Radpoe Spitfire Posted November 23, 2019 Share Posted November 23, 2019 Hi can anyone enlighten me please. Theres is square panel which fits in the floor of the hull, instructions say it's attached internally. Howeve r the panel interferes with the inner floor as it's too thick. So should it fit externally and is this actually an instructions error? Kind regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigster Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 This kit is a repack of Academy. Try to find an original build (or instruction) somewhere on the Net. Scalemates - first step...:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 I have the academy kit and have the instructions in front of me now. But I can’t see any part that matches your description. In fact looking at the second photo in this review I can see the hole you are referring to and that is not present in the Academy kit, well certainly not the one I have - makes me wonder how much truth there is to it being an Academy repack. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julien Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 18 minutes ago, nheather said: I have the academy kit and have the instructions in front of me now. But I can’t see any part that matches your description. In fact looking at the second photo in this review I can see the hole you are referring to and that is not present in the Academy kit, well certainly not the one I have - makes me wonder how much truth there is to it being an Academy repack. Cheers, Nigel All of the Airfix 1/35 Armour that is new is Academy plastic. Scalemates confirms this https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-a1358-m3-stuart-honey--1190144 Tags in the bags when you open them also confirms this. Also if you look at this review at 12:09 on the video you can see the hole in the floor, https://youtu.be/avnmJNgIOxc This is dont forget the late boxing from Academy. Julien Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 That explains it, I must have an earlier boxing. Although looking at the scalemates page https://www.scalemates.com/kits/academy-1399-m3-stuart-honey--107577 Only the very last Academy Stuart (the US version) has the hole in the floor. Neither of the Academy releases of the British Honey have this hole. What is it anyway, I have compared my instructions with the latest Academy ones and the only difference apart from the (US Army versus British Army variations, hull machine guns no side skirts etc.) is that hole in the floor. Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntPhillips Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 23 hours ago, nheather said: That explains it, I must have an earlier boxing. Although looking at the scalemates page https://www.scalemates.com/kits/academy-1399-m3-stuart-honey--107577 Only the very last Academy Stuart (the US version) has the hole in the floor. Neither of the Academy releases of the British Honey have this hole. What is it anyway, I have compared my instructions with the latest Academy ones and the only difference apart from the (US Army versus British Army variations, hull machine guns no side skirts etc.) is that hole in the floor. Cheers, Nigel If you look at the instructions for the 2010 reissue of the Honey kit it shows the hole and the panel insert: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/5/9/6/224596-27-instructions.pdf I would think it probably represents an escape hatch. On 11/23/2019 at 12:26 PM, Radpoe Spitfire said: Hi can anyone enlighten me please. Theres is square panel which fits in the floor of the hull, instructions say it's attached internally. Howeve r the panel interferes with the inner floor as it's too thick. So should it fit externally and is this actually an instructions error? Kind regards, Adrian If you cannot thin the kit part down sufficiently I'd just cut a new one from plasticard using the kit part as a template and fit it flush. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nheather Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 Thanks, sure I looked at that one, but clearly I didn’t. Not sure I see the point - only means anything if you look from underneath. But it is half-baked given the model has an interior which hides the hatch. Surely the hatch should be visible on the floor of the material. Does the part have any detail or is it just a plain square? Cheers, Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsman Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 Italeri also re-boxed this kit, if that helps from the instructions perspective. Does the separate piece perhaps fill in a re-tooling of the sprue/mould feed gate into the lower hull? There was little room for an escape hatch and none of the interior or cut-away pictures or drawings I've seen show a floor hatch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigster Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 Looking at the position of that "hole", I'd say it is just a service opening for a driveshaft. Why did they do it as a separate part? Mystery of Asia...:-)) Looking at that "instruction", for a moment i thought - Wow! I can use interior bits to do my "turetless recce". Not this time...Can be OK with turret and limited visibility down there. I'm still open for more/better photos of recce Stuarts. :-))) Zig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tapsell Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 It's not an escape hatch - wrong location as it would sit directly under the driveshaft and be inaccessible to the crew. Easiest solution would be to replace the 'plug' with a section of thin plasticard over the top of the hole (or use thicker plasticard cut to fill the hole flush as a plug). If you want to use the kit part, then just sand it down so that the upper (wider panel) is much thinner. Looking at photos of the sprues you need to ignore the turret basket provided in the kit (if the instructions don't already say to ignore it). This is an early M3 Stuart with angular turret, They did not have an internal turret basket. The crew seats hung from the turret ring and I'm unsure whether they had footrests (the crew would have to 'walk' their legs round and over the driveshaft as the turret rotated. The turret basket was introduced late in M3 production run, sometime after the round turrets had been introduced, but was standard with the M3A1. The British referred to the M3 with a turret basket as an M3 Hybrid (because it mixed features of both the M3 and M3A1). John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntPhillips Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 I'm old enough to remember this kit when it was first released by Academy, and seem to recall comments at the time concerning the interior not being appropriate for a British Honey, yet another case of a manufacturer not doing their research fully and/or not fully understanding the differences between variants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsman Posted November 29, 2019 Share Posted November 29, 2019 12 hours ago, John Tapsell said: I'm unsure whether they had footrests No sign of any on the ex-Brazilian Stuart at Bovington, which is without basket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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