That is some phenomenal scratchbuilding Russ, you are a very talented man!
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Thanks y’all. Maybe about the time I get primer on HobbyBoss or Panda will release a nice kit of the Stingray.
Remember, you read it here. 
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Great work! Of course a “shake the box” kit will come out as you put on the final paint coat…
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And I’ll probably buy it…
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Great job, Russell! Exceptionel scratch building!
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I’ve made some progress on the hull since last time, did some things I was wondering how I’d do them. First, the mufflers are made up using laminated plastic salvaged from an Eastern Express KV kit. I used the Tamiya ends after cleaning them up a bit, but since the hear shields cover them I’m okay.
Headlight splash guards/mounts are scratched while the headlights themselves are from the kit. I thought about using some scrap PE to do the brush guards but in the end I just thinned out some kit parts. Lifting rings are out of an M60 kit.
I ended up cutting the fenders as was done on later build numbers, so when I get around to doing the muffler for the aux generator I’ll run it’s exhaust and muffler over the right front fender.
Pics so far:
IMG_4363 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4362 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4361 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4360 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
One might ask why I just didn’t buy the AFV Club kit, and it would be a good question. My answer is that I had (and still have) several of the Tamiya kits in the stash, mainly because they’re a big time trip down memory lane, but also that they’re cheap and I just can’t pass up a cheap kit. And I like improving old or not-so-old Tamiya kits at least as much as I like building a nice, new, accurate kit with lots of parts.
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Looking good! I too built the Tamiya kit a couple years ago for the Movie Star campaign and spent ages modifying the hull just as you did, despite having AFV and Skybow kits in the stash. Like you, I just felt like using up a kit that was to hand, and enjoyed the surgery!
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Surgery is fun!
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Depends which end of the knife you’re on! 
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i see you mentioned you are doing DIVAD Tanks have you seen this one that had a rechambered version of the T250 Vigilante, was originally a 37mm rotary gun but the DIVAD version used a 35mm version of it called the Avenger. (nothing to do with the later GAU-8 Avenger) which some webpages claim is the gun on this version because they are confused by the Avenger name.
below that is the T249 37mm and is the only remaining full version left of the 6 built
Vigilante
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Hi Mark,
Welcome aboard! In the first edition of the campaign (Best tank that never was - #177 by barkingdigger) I built that M48 combo! It’s a real beast - I don’t know if it would be any good at AA, but it would make mincemeat of ground positions if used in the support role…
That other tank in your post looks interesting - I wonder what 1:35 kit would form the chassis for a kit-bash? (A slippery slope for me, as I already have too many build ideas wrestling for space in my head.)
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another concept art of the 35mm version
the bottom one was based on a stretched and lowered version of an M113 family hull design and were only 50 inches tall (for the hull section)
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That alternate turret for the M48 is interesting! It looks more like the turret for the General Dynamics entry, but with the Gatling gun instead of twin Bofors.
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I’m so close to time to prime I can taste it. About the only thing I know I need to do is tow cable brackets and the cable itself. If I try any more I’ll never get paint on…
IMG_4370 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4369 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4368 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4367 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
When I was thinking about how to do the muffler heat shields, I thought I’d try thinning a kit part and I’ll be dipped if it didn’t come out nicely, so I did one for the other side too.
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Nooooo! Don’t lick the primer!
Seriously, that looks so good it’s almost a shame to hide it under paint. But I’m sure it’ll only lok better…
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It’s all green now, I’ll post pics as soon as the paint dries.
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Looking great, and I’ll bet it looks even better with paint!
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@rfbaer Looks awesome, Russel! Looking forward to see it with paint. Have you decided on a camo scheme?
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In between completing my What-If Bundeswehr project - and there’s still a lot to do - and also recovering from a holiday(!), I’ve been digging around for more info on the Object 450 aka T-74. Just to remind Kitmaker members:
I’ve been rummaging through Trumpeter’s box and something was beginning to nag away at me; the kit was, well, just not looking very Soviet. A scrutiny of the instruction sheets confirmed my doubts. I followed this up with another bout of Googling and then I realized: Trumpeter had not seen a prototype – apparently it was never built; what they had done was to produce a model, of a model, specifically one residing somewhere - I haven’t checked exactly where - but it’s this one:
So, no real thing to study, measure etc in Kubinka. It simply did not get to the prototype stage, it was merely a concept; a very interesting one but never built in 1:1 scale. Now I realized why the kit looked, well, a bit bland. It represented the concept so details would naturally be lacking.
So Tom, can I still submit this model for the campaign? As I report, the real thing was never built, just a model – which is sort of ironic in a way.
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Hi Brian, of course you can! Also, is there scope to add any trademark Soviet accessories to make it less bland? Smoke dischargers, extra fuel tanks on the fender, etc…
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