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T31 Demolition Tank - Home Wrecker


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Here is my contribution to the GB, the Academy M4A3 with dozer blade & the Bolddivision T31 Demolition Tank turret.

 

t31_001.jpg

 

 

This Academy kit of the M4A3 Sherman was released in 2006 & includes the only injection molded model kit of the M1A1 dozer blade released to date, unfortunately they only produced it for a few years & it has since become hard to find secondhand. After looking for about a year I managed to find one on eBay for a reasonable price just last month though. 

t31_002.jpg

 

 

This resin conversion was originally released by Cromwell models about 10 years ago & had been long out of production with prices on eBay reaching ridiculous triple digit amounts. Thankfully Bolddivision got a hold of the master & have re-released it along with metal barrels & some new photo-etch parts.

t31_003.jpg

 


The T31 Demolition Tank was as the name suggests an engineering vehicle designed to demolish hardened targets such as anti-tank obstacles & bunkers. To do this it was equipped with two 7.2-Inch rocket launchers fitted to pods on either side of the turret that were feed by rotating drum magazines (the gun barrel in the middle of the turret is a dummy). The T31 prototype was built in August 1945 & tested but with the end of the war development was stopped & the prototype lost to history.
 
Real+big+ok.jpg

 

T31+rear+vision.jpg

Edited by Mig Eater
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Hi Mig Eater. Welcome to the GB. Great to have you here and with what looks to be a fascinating idea for a project. It really was an odd looking beast. I'm looking forward to following your progress. 

Kind regards, 

Stix

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It's a new one on me!

As has been mentioned, it wouldn't look out of place in a dystopian Sci-fi film!

 

Good luck, fascinated to see it done!

Darryl 

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The M1A1 dozer blade included with the Academy kit has some dimensional inaccuracies & details that are simplified or missing. To fix this I'm currently (re)creating the basic shape of the dozer in 3D using the Academy parts as a reference, I'll then modify it fixing the issues & 3D print a new version.

I also plan in the future to use this 3D model as a base for making the earlier M1 version of the dozer blade & also the T5E3 Mine Excavator which shares some parts with the M1 dozer.
m1a1dozer_3d_01.jpg

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After spending the morning doing the laundry & then making 20 Belgian waffles for lunch (probably breakfast & dinner for the next few days too!) I've made a start on my build...

The Academy kit has some rather rough & over sized weld seams on the upper hull that look like they were made with a blunt rotatory tool, in contrast the weld in the middle of the hull (left side of the photo) is raised & the ones on the sides are just panel lines 🤨 In reality all the welds should be thin lines that are flush with the armoured plates. So my first job is to redo all the seams, which should make the model look more uniformed & add some extra detail. The raised welds were removed with a sharp knife & the "rotatory marks" filled in with putty. I used some Tamiya tape to protect the details around the crew hatches as I applied the putty. I now have to wait 24 hours for it to dry, so I think it's time for another waffle & then have a look at the lower hull 😛
 
t31_004.jpg

t31_005.jpg

Edited by Mig Eater
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So yesterday I filled lots of holes, today I opened them back up again & tomorrow I'm going to fill them in again! Don't worry I haven't gone crazy, there is a method to this madness 😛

 

To redo the weld seams I tried out a new micro chisel tool for the first time, It was a lot easier & cleaner to use then my previous method of using the panel line scriber & then widening the line with a scalpel.    

t31_006.jpg

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The welds are complete! I filled the seam lines with Green Stuff two part putty, I bought a 1 meter long roll of it about 6 years ago & so far I've only used up a few centimeters 😄 The weld texture was then added with a home made sculpting tool.

t31_008.jpg

 

I started work on the lower hull with the front drive cover, I added a cast texture to it with some Mr.Surfacer along with the crew hatch panel on the front of the hull.

 

The four locating holes for the lifting loops on the front of the hull were filled in with putty, I will instead place the loops closer to the edges which was more common. The locating points on the front of the hull for the gun travel lock & the rear view mirrors were removed too. The lock is useless with the T31 turret & the mirrors AFAIK were only used on training vehicles. 

t31_007.jpg

Edited by Mig Eater
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Hi Mig Eater. Interesting progress and as Bertie said above, very educational.  I think I've got some weld seams to sort on mine. Thank you.

Kind regards, 

Stix

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11 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Thanks for the step by step treatment.

I've given myself the task of posting an update on my progress everyday, as a way to motivate myself to do at least do something each day &/or on the other end avoid getting so engrossed in the build & not having to time to post any updates 😅

Edited by Mig Eater
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2 hours ago, PlaStix said:

I think I've got some weld seams to sort on mine. Thank you.

 

It can add a lot of detail to a model & make it look more heavy, so I highly recommend trying it out. I struggle sometimes with 1/35 welds, I look forward to seeing how you tackle them on your 1/48 kit 😁

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19 minutes ago, Mig Eater said:

I've given myself the task of posting an update on my progress everyday, as a way to motivate myself to do at least do something each day &/or on the other end avoid getting so engrossed in the build & not having to time to post any updates 😅

 

That's my policy too 😃

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/21/2022 at 10:32 PM, Mig Eater said:

The four locating holes for the lifting loops on the front of the hull were filled in with putty, I will instead place the loops closer to the edges which was more common. The locating points on the front of the hull for the gun travel lock & the rear view mirrors were removed too. The lock is useless with the T31 turret & the mirrors AFAIK were only used on training vehicles. 

 

The lifting loops were moved to the outer edge of the hull from December 1944 or thereabouts. The wing mirrors seem to appear at the same time and were fitted to all tanks but only rarely used after being issued to an active unit, the mount is just behind the front lifting hoop. I think the Bold Division turret is a new release from them as the parts look much better than the Cromwell offering.

You might find THIS PAGE very helpful as the TMs are an excellent source of detailed information. 

 

Awesome choice of subject too.

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I'm pretty sure it's based on the Cromwell conversion, it has the same part count/layout & looks the same even down to the cast texture 🤔 Either way I'm just glad a conversion of this boom box is available.

 
Cromwell

cromwell_t31_01.jpg cromwell_t31_02.jpg

 

Bolddevision

5.jpg T31+008.JPG

 

Edited by Mig Eater
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