Tami's M41A3 bulldog Light Tank ( W.I.P )

[The Dark Knight]

It's getting better and better, it's good watching this progress, hats off to you 

[Tamiyacowboy]

I have to wait a little bit, need to save a few pennys,

so i can grab some US drab olive spray cans, and a few bottles of

 

european dirt , eurpoean light dirt and a couple other color pigments inc

a ruster. i also need gunmetal slate and a light dirt brown

 

i wanted to try and vac form  some new rear exhuast covers to

it was known that at night and when been running a long time,

those exhausts got so hot they glowed a deep hot metal orange (semi transparent light dust coats and add a smd led under)

[.AJ.]

The glowing exhaust covers is a great idea

[Tamiyacowboy]

Second hard Mod : 

 

this is going to be testing for most hobbyists. if we view the first page post images and look at the tanks off-side rear muffler.

Notice that lug on the top rear left of the muffler covering. it should NOT BE THERE !!! 

 

now this area is where the third motor can muffler sits on the heng long. But its not the correct place.

it should be on the front right of the tank beside the tool tray storage for spades pick and axe bar.

so it needs cutting  off the rear muffler covering lug, sanding off and filling in, then finding a old style 1960s

can exhaust from something chevy or likes, and the chassis runner tubes, then painted and mounted to the correct area

on the front of the tank.

 

i am not to sure on how or if i will try the mod, its a small job but needs to be perfect the can must look right on the tank,

to big its going to need hacking up and more work, to small and its going to just not look right at all.

[Tamiyacowboy]

Browning M2 -HB machine gun

 

this was a sad looker with its ammo box mounted where the cocking handles sat,

was nowhere near the chamber intake so i drilled 3x1mm holes vertical and remounted the ammo can

where the chamber feed is.

 

i think the main coaxial mount is incorrect to it should be more box like in length and shape/design

with the gun held in. 

 

but more on that later, i also took my 10ml i had left of tamiya PC white and mixed it with some artists

black acrylic paste. , slate gray came first - then tiger gray - then dark slate gray. 

this final dark'ish slate gray was then used at the guns primer color..

 

i am in hope when i get some black dusting powder i can fix it ontop of the dark slate gray and

get that carbon black look but with slight gray showing, giving a weathered well used look.

 

will grab a couple pictures in the morning if the weather brings sunshine, so you see the true color.

its more a navy styled gray when painted to the brown plastic of the gun

[Nitroholic]

Do I sense a TamiyaCowboy enjoying tank modding

 

Lot of fun to be had turning these poorly modelled tanks into much more realistic objects. Doesn't have to cost a fortune, as a lot can be done with plasticard and dedication.

[Tamiyacowboy]

i dont wanna touch plasticard i dont like working with the stuff. 

 

so most of the work is small adjustments without need to replace remake parts.

 

but i now want a medium or heavy tank to. but really not the hassle,  so this bulldog is the be or end all.

found a video testing the standard speaker and sound in different containers, 

shoe box, pill box , toilet roll, real speaker housing. 

 

now i aint no audio buff but, the speaker housing gave the best sound, the engine sounded like an engine and throttle running

sounded good to, not like the white noise im getting. my sound is more just a rumble and lots of rumble, no much thottle up/down

turn sounds, its like they are synced and osscilating wrong. so its down to the speaker enclosure and now modding that to.

 

what did make me downheartened was the none recoil function. 75mm cannons dig themselves into the ground when mounted 

artillary style, so the none recoil barrel on the gun is a major fault.

nearly all guns recoil and being an M32 gun it was fitted with recoil and not recoilless.

so somehow i have to hack away the front cannon bore out the hole, add a slipping collar 

and hope the gun unit has a recoil spring mount and slide lug,it would be nice to see that barrel recoil back like it should.

Edited December 13, 2014 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

Rear left exhaust is NOT bored OUT so moke only feeds from the right hand side port.

a quick drill out and finnish with a burring tool and i have smoke from both exhaust stacks. 

 

Dont like the tooling on the back of the turret, but its to embossed to fill it flat.

not sure what i can do here, 

 

Edit: a cuppa tea later and some tinkering with superglue and some plastic screw covers.

 

So front headlamps we have quad headlamps on the M41 tank, in two triple clusters.

the main lamps (x4) are hollow. i needed something to cover them, i could use plastic

but the superglue fumes would cloud it over. Hmmmm what could i use .... hmmmmmm 

 

now a while ago i got one of them cheapy car solar chargers and hacked it apart

upon doing so i had to uncover the small screws used and they were covered with little plastic domes.

most who know i love converting chopping and modding so i always keep silly things back.

well these domes are the dime, look like they should be on the front of the lamps and give that thick domed glass look.

old 60's style thick glass domes, but in a gray plastic. 

 

 

give me a little time to grab camera , take a couple shots, shove them to PC and upload to my imgur.

if your interested i have a couple 4-6 of these domes left over ........ anyways BRB with some pictures.

 

so here we are the first handful are the front headlamp lens units inplace. the bonus image is the Browning M2 with its primer navy blue gray,

then a brush over with lead carbon ( a pencil and finger buff ) all it needs is blackening up a little and a few hints of carbon flashing.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2014 by Tamiyacowboy

[Tamiyacowboy]

a little tip : 

 

lets say your paint up the sherman in drab olive, have you noticed sometimes the front mantels get knocked and have the metallic greeny sheen.

or your small carbine rifle looks a bit dull in all its black and other people have that metallic like sliver sheen. 

 

my first airfix tank i spent hours trying to work out how to get that metallic sheen, so i asked in my local hobby store at the time,

the old'ish chap said try a pencil sonny jim.... give it a does of the pencil and buff it with your finger, thats how the others do it.

so yep, wnat that shiney dull look try a pencil and buff over with your finger. 

 

best testing on some scrap first 

[Noj]

Very tidy install

[newhelipilot]

Nice work on the tank. Is it RC and operational? Any video?

[Tamiyacowboy]

Nice work on the tank. Is it RC and operational? Any video?

 

The Tank itself. 

 

Yes full working just like a real tank, you have forwards and backwards, left track lock - right track lock - 

differentail drive right and left to. you can spin the tank on the spot, or you can turn by adjusting the speed

of each track set. 

Driving is Very easy and takes place via a two stick controller, your right stick up-down is forwards backwards.

right stick, left-right is hard turn - forward/backwards left or right turn is like you car steering.

 

your left stick is used to control your Turret left and right. and your guns elevation by holding the left stick down.

pushing left stick forwards fires the gun. 

 

this tank is a smoke and sound version. so onboard it has a little smoke unit and a sound speaker.

this version tank is the BB version so comes fitted with an airsoft mech and fires small plastic 6mm pellet balls.

there are none smoke and sound shooting versions and also IR versions to ( none fire safety)

 

it is a 27mhz system with a 7.2v 2000mah nicad battery. inside it has dual gearbox and dual motors.

a MCU (master control unit ) to control the motors and gearboxes to drive the turret and the airsoft motor in the gun.

 

 

Today i had the first ever full run. i had turned it on checked tracks run and the turret- gun action.

had not charged the battery from getting the tank and plugged it in. turned on tank and adjusted sound down.

had a quick drive up the front path, a slow slew onto the front garden grass and back towards the front door.

 

all was good till i notice i had lost a front mount loop bar, that sits on the sloped chassis riding up to the front of the tank.

i pinched one from the rear and glued both in place, but i know have to find something to replace the lost unit thats gone from the rear now. 

 

No video as yet, its to cold for me to mess around with my toys, within 40 seconds my hands start to ache and get very cold ( ice cold )

plus the old ticker needs to be kept snug and warm.summertimes i will grab some dust flying and some woodland crawling.

Edited December 15, 2014 by Tamiyacowboy

[thatRCguy]

Well,id better get some money cos I was WANT ONE

[Tamiyacowboy]

Heya ladys and gents 

 

well the cold weather has been causing some weird problems, mainly with my hands

being very very cold, and trying to paint-work is painful. 

 

But im a man and we got to keep going, so i busted out some artists black acrylic again.

i love working with this stuff, you get it from artist stores in little tubes. it comes a out as a thick

paint, but a dab of thinner and your able to work it down to what you want. from super thin runny to a mild

batter like dribble mix. 

 

the M2 "Ma Deuce" fifty cal got a blackening and then a second rub over with a nice medium carbon pencil.

the gun now exhibits that silvery black wear you tend to get, i need to paint up the ammo box platform plate

and also the frameworking. 

 

the single rear towhook bar ( there should be two, i lost one on maiden tests) was given a straight coat with a pencil.

again a medium carbon pencil, but this time a twist, no undercoat, just colored in the plastic. its given the part a

very dull'ed metalic sheen like its been installed fresh from the mill no paint coat treatments. 

 

Portals on the top commanders hatch have been silvered out with pencil to, i will nodoubt blacken these up with something like

a silk varnish and some light brown gray give a sort of shaded glass look.

i need to black cap the fuel cans and maybe paint them to, i was thinking a water can on one side and a derv can on the other,

one would have a white X to denote water.

 

i would like to find some nice camo netting to , this would save me the need to full paint the model and skip most of the main paintworking.

the camo nets would be the paintwork more so. it also then leaves smaller paint work for me like touching up and weathering.

[.AJ.]

Need pics Mr Tami

[Tamiyacowboy]

theres lots of pictures here hehehe : http://preservedtanks.com/Default.aspx

 

btw the above is a most awesome site and shows perserved tanks in full glory photo's

also gives details on tank numbers and even some markings, very handy website.

 

at the mo i am looking for technical military drawings/plans of the T41 (M41) tank.

there are some problems, one namely being the heng long M41A3 is NOT what it says.

it SHOULD not have the aux exhuast ontop of the main exhuast stack.

 

i am trying to find a decent tri color camo splash for the tank, but using battle dress is not a good idea

on a tank/motor  the main thing is pinning down the exact model the heng long was modeled on.

 

 

my photos will have to wait till the morrow, i hate fluro lighting and having to retone all my images.

so once this old gray stuff rolls away i will have some nice sunshine. and better photograph light.

the flash just overpowers everything and does not show the true look.

 

 

Also need some advice on where to find flaked camo netting, tri color nato ( black brown green).

if not i would not mind desert urban flaked netting , Any ideas where i can find this scale stuff please and thank you ?

 

as for Camo work, i am taking the old Ghost squads idea.

these guys were artists and they used the skills to outfox the enemy

they were the ones that gave us the camo and the way to decieve the eye.

so my tank is going to be shoved into a woodland like scene in the summer.

a image will be taken and then used to paint the tank into the background. 

so that means a few aircans and getting a cheapy airbrush to blow it all over.

Edited January 1, 2015 by Tamiyacowboy

[.AJ.]

Great site

[Tamiyacowboy]

So back from some research and its very interesting to. 

 

USA military tanks were not given camo at all. they tended to be drab olive green only.

camo came from using dirt banks and branches to hide the tanks shape somewhat.

 

some other very helpful info came about to, most tanks were given a light gray or white underside.

this helped reflect light and was called countershading.

panzer gray and black were mixed to give a blackened gray tone to blend with  olive drab.

this was done by the tank crew with any paint at hand.

 

Now at the same time i kept researching the m41 and the model i have.

i think its a M41 A1 maybe A2 But it should not have the A3 third muffler.

it also sports more climb handles than others i have seen to. and info on the handful sent to korea are undocumented

being prototypes designated T41.

 

Highway 9 in and around 1965 "laos" veitnam  18 M41 ARVN tanks rolled down the highway , the 1st armored brigade of the ARVN.

i have found images of them moving in the field and some documentation, 210 m41 tanks were given to the ARVN army by the USA

the 18 M41s in their first battle took down 5 x  t-54 tanks , they ended up cut of from weather and flooding and had to be re-supplied via airdrop. 

 

 

so i have found a tank to replicate, a 1965 Drab olive green M41 of the 1st armoured brigade ARVN

now to find a decent image sticker of the arvn 1st bte insignia and some model and id numbers for the tank.

 

need to stock up on some pre 1965 drab olive green (semigloss ) and some panther gray and black for highlighting before main coat.

[Tamiyacowboy]

pencil painting pictures. 

 

notice the front bullhook, thats an M24 Chaffee part, the bulldog could have ringlet eye loops on front.

bullhooks on rear. not all round bullhooks. 

the part is pure pencil over the standard color plastic. you can see the metalic dull steel look it gives. 

 

Ma Deuce M2 its had some pencil in the barrel dimples, on the barrel length, where the main alt/az mount is clipped to gun 

on the bar slide area on both sides (cocking handle slider ) 

 

fuel can rough paint black on the bottom section to denote the can holder then hb2 pencil rubbed over.

same for the metal can strap running central up the fuel can. 

 

 

 

[The Dark Knight]

Looking very nice indeed, picking up some good tips from you, thanks for sharing

[Noj]

The MG is nicely done, as in, not overdone. Really annoys me seeing super shiny weapons, they were painted flat black all over!!

Do you seal it afterwards?

[johninderby]

Coming along just fine. Don't like an over done and over weathered tank. Like to see some subtitle detail as you are doing.

John

[Tamiyacowboy]

Thank you guys 

 

Noj, yeah buddy you can treat your pencil work with the usual matt or satin clearcoat.

that weathering fixer might even work to run a tester. 

 

i know what you mean guys, the tip is the buff after, i used my fingers tips

to smudge it a little. for the M2 i went with the brass rubbing idea. just running the side of pencil

over letting it ride the bumps and likes , the tip to line the edges crisp where they get most wear. 

 

tanks get beat up, dinged scraped and all sorts so that little bit of carbon just deceives the eye a little.

draws you in but also away , you start looking for the wear marks 

my ammo box needs a dirty olive color to bring it to a finish. 

 

i am also looking at a mini air compressor and a new HB130 airbrush (grav feed 7ml dual action chinese model, very lovely brush to use one of my faves )

need to work on some spray ideas, drab olive shadowing with white mains giving an urban snow look , or straight through drab olive and mudding.

also thinking of getting all new plastic parts and spraying them up. but mounting an extra fuel can beside the front tool rack.

it will detract the eye from noticing the tool rack is to high mounted on front end.

 

 

One last tip, it may not work at this scale but Fake canvas.

run into the kitchen and grab that kitchen towel roll. notice its weaved like canvas pattern.

when its wet it wrinkles up , now we cant exactly use water here, but we can use water and PVA glue

, i have a 500ml bottle of the stuff because my crazy niece likes crafty stuff.

mix some water and glue up then paint this onto your fake canvas, once dry its should start to go hard and be fairly solid.

some chalk white or military green and your done. 

 

i would try this NOT on the tank , cover a mould with some petroleum gel  so the work does not stick

and knock up a small tester, see how it looks scale wise for the tanks. its how the small scalers do the canvas

for the tank turrets in mini scale (1/35 and like ), you can add lumpy sandy dirt paints to the cloth

to distract they eye from what it really is

Edited January 6, 2015 by Tamiyacowboy

[Noj]

Pva is great for attaching I'd flags to armour, allows you to get natural creasing before it sets...just make sure you don't want to remove it

Still looking at airbrushes Tami...so much choice!

[Tamiyacowboy]

if you guys looking for airbrush. 

 

i have had my mits on badger and iwatta , the later is the dogs dangles like 200 just for the brush alone.

 

now most look at the badgers but they still command a price, otherwise its a mine field.

but there is a brush i love and i mean love, its cheap its chinese but it just works.

 

these have dual action, you depress the button and it starts the airflow, keeping depressed you gentley

slide back the button, the more you slide it back the more paint flows out. move in close you get a finer line

move out you get a cone . at the rear is a little knurled knob, when you turn this it stops the button sliding back so far.

its like a backstop you can set it so only a certain amount of flow with so much travel in the button backwards. 

they have a small'ish 7ml gravity feed cup , this is very handy because you can mix your paint in the cup.

drop in your thinners first, then your paint a quick cocktail stick stir and your ready to shoot color.

 

have a look on ebay and type AIRBRUSH into search, now look at all those pictures of those black cased

airbrushes with blue foam backing. look for a model 130 bout 20 quid for a very decent dual action brush.

perfect for the newbie sprayer or the pro that wants something less hard on the wallet. they ARE not no iwatta

so dont expect it, but do expect a nice finish from such a cheap gun. 

 

 

Compressor wise, tanked is nice but cost is more.

Mini/micro compressors are very cheap 30 quid for a cheap beauty nail air compressor.

these are simple and some come with a regulator and very small resivour tank, BUT they work

feed air and do not break the bank. ideal for someone starting out or just wants that on the go airsupply 

and in the field spray setup.

 

Myself i am going for a vogue air mini compresser seen in link below and will grab a HB130 china brush to go with it.

these are no rattle can so painting is long time. and time means nice finish no need to lay it on thick, just take time.

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Street-Airbrush-Compressor-Painting/dp/B00KXTDJJC/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1420574448&sr=8-6&keywords=airbrush+air+compressor