Revell 1/40th scale U.S. Army M56 SPAG (Restoration of an old made up kit)

[metadyne]

The US Army M56 Self Propelled Anti Tank Gun is such an interesting vehicle, I'd like to make one in 1/35th scale, but untill one comes out, I'm stuck with the very rare kit of the 1/40th Revell offering from the 1960's.... Mint unmade examples are going for shedloads of dosh, for such an old and basic, by todays standards, kit. So this is the only game in town if you want to make an M56.

 

Making a unstarted, mint boxed kit of this for a few hundred quid would be rather rash, so there are many made up models out there, little Jimmy with the Britfix glue is what you get, and lets face it, we all made them like that once, where welding the model together in such strength it would be enough to hold the QE2 together. So this is what I was faced with.

 

easing this apart will require care.

breaking it down did incur a few minor breakages, but not too bad. The whole lot submerged in DOT 4 Brake fluid for a few hours

 

once the paint had softened and mostly swept off the model parts with a paintbrush, I was left with bare plastic, drained the fluid, and washed the parts in soapy water before being laid out for examination.

[metadyne]

examining the upper hull, the track guards look pitted and rough.

 

these will be replaced with styrene sheet.

 

using sprue cutters for those tight angles. One side at a time.

 

measure twice cut once, the new lengths dry fitted for size.

 

[metadyne]

welding this in from underneath to avoid any visible marks showing above, dribble the liquid cement into the joins using gravity.

[laurie82]

Hi this brings back memories, I had one of these I don’t think I put it together as well as your example! It sadly came to a sticky end during a game of war in the garden with my mate a few doors down. In my defence I was only 8 years old! I shall be following along with interest you have made a great start.

[metadyne]

using pe from the spares box, (never throw anything away) to reinforce the track guards as per the kit molding.

Checking for Square.

 

 

replacing the damaged front bulkhead, the three foot peddles are Gas, Brake, and the one on the right side is for opening the forward hull drain.  

[matti64]

Excellent work, The challenges of old kit restoration are fascinating.

 

[metadyne]

Cheers for dropping by Guys, hope you're enjoying this blast from the past.

 

checking the hull, building up the side frames and adding the broken off axle stubs using the physical fit to make good, strong contact points.

 

joining the upper and lower hull sections, checking for contact and good welded joins.

 

cleaning up the road wheels and tracks of seam lines, flash and sprue stub, coat of base black.

 the light brush guards are too thick so I replaced them with scale thickness pe frame, but the lights need moving further back. the hull in grey primer.

[metadyne]

at this point, before the gun goes on it reminds me of a snow trac.

 

different motor though, this has a VW Beetle Engine.

[metadyne]

here's what Nick Moran has to say about the M56 Scorpion.

 

[metadyne]

_{gun parts torn down and re- built better.}

 

 

 

the drivers pane kit part is too big, so I cut out a fresh one that will fit flush in the frame

 

far superior to the original piece.

[echen]

What cement did you use to fix the transparency, please?

 

[metadyne]

4 hours ago, echen said:

What cement did you use to fix the transparency, please?

 

pva white glue, it dries clear.

[metadyne]

the hull in OD, the running gear fitted after dry brushing with several tones of matt black

 

the real tracks are two rubber bands bolted together with steel grousers

 

the gun parts cleaned up, painted and ready to go on.

Edited April 8, 2022 by metadyne
add extra picture

[Andreas.R]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:05 PM, metadyne said:

at this point, before the gun goes on it reminds me of a snow trac.

 

different motor though, this has a VW Beetle Engine.

As a child i had one of these matchbox die cast toys, i liked it very much!