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1/48 Tamiya M10 - First Armor Build


Matt B

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As the title suggests, I have decided to venture over to the Dark Side.  My interest has always been aircraft but the projects I've been working on the last couple years are long terms ones and I had trouble keeping interest so I've decided to shelve my aircraft projects for the time being and decided to try out armorsince tanks tend to build up a bit faster than 2 or 4 engine bombers.  Having committed to the M3/M4 Sherman Group Build in a few months, I figured I'd get a couple other builds done first so I don't embarrass myself.  So, I've started a couple of the 1/48 Tamiya kits in my stash that I'm using as stepping stones before moving to 1/35 in the future.

 

First up is the excellent little M10 (along with the T26E3 in the background but that will be a different thread).  The M10 has always been one of my favorite AFVs and this kit has been a joy to build so far.  I'm waiting on a couple packages of paint to arrive before I start that so I've done a quick mockup to show my work so far.  The bogeys it is sitting on were "rescued" from a M4 that turned into a paint mule and test build for cast texture techniques so those are not the ones I will be using....last night was spent cleaning up all the suspension pieces I will be using.  I decided to add a Legend stowage set (not cemented yet) which is looking really good.  I'm also using metal main gun and .50 cal barrels from RB Model and some photoetch bits from Hauler (most of which have yet to be applied).  And then the rest of the improvements I decided to try my hand at were shaving off the hatch handles and replacing with wire, stippling Ammo extra thin cement with a stiff brush to create cast metal texture on the transmission cover, gun mantlet and turret counterweights, and then adding an Archer casting number to the mantlet.

 

I'm liking the results so far and can't wait to start getting some paint on it!

 

(also, nevermind the glue marks on the hull....I glued on the grouser racks before remembering I'll need to apply decals before attaching them, so that will get cleaned up)

 

 

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2 hours ago, Lazy Modeller said:

Its a very nice model, and all the stuff you added its great. The sand bags seems a bit shiny...how about give them some texture to make them more realistic?

Cheers

LM

 

Good call.  I havn't spent too much time on the resin bits yet but since I've been in a "texturing" mood lately so I gave it a go after your suggestion.  I lightly brushed a thin coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000, continuing to work the brush over it as it dried.  Hard to really tell right now but I think it should roughen it up enough to give a decent effect.

 

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2 hours ago, Dads203 said:

I built the bigger 35th scale version and loved it, looks like you are off to an excellent start. 
 

Shameless plug for my build, you might enjoy going through it :winkgrin:

 

 

 

No shame!  I've actually gone through your build a couple times when I was looking for other M10 builds and very much enjoyed it.  I hope mine turns out half as good!

Edited by Matt B
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Did a little painting today and got the interior finished.  White was Vallejo insignia white and OD was Vallejo US olive drab.  The OD was a little too gray for my liking but I'm only using it on the interior where it won't be highly visible and will be weather anyway.  When that was done I followed up with a dark brown wash, some drybrushing on the floor with silver and a couple shades of light brown pigment powders for dirt and dust.  I used some sheet styrene to close off the sponsons and did another test fit with the upper hull.  I may dirty up the white sidewalls a little more, otherwise I'm liking how this is coming together.

 

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Turret is assembled and I'm continuing to fiddle with stowage arrangement and smaller bits like the .50 cal while I await some Mission Models paints to get started on the exterior paint.  Starting to look like a tank destroyer!.  And of course after applying the casting numbers to the mantlet thinking they were offset to the left, I found several good photos showing it centered so I removed and relocated.  Luckily the Archer sheet had two of this particular number which was said to be a M10 gun cover.

 

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Edited by Matt B
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  • 1 month later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Been awhile since I've done anything with this due mostly to lack to motivation, but I've started going on it again and want to get it done before starting my Sherman for the group build.  Managed to get some OD on this weekend which really helped pull all the different color plastic and resin together.  Bogeys were assembled and are ready for the next phase of painting, so everything is starting to come together.  Hopefully will have more progress on this in the coming days.

 

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Steadily making progress.  I've started hand painting the stowage.  Still a but to do as well as refining it by cleaning up separation lines and such but getting more color to break up the OD is starting to make it look more "busy".

 

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Continuing with detail painting but I needed a break from that so I started weathering the lower hull and bogeys.  All of this is new to me so I purchased a vehicle weathering set from MIG that came with various washes, pigments, mud mixtures and "oil painters".  Since the markings I chose are for a vehicle in October of '44, I used that as an excuse to go heavy on mud and dirt so I can test some techniques.  The lower hull is a work in progress and I think once everything is dry and I can add some more pigment powders to help feather everything it will look better, but I'm liking how the bogeys are turning out.  

 

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A little more progress today.  I'm procrastinating painting the rear stowage bundle along with the bits on the right side of the turret but did manage to get the tracks on and the pioneer tools mounted to the rear.  At this point all that's really left is to weather the tracks then paint and weather the remaining stowage.  The end is getting near!

 

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Got the base colors on most of the stowage.  All are custom mixes of various Vallejo greens, browns, tans and whites.  I'll go in next and add some highlights.  I was worried at first that gluing down the stowage before painting it was a mistake but my hand turned out to be steady enough and I should be able to cover up any slip ups with a wash.    Then I also got the .50 cal painted and weathered and I liked the way that turned out.  I'll take better photos of everything once the model is complete.

 

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