I was detailing my 1/72 M24 barrel, I was drilling the muzzle and it suddenly broke in half [:@] Now I really hate Revell’s green plastic. Well, I didn’t want to make too much modifications, but now I have to make a new barrel. I’ll use a piece of sprue, but I think the kit provided barrel is not so accurate, I’m talking about the barrel length, so I need…
I also read somewhere that early M24 gun barrels were taken directly from B-25J bombers, and they’re different than late M24’s… Is that true? Thanks a lot in advance. Best regards.
Gonna have problems using sprue… Getting the tube’s taper is is the key… You plan on putting it on a lathe and tapering it? (I use a varible-speed drill for a “lathe”) If you don’t care about the taper, I’d blow off getting the barrel-length and just “eye-ball” it…
The barrel’s length, according to Wiki, anyway, is 118 inches(3 meters) and the M6 is what was installed in the M24… In 1/72 scale, 118 inches is roughly 1.64 inches or 4.162 cm, if my math is right…
The B-25H-variant was the 75mm cannon-armed variant of the Mitchell, not the J, which had eight .50 caliber machine guns in the nose, vs the four 50, cal/75mm cannon in the nose of the H… The initial B-25Hs were equipped with the M4 75mm gun, but later aircraft were armed with a lighter-weight version, the M5/T13E1…
As for getting the tube tapered, the ship modellers have ways to do it, they use it for masts. Basically you work the taper so taht you sand the tube square and introduce the correct taper. Then you make the tube eight-sided (octagonal) maintaining the taper, and then you round it - done. Did that a few times with a woodem mast, it seems to be working. Hope it helps, good luck with your project and have a nice day
Hmmm 4cm is too long, maybe that’s overall length from the tip to the end of the breech… I’ll use sprue… and a lot of sanding, then make a cap. I’ll post a pic when finished. Best regards.
Yes, that would be Breech-to-muzzle… Sorry, should have pointed that out… You’ll most likely either have to fond a Chaffee in a museum and measure the tube from muzzel to mantlet, or, use the TLAR-method (That Looks About Right) and your Mk I- Mod-0 Eyeball…
As for the cap, it’s pretty easy to make… Just a “ring” of styrene anda few passes with liquid cement will give a good, “cast on” look…
Yes, that’s the idea, I had already added two thin rings to the middle of the barrel and one thicker ring to the tip, but when I was drilling the tip, the barrel broke just in the middle of the rings at the barrel’s mid >.< Now back to square one… Too bad, I live in Lima, Perú, we didn’t use the M24, just some M4 Sherman. I’ll just give it about 2cm long, maybe less, let’s see how it looks better (original kit part has +2 cm long). BTW, I’m planning to buy two more of these 1/76 Chaffee, I want one for building a Chilean M24 w/ 60 mm HVMS and one for an M19 Gun Motor Carriage… Wow, lotta spare parts will remain… Let’s see what happens. Best regards.
There are several 1/72 scale 76mm gun tubes available and most are not a lot of money, like $3. Perhaps you can find an aluminum barrel in 1/72 scale that looks close enough to the M24’s 1/76th scale barrel.
< No time for aftermarkets, I wanted to build it quick, but now that the barrel broke I must make a new one and It’s almost finished (it took me like 4 tries). I hope i don’t break this one. I found an Italian site, that’s right, those two rings on the middle of the barrel were for mounting it on the B-24H, and dissapeared on later M24… As I’m building an early one, they have to be made. Best regards.
OK, as promised, this is my finished 1/76 M24 barrel:
Not 100% accurate, I made it look like the original kit provided part, albeit a bit shorter, I took measure from a M24 in 1/35 i just bought (Italeri). NOw, I’ll resume the building. Best regards.
Nice build… I’ll add some bits using copper wire, but I already decided that the camouflage will be a very worn winterwash, that’s why I want to build a perfect early M24… Albeit the scale. Thanks for the link. Best regards.
