Hi,
I’m building the kit of Takom of Israeli AMX-13. It is nearly end, but only now I’ve discovered a major accuracy issue: the kit front lights are two for side, and consequently the light guards.
Now I’ve seen many photos of Israeli AMX-13/75 from IDF ARMOR חיל השריון-צה"ל: A.M.X 13 (France) in the IDF Tank Corps
and close photos from AMX-13 - Foto e Video - NET-MAQUETTES
From all these images it looks clear that the light arrangement and guards of the kit are wrong not only for Israeli AMX-13s, but for the most part of AMX-13s.
I am looking for a solution.
One could be: to ignore the thing and live happy.
Another solution could be: cut parts of the guards of the kit, and use them to make something vaguely similar to the guards for single lights.
Are there reasonable alternatives to these choices?
Thank you for any suggestion.
My first thought was to check to see if Tamiya offered alternate parts in their kit, and they don’t. And having built several Heller kits, I know they are not correct either, nor would I wish those parts on anyone even if they were.
I know your skill set. I’m fairly confident you can knock them out. A loop in the front, a loop in the back, and some connecting pieces. I’d use brass. It forms easier, and styrene likes to break under tension when hit with liquid cement. Of course you could use CA to avoid that. Ether way, it looks like an evening at the dinner table paying tribute to Ozzy.
There’s a guy on this site who did an Israeli AMX-13, Russel Baer I believe is his name. He may be able to help and others as well. I’m sure they’ll be chiming in soon.
Israeli AMX13s were early hulls hence the single light per side. This is a feature Takom didn’t get right. However the double light is correct for all the later AMX13 s.
To fix this you can make the single light guard with styrene strips like I did with my Heller early AMX13. Or you can use the PE part of the Takom AMX13 /105. Have a look at my build here
Olivier
I forgot this set. Why not?
Seems a promising solution. I wonder if I can manage to paint the lenses through the grid. I’ve found it in a online shop.
I’ll try to modify the guards of the kit as a first attempt, in case of failure I have the possibility to buy this.
I think the prints are in clear resin. You can paint the back with a chrome pen, then overpaint with sand. chrome show throught in the front.
Yes, it is possible, but painting the grid and the glass frame through it seems not too easy.
I used the FC Modeltrends set. Surprisingly they were very nice, and the resin was properly cured and not brittle. If they were at all fragile I would have broken them, trust me.
Below is probably the best pic I have that shows them well. The resin was uncolored, not quite translucent.
IMG_4170 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I bought them directly from the producer and had them in my hot little hands in about 10 days; Spain to Texas in less than two weeks was pretty good.
You can lead a Horse to water but you can’t make him drink it . Comes to mind 
I did… won’t do that again though.
Well, I have more or less adapted the kit protections and it is not too bad. Now a problem: the instructions sheet of the kit shows a Israeli AMX-13 with a large white area over the gun and turret, extending uop to the back of the turret.
For what I know, those white areas were to allow the tank commander to see the orientation of the turret when operating in the darkness, protruding from the hatch. Now, is it really useful that the white area extends back.
Is there any photographic proof that some Israeli AMX-13 had this area extended on the back and top-rear of the turret, or is it only a guess of who drew the instructions?
Could it be a combination of the barrel orientation stripe and the aerial recognition stripe that you’re seeing?
Only some AMX-13 had it. It is not good for an aerial recognition mark.
From my own experience of Takom decoration offering I’d say that it’s right. Takom usually did some research for their decorations.
However I second you that extending the white stripe to the rear of the turret doesn’t make sense.
Olivier
The few available photos, profile or front, seem to show that the white area arrives on the protrusion around the commander cupola, but the ventilator dome and the gazebo-like plate over it doesn’t seem painted white. It would be good to know if at least one photo exists showing this. Besides it is an area full of details that are an obstacle for masking.
If you can’t confirm it’s correct nobody will do the opposite. It’s your model so paint it as you like.
Olivier
I wanted to know if any opposite proof was available. At the end I preferred to choose a tank without the white band to avoid a very delicate masking work on a turret with frail details.
One of the available photos seems to show a linoe of four tanks from side/rear, it seems that they have a thin white line with black outlines, and don’t extend to the rear of the turret, probably it ends aside the cupola. But the quality of the scan is not good enough to be sure.