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Yet another go around for an old warhorse...the Italeri M47


Asmodai

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I’ll get there, probably. I enjoy complaining, and it’s part of the fun, right? Now it’s time for laundry, road trip, mail, and Russian lessons today. After that, we can then see what parts I can cut, glue, or align poorly this time 🎉!

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Hi Asmodai. Great to see some progress but shame about the issues! Hopefully you've had chance to do some more and the misalignment is non-existent! 🤞

Kind regards,

Stix

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I tried to solve my problems in the old fashioned, ineffective way today - retail therapy. While I was out, I bought a copy of the new Tamiya M551 Sheridan. While any serious discussion is beyond this group build, it looks like a very nice kit. Only real ding is the non inclusion of the photo etch at the price point. No metal barrel I could understand, but the engine deck screens and anti-rpg fencing for the front should have been included for what they're asking....

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15 hours ago, Asmodai said:

No metal barrel I could understand, but the engine deck screens and anti-rpg fencing for the front should have been included for what they're asking....

Well thats good to know, i was considering one to replace the ancient build i have. If they're not including that stuff though, that will put this into the maybe column.  

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8 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Well thats good to know, i was considering one to replace the ancient build i have. If they're not including that stuff though, that will put this into the maybe column.  

It's a way better kit than the old Tamiya or Academy ones, there is no doubt of that. Now I'll talk a little about the price. Granted, these are MSRPs, and you can likely find it for much less, but it is a useful baseline. The Tamiya Vietnam Sheridan sells for $62. It includes plastic mesh for the engine and anti RPG screens. The 'Detail Up' set has these parts in much higher quality etch, and a one piece metal barrel - for $18.50 more. 

 

I think that is a lot, considering there are many $60 kits out there these days that include etch in that price. And way more than what's here - there are only 8 etch parts, and depending on what and how you build, you may not even use them all! And while the cost of doing business in Japan is high, as far as people and design, etc. , don't forget that Tamiya has long since outsourced all of its actual production to the Philippines. 

Edited by Asmodai
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End of second weekend update - I got a few more hull details installed, finalized some plans, got rid of some unneeded parts, ruined other parts, and put the major parts of the turret together. It's unavoidable on this kit to not have to putty the seam from the top and bottom of the turret halves join before painting. The turret top and bottom are very thin at the join, and do not align perfectly, pretty much no matter what you do. This is one of the few real 'dings' I would put on this kit. At the same time, I am not upset over this one; it is a pretty well known issue with this kit. I should know that by now anyway, having built my first one almost 40 years ago...

 

If I can escape some medical issues, it will be time for more detail parts, and the turret putty and gun tube repairs over the next week. At least it kind of, sort of looks like an M47 now...

 

IMG_5526_zpsjdvahhvp.jpg 

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10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I do hope nothing serious ? 

I’ve had a chronic immune disorder for years. It can cause moderate to severe problems at times, depending on how well the treatments are working. And the treatments themselves eat into free time I have for other stuff. 

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It’s alright. I didn’t have to answer, or bring it up after all. One of those things. It’s not something that is fatal, but there isn’t any hope of getting away from regular treatments, either. Those are just the breaks. It could have been worse. 

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18 hours ago, Asmodai said:

I’ve had a chronic immune disorder for years. It can cause moderate to severe problems at times, depending on how well the treatments are working. And the treatments themselves eat into free time I have for other stuff. 

Hi Asmodai,

Sorry to hear about your Auto-immune disease. If it makes you feel any better I have TWO and one is extremely rare - not that I'm playing 'One-upmanship' here! But there are a few of us sufferers on BM. So, if you ever need to chat I think I can speak on behalf of us all and say that we are only too glad to listen/advise/share experiences.

 

Oh, and good progress on the Patton BTW.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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6 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi Asmodai,

Sorry to hear about your Auto-immune disease. If it makes you feel any better I have TWO and one is extremely rare - not that I'm playing 'One-upmanship' here! But there are a few of us sufferers on BM. So, if you ever need to chat I think I can speak on behalf of us all and say that we are only too glad to listen/advise/share experiences.

 

Oh, and good progress on the Patton BTW.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Thanks for the kind words. My condition is pretty rare as well. Chronic Inflammatory Demyleinating Polyneuropathy/CIDP. In short, my immune system started attacking things it shouldn’t, damaging my nervous system regularly. It’s been a long haul since diagnosis 15 years or so ago, and there are somewhat better, and much worse times in there.

 

I need to do some more M47 work, and get some more parts on the hull, so I can get to putty and primer. Usually I don’t bother priming, but painting olive drab on olive drab plastic can be....challenging. And irritating 😠!  

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I'm still around, and survived my latest 'treatments'. Done a little bit of work. Pretty much all of the turret is together now. The only bits I've left off are the racks and rails along the sides, as they are around and along the nasty join between the turret top and bottom. I've done some preliminary sanding. When everything has had a chance to dry, I'll hit this with primer, and see how much filling and putty will be needed. When that is taken care of, the racks and rails can be added, and the turret will be pretty much ready to go. 

 

I haven't ruined that many more olive drab parts, LOL 😝. I've just been grabbing whatever copy of the sprue happened to be at hand when I was looking for something. And the first bit of painting was accomplished - the very back of the turret bustle and the front of the stowage box that faces it, before I glued them on. Wow! Stunning progress...I hit that with a couple of quick brushfuls, as I wanted the box on, and the airbrush won't fill in the narrow gap there very well then. I need to get the hull in a similar state as the turret, then we'll really be cookin'

 

IMG_5529_zps5ntadlik.jpg

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9 hours ago, Hewy said:

It does look better than my carpet crawler, looking good up to yet

The Tamiya/Academy M60s clean up well, despite their age and questionable design engineering choices. For 1979, Italeri just knocked it right out of the park with the M47 kit. Some say the Leopard 1A2 from them is a better kit. I disagree, but it’s very good as well, and from the same time frame. Italeri made a major effort on those two kits, which is not too surprising, as both vehicles were mainstays of the post WW2 Italian army. Thus, they had major ‘home market’ appeal, an incentive to do a top quality job.  

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Not major, but finished an annoying little step today. The display vehicle I am modeling has had the tow hooks removed from their mounts on the hull; Italeri has molded mount and hook as one piece. I did the rear hull ones before, but I got to the more prominent hull front ones tonight. Some cutting, shaving, and hole drilling later, I have them installed. May need some final shaping in situ still, but should be good enough. Rear hull area is basically complete with the addition of the fender supports and the gun travel lock....keep grinding away, Asmodai, less than 10 weeks to go....

 

IMG_5550_zpsmwn8bglr.jpg 

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6 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Good 👀 for the details there, most probably would have just built it as is.  

Well, since this was likely going to end up a total out of the box build, I wanted to at least make an effort to match the display vehicle as much as possible. May not be possible around the exposed mufflers and piping with the covers gone, but I’m trying to hit as many of the points of the display as I can. Down to some specific weathering patterns, if I get that far...

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8 hours ago, SoftScience said:

Your m-47 is really cool looking. I never really realized how pretty of a tank it was. 

It has some nice curves on it, to be sure! I’m kind of taking it easy over the holiday weekend; not even at home right now, so I probably won’t get a lot done this weekend. I’ve stuck on a few more parts, and am getting close to done with assembly. Just a lot of little research things. ‘My’ M47 has no horn, or its brush guard. The M47 has service headlights, blackout marker lights, and an IR headlight in each light cluster, and the driver has a blackout driving light as well.  The IR headlight is missing from the driver’s side cluster on my example. Just little things to get my model a little bit closer to this vehicle...

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Asmodai lives yet....just not feeling well. I've finished up the sanding and installing everything but the running gear stage. Now I am primering everything, something I usually don't do. But it lets me check on my filling and sanding, and let's poor Asmodai see what he's doing when spraying green paint. We're long past the 'molded in color!!!' toy era of plastic modeling, yet companies often still mold US and Soviet vehicles in dark green anyway. Tamiya and Italeri are two of the biggest culprits in this...🙄. Picture soon, even if it is only primer gray still....

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Thanks for the kind words; not sure I deserve them....a little over two months to go still, so it is not panic mode time. Yet. Hopefully this update isn't terribly boring or disappointing. I've got my primer coat on everything before I start spewing green paint everywhere. Results were...mixed. The running gear sprue and the hull get a ready to go passing grade. The turret and gun barrel need some remedial work still, especially the barrel.

 

And a little on the turret join. A couple of things to note there - the real thing went together much like the Italeri kit parts to make up the main part of the turret. And the real thing did not fit much better than the Italeri kit :) . That is to say, the join is far from perfect, when you examine photos of the turret in good lighting and contrast. So there is no need to go crazy obliterating the join area; it was rough on the real vehicle. But there shouldn't be divots or cracks, and I still have a few. And the gun barrel needs help. As well as the fuel cans; they had a seam along the side, but their carriers shouldn't. 

 

So the plan going ahead is to whip the turret and barrel into submission, and install the turret rails. Then it is green paint time. A little bit of preliminary weathering on the lower hull, then detail painting and running gear and tracks can go on. Then proceed....one issue to still resolve. Italeri did not intend the mufflers to be displayed without their guard covers; there is piping from the engine to the muffler that some of which is still present on my vehicle, but not in the kit. A solution is in progress to get this, but in the meantime, I can leave the mufflers off for now. They're not going to be green, anyway.

 

In other news, I have my infusion schedule for next week, so I can plan to be out of action. I acquired a Takom M47 as well; got it shipped to me for under $40. This is the later diesel powered modified version; it has an engine deck much a diesel M48/60, among other things. My initial reaction - 'meh'. It has some better details, but has a blocky, angular look overall and in some of the parts, lacking a smooth rounded appearance on things like lift hooks. The sprue attachments are pretty bad on the parts as well, huge. I'll probably make an Iranian M47M out of it. Someday. 

 

IMG_5568_zpssz473v9f.jpg

 

IMG_5569_zpsnn88e4ft.jpg

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