The M3A2 and M3A3 use the same TC and Driver’s hatches. The Tamiya hatches are “correct” and fine to keep/use. The Meng ones are better detailed, but no more “correct”. Either is fine for the M3A2 ODS you are modeling.
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Neither are correct. That said, I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you can say two things can be correct, yet vastly different. They can be different, and be incorrect though.
The Tamiya hatch is wrong in two areas - first - the ridges that are pointed out in the photo. Second, the lower left portion as viewed should not be straight, but rather curved as on the Meng hatch.
Here’s a better view:
The Meng hatch is easy to fix - it is slightly too rounded in the front - it should have a bit of a straight run parallel to the front edge of the track, slight, but noticeable. One swipe with a file will fix that.
Then it needs a 90 degree edge all the way around. It’s very easy to discern in the first photo.
Lastly, as you can see in this photo, there’s an edge running around the Meng hatch that is much too sharp - it needs to be leveled. off until it’s barely perceptible:
Compare with this photo:
Sorry, been out for a couple of days.
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Thanks for the replies, greatly appreciated! Looks like work needed on both Tamiya and Meng driver’s hatch covers. I will take a look and see which one is the easiest to correct. With the Tamiya having the correct hinges I need, I will more than likely try to make the corrections to the Tamiya part.
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I noticed on the Tamiya side skirts, the front inside edges sits even with the armor plate on the glacis. On the Meng kit, the front inside edges of the side skirts sit above the glacis. After looking at some reference photos, looks like the front inside edge of Tamiya’s side skirts sit too low. The Tamiya and Meng side skirts are exactly the same height except that the front edges of the Meng side skirts where they sit by the glacis are higher. I guess I would just need to add sheet plastic to the front edge of the Tamiya side skirts to adjust the height.
Tamiya side skirts showing the front edge sitting even with the glacis with the extra armor plate added.
Meng side skirts showing the front edge sits higher above the glacis with the extra armor plate added.
Reference photos used to show that the front inside edges of the side skirts sit higher above the glacis.
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You are correct on the armor plates. The cut out on the armor was to allow for the swim barrier equipment. The Tamiya side armor should be made of four plates on each side. Tamiya represented this with welds. You’ll probably want to remove them and scribe lines there instead. People miss this. You may also want to add bolt heads on the insde of the armor plates along the top. Thier position is easy to figure out - they’re oppositre the holes on the outside of the armor.
Each panel of the lower skirt armor of course is made of of two plates of spaced armor. Since no kit has yet duplicated this, you have several scratch building options. There’s also a PE set available for that.
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I forgot about the swim barrier. Yes, Tamiya cut down the front edge of the side skirts to fit it. It is not shown on the Tamiya M2A2 ODS instructions but is in the box. The earlier M2A2 #35152 kit shows it on the instructions.
Looks like I have some work to do also on the Tamiya side skirts. Should be easy enough to add the sheet plastic to build it up but hoping I can blend it smoothly enough.
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Started correcting the Tamiya armored side skirts. I only added some plastic strips to the front edges to bring them back up to the correct height. The left hand side is slightly taller than it should be and needs to be filed/sanded down a bit. I also still need to fill in and sand the join lines to blend them in. I will work on the lower double armor next. Not going too crazy as I don’t enter shows or contests, this is only for myself. Not really liking the footman loops on the Tamiya side skirts but I have nothing to replace them with so they will have to stay as is.
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People have complained about those skirt handles in the past. I posted a simple solution for it:
But don’t slice them completely off - just slide a chisel blade underneath them and slice the cable away. Leave the mounts on either side. Then lift the cable away from the armor with the chisel blade.
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That’s a very cool trick. Thanks for showing it. I actually have an extra parts tree from Meng with the separate loops on them that I forgot about. I will cut away the Tamiya ones and use the Meng ones.
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Tamiya has you remove the lip on the very front of the hull. You need to remove it to fit the glacis armor plate.
I used label making dymo tape to run across the lip to get a clean, straight line.
I first used the Tamiya scriber to run along the edge of the dymo tape to get a nice groove then I used the Tamiya razor saw to cut the lip off.
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Got some Meng M3A3 parts trees from Meng customer service. The “E” parts tree has the shot trap parts that I needed to add to the Tamiya kit. I used the Meng kit as a guide for the proper placement. The Tamiya turret rotates freely.
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If building an M2A2 ODS from OIF, would the Tamiya M2A2 ODS driver’s hatch cover be good as is? The Tamiya M2A2 ODS driver’s hatch cover has the ridges on the top and the original hinges, not the hinges with the rectangular bar across the back. Tamiya M2A2 ODS driver’s hatch cover on right.
I am building this M2A2. Would I keep the original Tamiya M2A2 ODS driver’s hatch cover as is?
This M2 shows the ridges on the driver’s hatch cover.
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This is from an ODS A2 - no ridges. I imagine someone could say, “Well there could be examples with the older style depending on when it was rebuilt.” To which I would say, go with what you see for sure.
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Thanks! That one you showed has the bar across the back of the hatch cover. The Tamiya kit and the one I want to do doesn’t have that bar. They have the original hinges with the smaller rod behind the hatch cover. So, all M2A2 ODS vehicles, even the ones without the bar behind the hatch cover have that specific hatch cover without the ridges as Tamiya has it?
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I’d say the ridges go with the other hinge style. At the gym now so no way to verify with my own photos. But others may be able to.
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Thanks again! I am going with the ridges on the hatch cover from the Tamiya kit for the specific M2A2 ODS I showed in my previous post.
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Got a little more done on the Tamiya M2A2 ODS.
I will be using the Meng armored side skirts with the ERA blocks. I need to use the Tamiya skirts as a guide to fit the Meng parts to the hull as the Meng parts don’t align the same as the Tamiya parts.
This is the one I am doing. No box on the front of the turret though as I have no idea what it is and can’t find any references for it.
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Looking good so far. Jacques’ 3D printed parts look to fit well.
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Thanks! They are a tight fit and need to be carefully attached. They are an improvement over the Tamiya parts they replace. I am not making every correction as I don’t do shows or contests so only doing the most noticeable ones.
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On the Tamiya M2A2 ODS kit, there is a platform on the left side of the hull. Tamiya shows it in the raised position as shown below.
If I wanted to have it in the stowed/lowered position as in this image, how do I attach it? Is it tied down with ratchet tie downs or is it on hinges?
On the Tamiya hull, there is a slot for the platform to fit into. Should I fill that area in if I am showing the platform in the stowed/lowered position or leave it as is?
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