Howdy folks!! I’m going to do something I haven’t done for 30 years, and that’s build something armored besides a battleship.
I have Revell/Monogram classic 1/35 scale Patton on the way, and would like some ideas on accessories to dress it up a little if y’all don’t mind.
Jerry cans, tow cables, sand bags, anything that’s appropriate for the time frame represented by the decals shown in the picture. Is there a “general accessory” set I can get? Or is there more in the kit than what is shown on the box? I know it comes with several figures which would be helpful to place in a diorama.
The kit hails from the late 1950s and was a great kit for its time. It does suffer from age and not up to current standards. Many modern armor modelers update the kit by combining it with the solid Tamiya M48A3 kit. Tracks and sprockets are usually the first item to be replaced on this kit. AFV Club makes a set of tracks for the M48/60/88 series vehicles. Many modelers use these to update the current kits.
There is a Tamiya modern US equipment set made in the 80s, but it is OOP. The current one is too modern and includes the louvered CIP panels. You don’t want that one.
This is the one you want to find somewhere. It is from the 1980s, but a lot of gear would still be interchangeable in the Vietnam era. The tank rounds would not be proper for the M48A2 though.
File off the "steps"on the turret sides and scratch build the rails that belong there from stretched sprue, styrene or brass rod.
remove the molded on pioneer tools and replace them (and the jerry can) with ones from Academy’s AFV Accessory sets. Also the packs in that set are more appropriate than the modern era ALICE packs in the Tamiya sets.
Drill out the bore of the main gun- it is molded solid shut
Add the dust cover for the mantlet.
It is a fun old kit that can be made to shine if you take the time.
Be advised that that kit is 1/32 scale, not 1/35th, so buy accessories accordingly… If you use 1/35th scale parts, don’t mix in any 1/32 stuff… Stay with one scale…
If Revell stayed with the all the Monogram accessories, there are also some 1/32 scale Infantry included, and naturally, the TC and driver(a half-figure)…
Shep Paine did a fantasic diorama with that kit, even using the stock figures (with modifications)…
Stik’s right, it IS a fun kit to build, goes together pretty easy, and will even roll on it’s tracks if you want it to, and to make tracks on your dio base or display base… This was the very first armor kit I ever bilt, back around 1971 0r 72, and my very first diorama bild as well… I never looked back at doing “shelf models” again, I only build dioramas now… I’d build this one again in a heartbeat…
It says on the box 1/35 scale. I just ordered one from ebay. i know there is an old one out there that is 1/32. But i think this is 1/35 scale. Or if it’s not I am going to be pissed…I’m going to try and make it a M67 flame tank.
Well, if Revell redesigned the entire mold-set, then maybe it is, but I highly doubt that happened… The picture looks exactly like the old Monogram Patton, which was 1/32… It’s pretty obvious when set alongside the Tamiya M48… I know the catalog says 1/35th as well, but I doubt it…
But don’t let that hang you up…And 1/35th accessories look fine on it, as long as you don’t mix after-market/parts box accessories with the kit accessories, or mix the included figures with any other 1/35th figures… No need to be pizzed…
It’s still a fun build…
It’s the same way with all the old Monogram armor kits, like the half-tracks, M-4 Sherman, T-34 Calliope, M-3 Lee, Grant, Panzers all, Weasel, Jeep, etc… They were 1/32 as well… But you won’t notice it unless you put them right alonside other manufacturer’s kits of the same subject in 1/35th…
Monogram was one of the kit manufacturers that want the standardized scale for armor to match the 1/32 aircraft market, but it never happened… The Japanese manufacturers, like Tamiya, didn’t follow suit, and Monogram got buried by 1/35th…
I know there was an old version from Monogram and that probably was 1/32. It had Big Pat as the name on the tank. I googled it and came up with a picture of an old box. It doesn’t say scale but it does say their usual scale which if I am not mistaken was 1/32. The new version says love bug.
This is what they are selling now in 1/35 scale:
Product Description#### 1-35 Scale.Length: 9-7/8" Parts: 152. The M48A2 Patton tank was named for General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. It is a heavily armored, full-tracklaying combat vehicle with a 90 mm gun, a .30 cal. machine gun in combination mount and a .50 cal. machine gun in the commander’s cupola. Opening and closing hatches, movable turret, cannon, machine gun and tank treads. Two crew members and six military figures. Decals with optional markings. Molded in olive drab with soft black treads. Skill level 2
That sounds right to me size wise for the chassis and gun barrel sticking out. If that’s just the chassis then yes it is 1/32. But i would think when they say the length it would mean overall length…right…right…yes…no…maybe…maybe I wasted $20…LOL.
If it is just the old one in 1/32 which is possible, like I said I will be pissed and demand my money back from the vendor. or just use it for parts. Honestly I don’t trust these companies not to mentions some vendors, like Tankrats…oh did I mention one…sorry…LOL.
My idea was to make it either a M67A2 flame tank or really bash it with the soon to be realeased and in 1/32 M55 8" howitzer. If that is realeased I have special plans for that. I guess my goal is to model every vehicle used by US forces in Nam.
My gut says you’re right though, my brain says it’s 1/35.
“The Love Bug” and the “Flower Power” decals for the turret and gun tube were on the 1970’s re-issue of the White-box Monogram 1/32 Patton… I know that kit well… I went to Revell’s site to check, and the picture is bang-on for the Monogram kit, even though they themselves say it’s 1/35th, I’m tellin’ ya, it’s 1/32… I’d bet my life on it…
But you didn’t waste 20.00… Just because it’s a Monogram kit doesn’t make it bad… It builds up rather nice for it’s age… It’ll build into an M67 same as any 1/35th scale would…
I got one as a parts donator for back dating a Tamiya M48A3 to an M48A2GA2. The revell kit was 1/32, but the box said 1/35. The build went okay, but I had to do a lot more surgery on the rear deck parts I was swaping than I’d hoped for. The Revell kit is really old, but with some TLC it builds up just fine; fear not.
Used alone, with 1/35th scale figures and accessories, the difference in scales is NOT that important, except for those with that debilatating affliction called AMS (Advanced Modeling Syndrome)… It’s pretty common among Rivet-Counters (Might even be genetic), not so much with normal modelers… I don’t think it’s contagious though…
[whstl]
Really, you CAN use 1/35th scale figures with a 1/32 scale kit in a diorama, I do it all the time, especially with aircraft and armor mixes… I even use 1/35th figures with 1/32 aircraft… The guys just ain’t all 6 feet tall…
The difference is NOT that pronounced unless you put a another M-48 in 1/35th on it alongside the 1/32 scale Patton …
Even if you mix the scales of vehicles, say a 1/35th Jeep, Duece, or APC, it’ll be ok, I promise ya… Just don’t mix figures or weapons… Use 1/35th figures and weapons, jerry cans, c-rat boxes, etc… Don’t use the acessories from the 1/32 scale kit… I think the only ones that are separate are the Jerry cans anyway…
The Monogram M48A2 is and always has been 1/35. Monogram relabeled it 1/32 in the 70’s to “match” the scale of their other 1/32 armor kits. It scales out pretty closed with the Tamiya 1/35 M48A3 and many of the more accurate parts off of it are interchangeable.
One of 'em is wrong then Gino… I got 'em both, the Tamiya and the Mongram, and they AIN’T the same size… The hull of the Monogram tank is visibly bigger, even to the nekkid eye…
Hans, you are wrong. Monogram originally produced kits in 1/35 scale, then switched to 1/32 scale to follow Airfix’s nice but short line of armor. They produced a few more kits in 1/32 scale, mainly the Sherman, Grant/Lee and Panzers. Then they went back and relabeled their original 1/35 scale kits (Patton, US halftrack, M34, Weasel, etc.) as 1/32. Sort of like Airfix does with their 1/76 vs. “1/72” scale kits. same kits, different scales labeled based on what’s popular.
The Patton was originally listed in 1958 as 1/35 scale. In 1972 it “became” 1/32 scale.
My reference is the Monogram book by Robert Reder, one of the original founders of the company. It is dated 2000.
The difference in actual size between the Tamiya M48A3 and the Monogram M48A2 is more a factor of the amount of accuracy used in 1958 vs 1978 (or whenever the Tamiya kit was designed). Even the newer Academy M48A5K kit has some scale issues when compared to the Tamiya kit. It’s the same sized kit but they shrunk the tracks in order to get them to fit under the Korean armor side skirts.
I think I ordered the new issue. I will let y’all know when I get it. Unless someone has purchased the latest issue we just don’t know for sure, do we.
They are the same kit. It is a reissue of the old kit. Everything is the same down to the decals. The only new item is the box, which even has similar boxart to the older versions.
They’re the same. I recently picked up a re-issued one. Built my first one back in 1962.
I always remember it as being 1/35 scale. I think Rob is on the right track that any difference has more to do with the accuracy of the original tooling than anything else. A lot of older kits don’t scale out accurately when you measure them.
Ok, I think you’re splitting hairs, Rob… IF the Monogram Patton is 1/35th scale, and the Tamiya M48 is 1/35th scale, then WHY is the Monogram hull larger all around than the Tamiya hull? (I can’t check the turrets because the Monogram turret is long gone… I built the tank first, then a few months later, tore it down to make a CEV out of it, then a few months after that, tore THAT down for an AVLB project…)
Scale fidelity and Robert Reder be damned , which tank scales out to an ACCURATE 1/35th scale model? Because I can only go by what’s written on the boxes, and what I’ve see before me with both hulls…
Bottom line is that when I’m looking at both, the Monogram hull is longer, wider, and higher than the Tamiya hull… That tells me ONE of 'em is wrong, if 1/35th is the scale for both.
Wish I still had the figures of the Mongram TC/driver to compare with the Tamiya TC/driver…
