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Tamiya 1/35 M151A2 w/TOW (aka Mutt)


Vaastav

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Hi all. As I have got rather busy these days, I decided to make a small kit. I found this kit on Amazon at a reasonable rate and present it to you guys. 

It has 2 options, US Army and USMC. After the scientific decision making process that is heads or tails, I decided I will make the US army version. 

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The box art. This shows the Marine Corps version.

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The sprues and instructions. 

 

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And because nobody asked, a picture of my workspace. 

 

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Ok, so here is where we stand. 

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The body is a semi tub design, with the sides and rear to be attached. The molding is crisp and details are well defined. 

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The rear prop shaft and axle were attached, along with the silencer, bottom of the gearbox and front coil springs. 

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The suspension was completed, and the lower body is now complete. 

 

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Hi all. Further progress has been made. 

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The underside was painted black, as that helps give it a darker look and as it isn't really visible I'm leaving it as it is. 

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The two sides attached. Some holes had to be made, and I used the tried and tested playing with fire for them (basically heating a wire over a match and poking the holes) 

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Looks like it's supposed to now (somewhat)

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The bumpers were attached to the rear, as was the towing eye. 

 

Now some small parts to be done. 

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Hi guys, and thanks Ed for the kind words. 

Further work has been done. 

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The mounting for the TOW launcher.

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The radio. Tiny thing.

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The guidance control system. Again tiny.

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The mounting and radio attached. I painted the radio OD as a colour test. 

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Thanks @vytautasfor the picture. Very helpful it is (as Yoda would say) 

Updates:

 

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The wheels have been made. I will attach them right in the end. 

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Dry fitted to the body to show what they will look like

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The gear lever, 4x4 lever and handbrake were attached. Tiny stuff. 

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The grille was attached as well

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Launch control installed. 

Dash etc. up next. 

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Hi all, further update. 

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The driver's armchair. (Armless it is) 

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The windscreen, I will be showing it in the down position.

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The TOW launcher. This is currently dry fitted. 

Now to work on other parts of the missile unit. 

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Hi guys, further update. 

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The tripod for the launcher (this can built open as well to display the launcher) 

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The spare tubes. 

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The crew seats went in, and the back is quite busy now. 

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The stepney attached. 

Now for painting. 

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On 17/02/2021 at 16:54, Bullbasket said:

Interesting subject, and you've made a good start. I have one of these in mind as an IDF vehicle.

 

John.

Thanks John for the kind words. I was away in Ahmednagar the past few days, I was visiting the Cavalry Tank Museum over there. Lots of interesting stuff they have.

Anyway, updates.

After going through my paint stock, I saw that the army scheme couldn't be done, so I decided to just paint it green (the horror) and maybe repaint it later.

Now before everyone starts chanting "Heretic!" and "Blasphemer" and burns me at the stake, there is actually a case where this can happen. In pretty much every unit that I have seen, there are always a few vehicles which get used for everything from demonstrations to exercises etc. (Training exercises, where the full complement of vehicles is not needed) and their paint gets worn faster, so they are repainted, usually with the paint that there is most of, which tends to be green, so... maybe put away those pitchforks?

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The body painted green.

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The rear area painted green as well, with the radio knobs painted black, yes it needs some work... The crew seats will be painted later.

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The launcher also got its coat of green, it will be painted black on the inside.

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The driver's seat and important levers painted.

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Hi guys, further update. 

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The crew seats were painted leather, and the brake lights were painted red. That's the back done for now, till weathering. 

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The tyres were painted black and the wheels green, some cleanup is required. The tyres have a cool detail of Firestone embossed. 

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The launcher was painted black inside, and the lenses were painted too. 

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How it looks altogether. 

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Thanks for the kind word guys.

And more work has happened. 

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The uhh... bent piece of metal in front of the stepney was added. 

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The side mounted jerrycan was painted. I deliberately painted the jerrycan different from the jeep to give a little contrast.

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The stepney and jerrycan were fitted on. 

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The windscreen was also mounted. Little bit of cleanup required. 

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The driver figure starts taking shape. The other hand will be attached when he is in place, as it has to be on the steering wheel. 

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The dash was also painted

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Historical accuracy was once again asked to exit and the towing eyes etc were painted red (our army does this on all vehicles, and I think it looks rather smart) 

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The wheels are now glued, and this is what it looks like now. 

Comments and critique welcome. 

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11 hours ago, Stef N. said:

Looking good Vaastav. I'm not sure what green you used but it looks right. Slightly faded effect but it works. Nice one. 👍

It's Humbrol 253, it seemed right so I went with it. It will be weathered of course. 

 

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Thanks @edjbartos and @phildagreek for the kind words. 

Further updates. 

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The tripod for the launcher was painted and decals added. They are silvered, but the tripod is barely visible when everything is in place so.... 

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Fitted into place. 

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The rack for the spare tubes goes on top of the tripod.

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A spare tube, with all decals etc in place. 

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Both of them stuck in place.

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Looking quite busy now. 

 

I decided against doing the figure, as he's wearing a camouflage uniform and my rudimentary figure painting skills are not up to painting tiny camo.

Comments and critique welcome. 

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Great stuff. I remember building this as a kid, safe to say I didn’t do as nice a job as you are. For an old kit it holds up really well and reminds us just how far ahead of the pack Tamiya were back then.

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Further updates. 

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The 82nd Airborne markings were applied to the front.

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Side markings applied. The decal split and didn't completely align, but an axe will come on top of all this so...

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The markings applied on the rear bumper. 

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The decal on the windshield did silver, but I'll take care of that during weathering. 

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The decal work on the launcher was done as well. 

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The axe in place

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Towing eyes on the front one pinged off into oblivion, so I'll weather the empty spot as if it broke off.

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How it looks now... 

Next up, weathering

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