Rob,
Thanks for that info on the M-41. I never thought that the Skybow version is quite rare nowadays. Our local hobby shop still has some Skybow M-41 priced at about 15 US Dollars. I was wondering why it has not been sold out. If I have the money, I might as well pick one up.
J-Hulk,
Sorry, I forgot your Walker - but I wouldn’t have voluntered it without your permission.
Listen to him LittleMoe - he’s a famous modeler you know
Yes, the worry is that since AFV Club makes their own M41A3 and they are the ones that bought Skybow’s molds, that Skybow’s M41A3 may never see light of day again. AFV Club did issue the Skybow vinyl mantlet cover on a blister pack for around $5. Too bad about Skybow, they made some superb US softskin vehicles. They just had the bad luck to release a new, expensive kit at the same time another manufacturer releases the exact same kit.
Edit: Someone is selling a Skybow Bulldog on HyperScale’s “Tank Talk” forum (http://www.hyperscale.com/). No relation to the seller though. Title is “Models for Sale (US)”.
OK guys and gals,
I’m startin this tank, my first major question is, is the color indications in the instructions correct???
Is most of this tank olive drab???
seems to me i should paint everything olivedrab then go back and touch up the other colors… I this right???
Yes, if doing a US tank, the majority of the tank is OD green. Around the time the Bulldog was in use by the US, many units mixed gloss black in with the OD to make a dark semi gloss OD green color.
The Tamiya kit has empty vision blocks (periscopes). These are usually dark in color and can be filled in with Elmer’s white glue or glue a piece of clear plastic from a blister pack you may have around the house. Paint a dark blue color.
Other items on the tank like tools could be OD or sometimes they are left with wooden handles. Tow cables are normally steel/black in color. Rubber road wheel rims are black as well. The .50 cal machine gun would be gun metal color.
Great advice from the Major!
If you look at my M-41, you can see that the crew has taken the driver’s vision blocks out for a quick cleaning (at least that’s what I tell everyone![;)]).
A quick note about Skybow: I talked to the president of AFV Club at the Shizuoka Hobby Show last May, and at that time they were working with Skybow to distribute products like the aforementioned mantlet cover, but they were not taking over Skybow’s molds or absorbing Skybow in any way. In fact, Skybow appears to be alive and well as far as distribution goes here in Japan, with kits all over the place.
It’s hard to get the true picture of the Hong Kong / Taiwan / China model manufacturer situation, but as far as AFV Club and Skybow goes, I think that’s how it stands right now.
Back to what Major Rob said, I always thought US armor in the 50’s and 60’s looked to be a much darker color than the OD I see offered by the major manufacturers. Adding some black sounds like a good idea!
By the way, I ain’t famous!
Yet…[:-,][:D]
well, in case anyone is interested, i started painting, and should startputtin togethjer by tomorrow… picswill follow…
keep in mind this is my first armor…
Littlemoe,
That was a great buy, and since that was also my first armor kit I can tell you that it was easy, satisfactory, and all around good looking, it has the right amount of details to look nice but not enough to make you wonder what you’re doing building armor… Keep on rocking
would it be wrong to do a black wash to bring out thr recessed areas??
Most armour builders do a wash of some form or another, black included.
Great buy littlemoe. Can’t wait for some pictures of it.
mark956
washes and dry brushing really bring out the detail in armor models specially dark colored ones…
can any one offer any advice as where and what color wash to use???
On the M-41 you see in the previous pix, I washed the entire vehicle with a thin black wash.
OK, now i need some advice/help… just as a reminder, i’m building Tamiya’s M41 BullDog…
In the instructions, it shows the option of making a Gun Sheild Cover out of poly bag and string… has anyone done this??? this is my first armor kit, should i try this??? The directions are a bit confusing… please help…
by the way, the buikd is going good so far, but i’m basically doing an OOB, my only regret is not filling the holes on the bootom of thetank that would beused if it were motorized … kinda too late now, 'cause i already put the wheels and sprockets, as well as some of the smaller peices on lower hull already.
I’m afraid if i start to sand and sand , i might break something…
Anyhooo, sorry for rambling…
Thanks
ok, one more thing, whichway are the tracks supposed togo??? Does it Matter??? shold the tracks remain black???
Hi, Littlemoe!
Filling in the holes in the bottom of the hull is completely up to you. Unless you pose the tank on its side or upside-down, nobody will know![:D]
The Tamiya “gunshield” (mantlet cover) plastic bag suggestion is best avoided! It is commonly acknowledged in hobby literature here in Japan to be a very poor way to represent the mantlet cover. And I’ve seen pictures to prove it! I used the nice Ordnance Models resin piece on my M-41, but I’ve seen some really great covers made by hand with a variety of putties. AFV Club also sells a vinyl mantlet cover for 400 yen (about $3.60 US) if you can find it. I’m not sure if it would fit the Tamiya kit very well, though.
The tracks do have a “proper” way to be put on; with the “pointy” end of the semi-triangular pad pointing down (looking at the vehicle from the front). Be careful if you have the kit with the box art showing the tank from the rear! You may confuse the direction of the tracks if you mistake that to be the front of the tank (and it’s easy to do!).
As far as painting the tracks goes, I left the AFV Club tracks the original black and drybrushed dark metallic gray on the metal parts (everything but the rubber pads), then washed and weathered 'em.
The Tamiya tracks are already a metallic gray color, so you may want to paint them acrylic flat black and then do the metallic gray drybrush thing. Or, you could just paint the pads black and use a wash to darken the silver parts.
One thing about the stock Tamiya tracks is that there is no detail at all on the insides, so what I did when I originally built this kit with the original tracks was to simply draw with a pencil and ruler lines across the insides of the tracks to represent the individual links. After a bit of weathering, the effect was quite convincing, and much better than the original smooth surface.
Good luck, Littlemoe! I hope this has been helpful.
Post some pix if you can![:D]
WOW thanks Mr. Hulk!!! Some great advice!!! Thank you!!! Hopefully tonight i will post some “in progress pics”… although there isn’t much to see, just OOB!!!
Cool! Looking forward to your pix.
And there ain’t nothing wrong with OOB, my friend! [:)]
littlemoe - I’m coming into this thread late, but I’ve built the Tamiya and Skybow BullDog Light Tanks. I have some information on both at my website that might help you out:
Below is my Tamiya Walker BullDog.
Jim