I am doing this one for a So.Cal. AMPS online GB. I started it as soon as I wrapped up my WC last weekend, and now I finally have some progress worth posting.
This is the kit…
it has a fairly comprehensive interior, but not 100% complete. And they did omit some detailing or internal stowage that will be visible in certain areas, so I am adding a bit of stuff in there, but not going overboard in regard to that stuff.
This is 90% of the interior detail that comes in the kit
I have also been working on the exterior
Academy molded the upper hull as the early type riveted version, so that it could be used in common with their M3 Honey kit.
But the particular tank that I am modeling had the later welded upper hull, so I had to sand/file off the side rivets on certain areas to replicate the welded hull type.
So that’s where construction stands at this point. I also bought a 3D file to replace some parts in the kit, as well as add missing details, and those are printing up now as I type this… I should have them in a few hours.
It’s funny when you look at photos of the welded hull types… the top and rear surfaces are covered in rivets. If I can get at those hull side rivets with my needle files, they’re history. If not… mud!
Will be following as I have their British Honey boxing I really need to do. Bought it when it was first released so it’s been sitting around for quite a while now!
You and me both! All I can say after getting to this point is that the interior will need quite a few changes on the M3 Stuart/Hoeney compare to the A1 regarding the ammo stowage and turret basket- leave it off. Academy modeled their interior on both kits as an A1.
I seem to recall something about that at the time. They did a similar thing with the M-10 and Achilles. Put the M-10 ammunition stowage inside rather than the correct 17pdr. I did manage to correct that myself with plasticard and some resin shells I bought. Happy with how that turned out.
I might just go the easy route and build it buttoned up. One plus about leaving it unbuilt for this long is that more research has been done on the caunter colours. Academy were still going with the 2-tone blue and sand and I remember EVERY magazine build of the kit went with those colours!
I’ll have to keep that in mind about the Academy kit when I get around to building my Achilles. I was thinking of taking on that one soon. You’re quite right about the research on the delay being good for the Caunter colors research. And thankfully many paint companies have come out with the proper colors since then.
You’re aware that the suspension is incorrect, right? The angles of the suspension arms are too steep, and because Academy did notice the lower edge is horizontal under normal conditions, they made the whole arms an incorrect shape. Compare:
The kit has a number of issues. Note the difference in Jakko’s two photos where the fenders attach to the hull sponsons. The biggest miss was that they never grasped that the M3A1 had the formed, one-piece rear upper hull. I think, in many minds, that the round homogeneous turret equals M3A1 but there were as many as 2400 M3s built with that turret. That underlying assumption, along with the surviving and well-documented M3A1 prototype that was a modified M3, has led to a lot of confusion.
The upper and lower hull construction methods seemed to be on separate evolutionary paths. Even after M3A1 production started there was still a transition process:
The tank in your photo (Do you have an overall shot or information that could identify it?) shows Step 3.D in the listing above, incorporated after about 1900 M3A1s had been produced.
It’s not an M3A1 - we’re just holding it for another museum. I confess I don’t know that much about these older tanks unless I Google it. We just call it “the Stuart.”
It’s an M3A3, and not one I recognize. (There are only 15 or 16 in the US.) This might be the one held by the Planes of Fame museum in Chino, CA; it had a dummy gun shield. Where is it now?
The M3A3 was developed to give a welded hull, like on the M5, to the M3. The M5A1 was developed to put a radio turret, like on the M3A3, on the M5.
It was used for stateside training and in the CBI (drawn from UK stocks) but all but 105 were sent as International Aid.
