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Corsair’s M10 Achilles IIC


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On 30/12/2017 at 1:27 AM, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I'll find you a decent Mickey Mouse Scheme if it kills me.....You are good all the way up to painting time and if I haven't found one by then, I'll eat my keyboard (probably willingly, out of frustration).  :crosseyed:

You may struggle Sarge. By the time the 17pdrs were fitted SCC.15 was the 'in thing'. Possibly find one in Italy though.

On 30/12/2017 at 2:04 AM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Thanks 👍 but keyboards arent very tasty.  ... I found a bison sheet in 35th scale that has both a green/sand & green/black pattern in wide bands for Italy. I cant use the decals but gives me ideas for the markings and schemes. I will keep the mickey mouse pattern as my NWE option, and im working on the Israeli markings for that option. 

I believe that the brown and black may have come from US sources. The US Engineer Camouflage Battalions in Italy seemed to have been quite active on British and other units as well. They would have those colours available as they were standard disruptive shades. I think the brown is different to SCC.2

 

Regarding the Israeli vehicles. According to Tom Gannon they were in service for a very short time and were never used in action. Possibly due to British units in the area not having 17pdrs (?) and the British Government not being willing to sell them ammunition.

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10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Hello everyone ... I'm finished with the drivers compartment for now. May add some cable runs yet. But here it is with Transmission, radio, and bulkhead in place. Rear bulkhead is also in and the forward transmission cover. 

       Drivers compartment with transmission and bulkhead. ⬇️

R3D4IgU.jpg

A close up of this area ⬇️

TBiCRVg.jpg

The yellow blob of resin is the radio set. It will look better in black.  Next up the lower hull in the front. ⬇️YPR1XUZ.jpg

Last up is a shot showing everything with the upper hull placed on just to see how it looks. ⬇️LVIGyBH.jpg

I know it looks like there are nasty open areas under the side sponsons. But the directions place a large number of shells and shellholders there. I will probably plate the floors of the sponsons if there are gaps after i see how it is when i get to that stage. Time for food here more later tonight. 

 

Dennis

Nice progress Dennis,

 

the he lack of sponsons seems to run through the tamiya range, it's definitely unfortunate with this kit that the are missing. You could fashion some out of a bit of plastic card.

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Ok Guys ... Last bit of modelling for 2017. I finished up the shells, 

RIAsGb1.jpg

and painted the interior with a rough coat. YjL0sTa.jpg

6JR33zp.jpg

vUZu5oQ.jpg

After i mounted the shell’s and racks. I test fitted again. Good news is there is a good gap between the racks and the bottom hull edges. Which means I will be able to make floors for the sponsons out of card stock. 

RaAW6N3.jpg

Last up another close up of the shells and interior. 

ju8JeOn.jpg

 

Well thats it everyone ... It’ll be midnight in the UK soon. I want to wish everyone a Happy and Safe New Year 🎊 🎉 See you next year. 

 

Dennis

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Hello everyone ... First post of 2018 on this build. I finished and touched up the interior paint. I also add the drivers side instrument panel. zhp8xXz.jpg

I know there are some funky angles on the photos. A better view of the drivers instrument panel ⬇️lwZ21SU.jpg

I then added the second radio, ⬇️

I also placed the floors in the sponsons. These as can be seen are just generic plastic card.

IJdaNxF.jpg

The drivers secondary block  ⬇️

EDcCm78.jpgLast up i have glued upper and lower hull together. And its sitting with rubber bands holding it tight. n72uOFA.jpg

vADYM3J.jpg

Last up i scratched two more vision blocks for the hatches, and glued them in.tYvTFRv.jpg

Thats it for today, maybe more tonight but that will be a.m. in the UK. Everyone have a good night

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Hello everyone ... todays update. I built up the suspension and tracks. I dont mind saying this, but give me good old fashioned rubberband tracks. This link & length system stinks. It looks better but what a pain in the back. Anyways here it is in all its glory. 5cjaFDd.jpg

Both side views first ↕️ If you look closely i decided to make it visually interesting by throwing a cast bogey in the very front instead of using all stamped. I figure it was damaged, and the maintenance depot only had a cast one spare.  

lX38oiG.jpg

Then front view from beneath ⬇️ 

WRp48Cr.jpg

and finally rear view from beneath 

byKKtiM.jpg

Right now i have some weight sitting on the tank so the bogeys really settle into the tracks. Enough for tonight im off to bed. See everyone tomorrow. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Hello everyone ... ok I was looking at the model last night and got confused about something. There are 8 faint raised rings along each side. Two are now covered by the cleat racks on each side which left 6 on each side. If you blow up the following photo’s you can see them quite clearly. lX38oiG.jpg

5cjaFDd.jpg

I wasn't sure if these were injection marks or something that is supposed to be there. So i went looking. 

     I found out there a supposed to be 10 of them. Not the 8 that appear. These seem to be mounting lugs for stowage. Tamiya blew it on this it should look like the raised bolts on the glacis plate. But they aren't in the kit, so i added round plastic rod cut to a suitable size to somewhat simulate them. I only added the six on each side. I got a little lazy but i used what tamiya started with. I don't have hex shaped rod or real bolt heads. Heres what it looks like now with these added, and a base coat on the lower half of the turret and hull.ILnm5LZ.jpg

3wFcLP7.jpg

I finished by pre-shading other areas. ijkcBm8.jpg

This included black basing the lower hull and lower turret for the next stage of painting. 9OCGpjI.jpg

I actually used a vallejo German black-brown it looked better and i didnt have a lot of black to spare. Oddly it looks a little olive in the photo but to the naked eye it looks black/brown. More later tonight when i start work on the turret. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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The bolts on the glacis and sides were for appliqué armour,  Dennis. Photo's show the bolts always on the front, but some didn't have them on the sides so would be OK to leave it. The armour was never fitted as far as I can tell, but the fasteners seemed to come in handy for looping wire around for hanging stowage and foliage!

 

Davey.

Edited by DaveyGair
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Im going to give a start to the turret tonight. I found a couple of photo’s online showing Achilles with extra armor on the turret opening like some M10’s carried. I also found a photo of an achilles that moved the M2 Ma Duece to the forward part of the turret and possibly an M1919 on the rear pintle mount. I might try this as well ? opfCA4b.jpg

Extra armor to be added. 

EWRHzJE.jpg

 

* not sure if these are public record so i will state the ownership rights belong to others. I only use them for informational purposes. If i have to i will remove them. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Dennis, this is turning out especially well. The extra bits you've added really make a difference. I wish you much luck at the paint stage.

 

 

 

If you're interested I have a top view photo of the turret roof armor I can scan for you. It's from a postwar m-10 but might be similar.

Edited by SoftScience
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1 hour ago, SoftScience said:

 

If you're interested I have a top view photo of the turret roof armor I can scan for you. It's from a postwar m-10 but might be similar.

That would be great SoftScience i can use every bit of info on the M10/Achilles. Im pretty familiar with M3/M4 Lee’s/Shermans but not so much there family tree. 

 

As for paint I think its All green or maybe a play on the “Mickey Mouse Scheme” with Dark Brown instead of black ? I know its not 100% accurate but no one can say an achilles didn't wear a scheme like that. I know in Italy they used the Green/Black or Green/Brown Wavy stripes so i might even go that route with mine. Im not sure yet paint will be at least a week from now. 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Mornng everyone ... so my latest bit of scratchbuilding is up. I assembled the Turret and roughed in some base color. I then added the optic sight for the 17 pounder and the back up blade sight on the right side of the turret. First off the real deal, the blade sight. ⬇️ 🔺

G6UmbVW.jpg

Then the optics, & compass. ⬇️🔺

hmF3hV8.jpg

Then my work heres the scratch made bladesight. Above and behind is the optics sight.IVpNCdy.jpg

from the right. 

f3KrngI.jpg

From the rear, ⬇️ you can also see my attempt at giving a better cast effort to the counterweight.   u2XvfmM.jpg

The little grey blob down low is the compass. The turret from the left, the optical sight shows up better here ⬇️.VVF461L.jpg

Last shot is from below. ⬇️

3AQZY8j.jpg

Well thats enough for now. I will build up the turret armor soon. Then the Mantlet and the barrel. Have a great modeling day guys.

 

Dennis

 
🔺* not sure if these are public record so i will state the ownership rights belong to others. I only use them for informational purposes. If i have to i will remove them. 

 

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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Good progress Dennis. With regards to Mickey Mouse, I have seen a picture of a model in that scheme, but not the real thing. Possibly one of the kits released in 1/35th (maybe Italeri) had it.

 

John.

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7 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

With regards to Mickey Mouse, I have seen a picture of a model in that scheme, but not the real thing

I agree the only one I've seen in photo’s was a restoration currently in Britain. I’ve got friend thats more of an armor builder than myself. Hes urging me to go for an Italian campaign Achilles, in the wavy Green/Brown camouflage. I might go that route yet. 

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