII block, IIRC? It’s a while since I had a look at the rack in my LHS!
I got my '74 off eBay, I think it’s the old edition, it has a subtly classic feel to the instructions and box. It should be a fun build! I’ve not seen it on the shelf here in Australia for many years, and it seems to have left Squadron’s catalog at this time, so when I spotted one at a bargain price, I grabbed it.
Thanks for the assist, guys!
Oh, J-Hulk – I notice on your signature-line photo, that Aurora MBT-70 appears to have complete suspension detail. The suspension settup is absent from the example I have, there are just axles. Am I missing parts, or are those details scratchbuilt on yours?
Thanks for noticing! The suspension, as well as practically all the other detail on that build was scratchbuilt. I ended up adding over 830 pieces to the old Aurora kit. You can check out more pix here (scroll down about halfway):
The links to the pix are dead, but they are the same as those in the gallery.
I’m currently building another Aurora MBT70 OOB as a companion piece to the one I “accurized.”
Have you built yours yet? We’d like to see it!
As for the Type 74, yup, the old version is OOP, it’s the winter version that is currently in production and on the shelves. You can still find quite a few of the older production kits at quite a few shops, though.
As many folks said at the time, I stand in awe of your skill! I know what it’s like to add hundreds of parts to a model, I have an SF scratch-build (not yet painted) with 500 parts, half of which are in the running gear, but it’s nothing compared to this! I raise my space helmet to you!
I’ve not built my own Aurora MBT-70 (I was pretty disappointed with it, especially as I gave a fair few dollars for it on eBay). I got it as a reference source to support a planned 1:35 scratchbuild, but it was useless – I wanted to see how Aurora had molded the hydropneumatic suspension, ie. get a 3D look at the damned thing, but of course, they didn’t! That’s the problem – for all the photos I’ve collected so far, I still don’t have a clear picture of how the parts relate to each other, nor of the structure of the swing-arms. I’m hoping to perhaps visit APG Maryland and see their exhibit for myself. I chased the original blueprints down the chain of company take-overs and buy-outs as far as Cadillac-Gage but never received a reply to that inquiry. However, they are now owned by yet another company, who might be willing to take a peek at the archives for a historical modeler… I’m curious, did you have a diagram or blueprint to work from?
Then I would translate the whole thing into a humungus 1:16 scratchbuild, with machined patterns, working tracks and other goodies. I realised at 1:35 it was beyond me, both my dexterity and eyesight aren’t up to it, so how you did it in 1:48 I have no idea!
Magnificent work!
I started some prep-work on the '74 this evening, just smoothing out the motor-holes with styrene and putty, which seems to be my usual starting point on vintage armor kits!
Wow, thanks for the very kind words, TB369! Glad you like what I did with that old kit.
The main references I used were a couple of issues of Ground Power magazine and the internet, plus Major Rob and Jason, who also supplied me with some great pix of the vehicles at Fort Knox and Aberdeen. I never would’ve gotten the rear deck anywhere near as accurate as I did without Jason’s great pix from Aberdeen! Some of Major Rob’s pix where critical in the attempt at scratching the suspension. It’s a very rough approximation, but the basic geometry is close, methinks. The main things still lacking are the tracks and the mantlet. I didn’t realize how the mantlet was 180 degrees off (the crease should be horizontal, not vertical) until it was too late. It was a fun build, and I learned a lot about scratchbuilding along the way.
Sure would like one in 1/35, though!
Looking forward to seeing your progress on the Type 74. I’d also like to see your SF stuff! Posted over at the SF forum yet?
Thanks for the info on sources! My own sources are the classic 1995 Research Data article in FSM, George Bradford’s 1:48 plans (http://www.afvnews.ca/1-48dwgs.html), a complete walk-around of the Maryland display (photos from the archives right here, these would be Jason’s?) plus what images I can scrounge off the web. With all that, I’m unable to make a start… More and more, I think I need to come to APG, see the real thing and make copious notes and measurements.
I did some more prep on the '74 last night, getting the lower hull set up with its internal bits and pieces, and deciding how to paint the wheels – I think the all-in-one-go method should work fine again. I built a T-62 many years ago and laboriously masked up the tires so I could paint the front and back of both ranks of wheels in hull color! I’ve often wondered why I bothered… I remember my father telling me that any paint on the rear surfaces of tank wheels was gone after about the first hundred yards down the road, but he was thinking WWII-vintage and (I always wondered) there’s always that possibility that later eras did things differently.
No, I’ve not posted to the SF or space forums yet, but I shall have to! My next model to be completed after the M1 I’m working on presently is that scratchbuild I mentioned (a vintage Brit SF subject). It’s been ready for it’s paintwork for ages, and should be appearing in the new run of SF & F Model Review from the UK.
I should be picking up the JGSDF Green in a few days, along with some other acrylics – I just did my first fineline airbrushing and really enjoyed it. There’s a 1:72 King Tiger I’d really like to finish now!
Nope, Not SHADO 1, though I do have a Mobile underway at half studio-scale! I hope to build most of the hardware from UFO. The model I have ready for its paintwork is the ‘Martian Excursion Vehicle’ from the 1966 movie Thunderbirds Are Go! It also links back to the armor forum theme because the running gear for the model was taken from an old M41! Wheels and tracks only, everything else was made from scratch, including reproducing the axle stubs so the kit parts would slip on correctly. I may swap the treads for AFV Club AM treads, the old ones are not detailed on the inner surface.
My M1 is rapidly nearing completion, so I’m hoping to move on to the MEV in the next week or two, and build the Type 74 in the background for fun – it’s the pure hobby, and ‘relief’ from the serious business of modeling!