Nenad Ilijic Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Hello everyone, This is my last build, M3 Stuart "Honey", of the 5RTR, probably while it was attached to 22AB, sometimes around the time of Battle of Alam el Halfa. Although. I must say that I am not 100% convinced that this was 5RTR tank as Airfix suggested. It might also be 3RTR tank IMO. However, I decided to go with the 5RTR "Connecticut IV" markings that Airfix provided. This is one very interesting kit. It is originally an Academy kit, superbly engineered, but it has many issues with the details. I enjoyed building it very much! I am quite sure that it would not be that much fun if there were no issues to fix. It's like the Academy introduced all those issues on purpose. Anyway, accuracy wise, and regarding dimensions, I didn't bother to do any measurements. It looks fine to my eye and I decided to settle with that. However, there are many details that bothered me. Road wheels are wrong, original sand shields are not looking right, light guards are too thick, stowage mounts attached to the sides are completely wrong for the 5RTR "Connecticut IV" tank (compared to reference photo), many rivets are missing, and many more. Part of the problem is that this is originally Academy kit, which is correct for the marking options offered by Academy, but not to the ones included in the Airfix kit. To help with all these issues, I used some AM parts: Royal Model detailing set (great stuff!), Miniarm road wheels, Accurate Armour carbon fiber aerials, some additional rivets saved from my previous build, Black Dog stowage and some additional spare stowage from other kits. There was some scratch building involved as well: stowage mounts, wiring, etc. Tracks are indy tracks supplied in the kit, and they are great. And some details. Painted with MRP lacquers and Vallejo and Gunze for detail painting and weathered with Mig's nature effects and pigments. This was quick build compared to my usual builds and as I mentioned, I enjoyed it very much. And few on a black background. Here's the real thing: Trying to take a similar angle shot. Thanks for looking, and I apologize for so many photos. Cheers, Nenad 42 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stef N. Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Lovely job Nenad. Love all the little subtle scratches, wear and the add-ons. The helmets over the lights is a great little touch which I can't remember seeing before.👍👏 I did the Academy version when I first got back into the hobby, and although clunky compared to more modern kits, it was an enjoyable build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanC Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 An outstanding build. I love the stowage and extra details. Nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autle Posted April 23, 2021 Share Posted April 23, 2021 Hi Nenad As usual this is a first rate model and the photography is excellent also. You seem to understand and capture the subject as only an artist could. Well done and I can't wait to see what comes next. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Browne Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Fantastic weathering and first rate photography. The model shows excellent depth with highlights and shadows, very crisp detail too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milan Mynar Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Briliant work as usual. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytautas Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 For me doesn't sound like fast work, on the contrary, I see a lot of work put into it. And the result is excellent. It seems to me that a huge amount of work has been done. That's a lovely build with a lot of great touches. Top work! 👍 Vytautas 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Nice work Nenad. You've done an excellent job on this one. I like the Airfix/Academy kits of the M3, but as you say, it needs some work. I substituted AFV parts for all of the running gear on my RNZA M3.. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted April 24, 2021 Author Share Posted April 24, 2021 On 4/23/2021 at 9:48 PM, Stef N. said: Lovely job Nenad. Love all the little subtle scratches, wear and the add-ons. The helmets over the lights is a great little touch which I can't remember seeing before.👍👏 I did the Academy version when I first got back into the hobby, and although clunky compared to more modern kits, it was an enjoyable build. Thank you! 23 hours ago, IanC said: An outstanding build. I love the stowage and extra details. Nice work! Thank you Ian! 20 hours ago, Autle said: Hi Nenad As usual this is a first rate model and the photography is excellent also. You seem to understand and capture the subject as only an artist could. Well done and I can't wait to see what comes next. Thank you very much. I'll start something a bit different next, to make a little break from the desert subjects I am usually building these days. I'll probably go with M18 Hellcat. I wanted to build it for a long time 13 hours ago, Peter Browne said: Fantastic weathering and first rate photography. The model shows excellent depth with highlights and shadows, very crisp detail too! Thank you Peter! 13 hours ago, Milan Mynar said: Briliant work as usual. Thank you Milan! 13 hours ago, vytautas said: For me doesn't sound like fast work, on the contrary, I see a lot of work put into it. And the result is excellent. It seems to me that a huge amount of work has been done. That's a lovely build with a lot of great touches. Top work! 👍 Vytautas Thank you Vytautas! Usually I am quite slow with my builds, with long pauses, etc. but this time, it went unusually smoothly. Maybe the children had a bit more mercy than usual this time 12 hours ago, Bullbasket said: Nice work Nenad. You've done an excellent job on this one. I like the Airfix/Academy kits of the M3, but as you say, it needs some work. I substituted AFV parts for all of the running gear on my RNZA M3.. John. Thank you John. Yeah, the running gear is the biggest problem. I decided to replace only road wheels though, because they are way off, and I was not able to find the complete set (although it looks like that Miniarm has very nice complete running gear set as well, but it was not available). I did some smaller changes as well myself on idler wheel mount. Cheers, Nenad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted April 24, 2021 Share Posted April 24, 2021 Amazing work Nenad. Great weathering effects. I like that a lot. Cesar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted April 25, 2021 Share Posted April 25, 2021 Hi Nenad, It is a magnificent representation of Honey, I love the camo you have achieved, and its weathering is excellent, very beautiful ... Cheer and TC Francis.👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted April 26, 2021 Author Share Posted April 26, 2021 On 4/25/2021 at 12:47 AM, Carius said: Amazing work Nenad. Great weathering effects. I like that a lot. Cesar 22 hours ago, FrancisGL said: Hi Nenad, It is a magnificent representation of Honey, I love the camo you have achieved, and its weathering is excellent, very beautiful ... Cheer and TC Francis.👍 Thank you guys! Cheers, Nenad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buzby061 Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 That certainly is a Honey! Lovely work on the camo, weathering & stowage. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fittedkitchens Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Very nice! like the detail touches such as the cabling for the smoke discargers. Were the stowage rail/rack thingies on the sides from the aftermarket etch set? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAG058 Posted April 27, 2021 Share Posted April 27, 2021 Absolutely stunning! You've done a superb job on this one. The weathering and paint work is really top rate, well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted April 28, 2021 Author Share Posted April 28, 2021 15 hours ago, Buzby061 said: That certainly is a Honey! Lovely work on the camo, weathering & stowage. Pete Thank you Pete. 12 hours ago, fittedkitchens said: Very nice! like the detail touches such as the cabling for the smoke discargers. Were the stowage rail/rack thingies on the sides from the aftermarket etch set? Thank you. Unfortunately, these are not included, so I had to scratch them from plastic strips. The other type, the vertical one, is included thou and it's pretty nice. 12 hours ago, DAG058 said: Absolutely stunning! You've done a superb job on this one. The weathering and paint work is really top rate, well done. Thank you! Cheers, Nenad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted May 2, 2021 Share Posted May 2, 2021 Hi Nenad. That really turned out beautifully. I have the Academy boxing of this kit and, thanks to your utterly superb rendition, it has moved up in my build list!! Still won't be for a while yet, but your fantastic finishing of the Airfix version has made me go and check out the spues in the box....thank you for posting! Very well done. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted May 2, 2021 Author Share Posted May 2, 2021 2 hours ago, PlaStix said: Hi Nenad. That really turned out beautifully. I have the Academy boxing of this kit and, thanks to your utterly superb rendition, it has moved up in my build list!! Still won't be for a while yet, but your fantastic finishing of the Airfix version has made me go and check out the spues in the box....thank you for posting! Very well done. Kind regards, Stix Thank you Stix! It's a nice kit, I really recommend it. Unlike Airfix, Academy includes decals with marking options that actually correspond to the model in the box, so less changes are needed I would say. I like the 8th Hussars 'Bellman' one very much. There are many photos of this particular tank from different angles so plenty of references. The only bigger issue (at least IMO) with this kit is running gear. Road wheels are under scale and they don't look right. Fortunately, there are many AM options (Miniarm, MR Models, etc.). Cheers, Nenad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry1954 Posted May 4, 2021 Share Posted May 4, 2021 Absolutely superb looking M3! Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nenad Ilijic Posted May 5, 2021 Author Share Posted May 5, 2021 On 5/4/2021 at 2:53 PM, Terry1954 said: Absolutely superb looking M3! Terry Thank you Terry. Cheers, Nenad 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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