Peter Lloyd Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Hello, may I join the party? This GB seemed like an excellent excuse to start on this gem I picked up a few months ago at Hobby HQ in Melbourne: the M-19 tank transporter. I well remember a Matchbox (metal car) catalogue of around 1980, which had an image of a diorama featuring this tank transporter carrying an M3 Honey, and the LRDG set. It was probably a vital element in taking me from metal 'toy' cars into models. Although I'm a plane guy, I like to get around a bit, so let's get into this! Same old box top, the mud is pretty accurate for an M-19 in the Low Countries in 1944-5, or many other bits of Europe at other times. These must have been hell on the roads. Instructions that are easy to follow and all on one A2 size page. How is it that so many manufacturers can't meet this standard today? The parts are also more or less consecutively numbered on the sprues, so it's easy to find the parts. A three-colour kit. Look-shurry! Parts are only a little bit 'soft', but it's almost as good as vehicle kits today. The sprue gates are amazingly small. When I was a kid I usually just broke the parts off, or used a razor stolen from dad, removed from a disposable razor blade. Next time, we build! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Excellent choice Peter,another great kit to see here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Nice choice. These things can grow on you. From a flying boat, built because I had it sitting here, I now find myself with four others on the go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted November 23, 2017 Share Posted November 23, 2017 Great choice Peter. I bought this one two weeks ago and am currious how it will go together. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted November 24, 2017 Author Share Posted November 24, 2017 Okay... There's no interior as such, just two uncomfortable looking seats. I made up a dash panel and a transmission tunnel to add a bit of 'busy'. I didn't get too enthusiastic, this is a model for building, but I'll have to do something about the on-existent glazing. Fit and engineering are perfect. There are plenty of photos of these trucks around, but I can't find many obvious improvements to be made. Mostly one could replace handles and mudguards and such with more 'in sale' versions. The little winch is nice, tricky to clean up or disguise the seam along the rope drum , though. I tried to establish the windings with a razor saw. Not much to say, it just falls together like a much more modern kit. Do excuse the squalor in which I choose to work! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted December 8, 2017 Author Share Posted December 8, 2017 Hey guys! What a massive group build, so much going on I can't add enough comments, but well done everybody. More progress, just assembling and painting. So many wheels, but the small sprue gates make clean-up fast and easy. A little work on the ramps. I was about here last night. I'll try to improve the images next time. 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted December 10, 2017 Share Posted December 10, 2017 Great progress Peter. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted December 13, 2017 Share Posted December 13, 2017 I like what you have done Peter, this was one of those Matchbox kits I wanted but could never find when they were released. I must keep an eye out for one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 On 12/14/2017 at 9:06 AM, Romeo Alpha Yankee said: I like what you have done Peter, this was one of those Matchbox kits I wanted but could never find when they were released. I must keep an eye out for one. They do seem to be around and at a reasonable price. I've wanted to build one of these for years, because tank transporters are so cool but the Airfix Scammell is not good a kit and the Academy Dragon Wagon... well, they're ugly and silly with that armour. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted December 20, 2017 Author Share Posted December 20, 2017 Sadly my mobile phone died, taking some pictures some pictures with it. But to fill you in.... I continued building, very few changes or improvements but I made new rear vision mirrors and added acetate for the cab windscreen, as Matchbox don't trouble themselves with this. The decals were a problem, perhaps not surprisingly. The red shield (Corps or Army marking?) simply went to powder, and the little bird logos for the doors were not much better. I got one to the stage where some 'mud' would make it acceptable, the other fell apart more completely so they came off. The bridging discs (I think kind of important for a transporter) just made it, and unit flashes also survived, the truck serial numbers were *very* delicate but I got all of one onto the bonnet, and most of the other... but that one subsequently blew away while airbrushing, my clear 'sealer' having been too thin. I finished the model not as I did c. 1982, with straight OD, brown seats and black tyres, (Airfix enamels), but as I would have in 1988, so drybrush and wash. I remembered the armour kids these days use 'pigments' so I got some pastel chalks I bought when the local art shop closed (Birchalls in Launceston, it had been open for 173 years and sold also books, stationery, figurines, die cast cars and model kits. It was a real walk down memory lane because it was reminiscent of the newsagents and other general shops where you could buy models as a kid). I dusted these on, then watched them mostly disappear under clear coats. I made up some stowage, it really needs chains and cables and stuff, but . . . I'm calling it done now, here are a couple of pics and then, to the gallery! Thanks for watching, and especial thanks to stevej, Enzo and Rabbit Leader. Without this GB this would have sat a lot longer. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Romeo Alpha Yankee Posted December 20, 2017 Share Posted December 20, 2017 Nice work Peter, I just had similar issues with the decals on my Hellcat. The finished result looks 'grubby' enough to me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 Great end result Peter,look's superb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted December 21, 2017 Share Posted December 21, 2017 That is agreat looking model. Maybee you could build a AFV to go onto it's back. Cheers, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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