Managed to get a bit of madness done on the AMX 13 Chaffee, in between doing some painting a couple of other builds. Takom’s base AMX 13 kit has welded road wheels. All well and good for later versions of the AMX, but earlier ones had bolted wheels. Takom’s AMX 13/75 has IDF decals in it, but IDF all had bolted wheels not welded, (the one at Latrun is not ex-IDF!). And of course, the AMX Chaffee had bolted wheels too.
My solution was to fill the gaps between welds and then add the required number of bolts:
Whilst probably not 100% accurate, it looks good enough for me. All 10 wheels are now done. Note the separate tyre and rim sections on the left wheels and yet to be added to the ones on the right. This gives a nice recessed groove.
The vehicle I will be depicting (a kit decal option) shows the bolted wheels:
OK, with less than 3 weeks to go, I realize that I need to get serious and actually get started. I’ve played around and test fitted some parts, painted the engine but not much else. So here’s mu official start photo.
The box artwork shows a pair of gun pods under the wings. Of course the kit doesn’t have any so I’m going to try and reshape some 500 (1000?) pound bombs to look like gun pods.
Looking forward to seeing how this one builds. And how the gunpods turn out.
I have the same one in the stash I plan on building in South Vietnamese colours and haven’t been able to find any for it. I do have a pair in Heller’s T-6 kit, just not sure if they’re the same type or will even fit.
The first thread says 9 months from 1 March. So based on whole months, that takes you to 30/11/2021. However Phil mentioned he intended to have a 31/12/2021 end date. I’m sure if you need to end of year, Phil would approve.
I am up to the very last bit of sctrachbuilding on mine - the fittings on the turret side where some form of tool bag or stowage bag is located.
Researching what these turret fittings looks like has been a problem. I can’t find any decent pics, nor find anything like them on other French vehicles. I even asked Olivier (Bison126) whom is very knowledgeable on AMX’s, and he asked around on French forums for me, but it seems this is a bit of a mystery.
Ah crap, ya mean I got at least a couple of more months??? My math worked out to 1/11/21 (11/1/21) in these parts… I’ve been sweating getting the last bits done by this Sunday. I’ve almost got a chance to make that.
Final color coats last night.
Plus I managed to do all of the major panel lines. Quite a bit of Zen in touching and flowing the PLW into the cracks. My first ever Heller kit and I surprised at how little trouble there actually was for a 40 year old kit.
Yes, Mark. You have some extra time until the end of the year.
You build looks very cool. Sometimes you get surprised of old kits that go together very well. Details might sometimes be soft or missing, but it still an enjoyable model. I am looking forward to seeing more of your build.
I am considering whether to go for Eduard 1/72 scale Mig-21 in African colors or the revell A-4 skyraider in French Algerian war colors.
I am also considering a T-55 in Ethiopian or Eritrean colors.
I still have a few builds to finish and then it is decision time
Thanks guys. Hope to finish up the gun pods today. Of course last week, I found a couple of aftermarket options, but I didn’t pursue them thinking I didn’t have time.
What I have been working on is something that might look the part. I found a couple of old 1/48 scale 500# bombs, cut the fins off and sanded the end smooth. Then I drilled a couple of 0.025" ( 0.6mm?) holes near the transition from the round nose to the cylindrical bomb body. I’ve painted up some 0.025" rod for the barrels, I’ll install them and trim to length and call it a gun pod. The aftermarket pods looks like they were integral to the pylon and it seemed to be the same size as the monster pylons molded on the wings. I took a round file and sanded a groove into the pylon that the pod will mount into. Now that it’s too late, I should probably have masked off the pylon and painted it the same color as the pod.
Hopefully I finish it all off tonight and have photos to share.
Okay Build finished on the AMX Chaffee. Ready for a clean down, breakdown into the sub assemblies and then primer:
Muzzle cover and stowage in the rear basket are scratch built from 2 part putty
Weld beads added and the sharp points on the collar to raise the turret has been smoothed back and cutting marks added too.
I added the fitting on the turret side making an assumption of what is visible in some other, not so clear pics, one is of the same vehicle I am building from the rear. That shows the rear reflecters ar missing from the fenders, so I removed them.
Looking forward to seeing how they turned out.
From what I saw in reference photos, they were a strange shape.
Do you have a link for the aftermarket pods?
What I have been working on is something that might look the part. I found a couple of old 1/48 scale 500# bombs, cut the fins off and sanded the end smooth.
Then I drilled a couple of 0.025" ( 0.6mm?) holes near the transition from the round nose to the cylindrical bomb body. I’ve painted up some 0.025" rod for the barrels, I’ll install them and trim to length and call it a gun pod.
The aftermarket pods looks like they were integral to the pylon and it seemed to be the same size as the monster pylons molded on the wings. I took a round file and sanded a groove into the pylon that the pod will mount into.
First true Heller kit I’ve ever built. Overall not bad, looks like a T-28, went together fairly cleanly, no major seams to cleanup. Rivet detail may be over done but it’s a 40 year old kit. Instructions were helpful, but the landing gear door instructions were much more aspirational than informational.
I added about 10 grams of weight inside the nose, but she’s a little light on her feet. Look at it funny, and it turns into a tail sitter.
