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Airfix 1/76 M3 Grant tank - Finished


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I think the simple reason for having both parts 47 and 42 was that it allowed you to build two complete turrets and swap them easily - very important when you are a young (and perhaps not so-young) modeller!

 

Dave

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Hmmm.

 

I'm looking at sprocket alignment. They are far further out than the wheels:

4-F993-C6-B-5-BA0-40-F1-8-D57-FA8881-E82

 

I was able to cut them off, remove the Milliput fillets, re-drill the hole and use the remaining length of axle to get them on again. I used thick superglue and doused it with baking powder to get a strong join. Happier now:

7-E1380-E2-6-FAF-4-FA7-B5-E9-8-C3-DCBE0-
 

I’m sure I pushed everything in as far as it would go the first time around! 
 

Anyhow, sand skirts next.

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Construction complete:

82-A4136-D-F5-A2-41-A6-9-BB3-2-AE1-C0260

The 37mm gun is probably a bit thin, just over 1mm/3” at the mid point, and my hollowing out of the 75mm gun is a bit over scale at over 1mm/3”. I can live with that. I didn’t paint the tracks before sticking them on because I would expect all the paint to flake off so I will touch them up later. The sand shields hide a multitude of track sins!

 

I can insert aerials into the steel tubing later when I’ve done handling it.

 

Next step is to give it another coat of paint. I will thin it with Future this time in the hope that it will stop it wearing off. Then I will make a mantlet cover and some stores from two part green epoxy putty.

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1 minute ago, stevej60 said:

ancient offering

Thanks Steve! In all fairness though, it’s a nice little kit, apart from the teeny turret and sprocket alignment - the rest of it is still crisp and clean and as well-fitting as it could be with 11 irregularly-shaped main structural pieces. The detail is still pretty sharp too.

 

And the turret of the roughly contemporary Hasegawa Grant is nothing to write home about either, with its central hatch.

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I was thinking of doing a green or brown over sand scheme, but I thought the type might be better represented by an an anonymous, unmarked tank pressed straight into service. I’ve given it a factory number, on the original Olive Drab paintwork. To save you looking up the number, it’s the decal from the ancient Airfix Sherman - I still have some in a bag of old decals, and it still works.

157-D993-E-6-FD0-48-F3-B411-E6454-D8373-

51-E77373-5928-4471-A0-B7-2-DE4065-D348-
I’m not sure whether I have over-egged the weathering, having promised myself that I wouldn’t. I will find out in daylight tomorrow!

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Superb work. 

I've only ever built one of these, and it came moulded in Airfix sand coloured plastic in the El Alamein Battlefront set that I got as a birthday present many moons ago. 

Of course it had to be built as the Grant, but the thing I remember about the turret was that there was a collar of some sort moulded on the base that meant it wobbled. Very disappointing 🙄 I had no idea it was too small as well.

Incidentally my son, who is a keen acrylic user, as been really happy with the new Humbrol dropper bottle paints. 

 

John 

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