Outstanding job Jason! Beautiful finish - what did you use to dust the model? Looks fantastic
Nice job. You’ve really captured the dirty dusty look.
Thanks very much. I used a variety of oil paint washes, airbrushed Tamiya Buff, and desert/earth tone pigments for the weathering.
Beautiful work…and you are 100% correct both on the history of the real tank and on the lack of accuracy on this horrible kit.
I wouldn’t say it is a horrible kit. It can be built straight OOB and still look like an M103A1, maybe not an exact replica, but a pretty respectable representation.
Where were those pictures of the real M103 taken?
At the Pima Air & Space Museum in tucson, AZ.
They’re there while the new Military Vehicle Museum is being built.
I posted on the Museums thread about it. Big pile of tanks donated by the USMC for display, including an M1A1 AIM and the aforementioned M103.
Ft. Knox had M103’s stashed all over the place at one time. All were painted a strait O.D. green
gary
Very nice build, Jason. While you didn’t go whole hog like Pawel did, it’s a good looking build.
For those who missed it several years ago, there are any number of faults with the kit - some minor and some very obvious, like a gun barrel that is 10% too short, a turret that is too far forward, of the mantlet that is actually 1/48 scale.
https://archive.armorama.com/forums/219229/index.htm
Pawel did a super corrected version based upon my measurements.
In the above thread he also provides a link to his own comparisons. It’s worth the time to read the thread. Whether or not you think it’s a bowser is up to you. I did not think it was worth my own efforts to get one.
Ft Lewis has a M103 in their Museum.
Ft Polk had one in the museum and several out on the target range.
I do find these posts encouraging.
I was pleased in one way to hear about the Takom initiative (I mean, really, Takom to me, do show great initiative in their kit subjects), but dismayed in that I have the Dragon kit – as yet unbuilt. I was even minded to try and correct some of the kit’s deficiencies. However, I’ve now resolved – well, provisionally at least – to obtain a Takom M103A1 in due course, and perhaps build both kits and display them side by side, either in a semi-tactical setting (which would be a stretch given the size of the bases I use), or perhaps slightly more do-able, as on the ranges. I will, of course, try and bring the Dragon version up to a certain improved spec, albeit I may have to skimp on some of the major surgery required.
We’ll see. Given my abysmal build rate, this won’t be any time soon, but that’s the plan – as I say, a provisional one(!)
Maybe with enough cammo and stowage you can hide some of it, and only correct the most egregious errors. (mantlet and gun for example) I wouldn’t even mess with the road wheel spacing.
I’d always planned to leave the chassis alone and try and remedy the turret, or at least a part of it; I’m quite happy at trying my hand at mantlet covers for instance. Of course, the alternative plan, as I hinted at, would have been fully tac, something like this:
You can stick the tank in a defilade to “hide” the wheels issue.
Probably not to be honest: thanks though for the idea. I do feel perhaps, that being in close proximity to one another it would become a talking point re the comparisons. Building 2 of the same model can be a bit of a pain (although I did this a long time ago with 2 x T-64s) but as in this case they’re form different manufacturers it might even be quite interesting.
In the meantime, only a zillion other kits to tackle(!)
Well, now that hopefully we will get a good M103A1 tank kit, I wondered if the USMC used them on maneuvers. I have some ideas in mind.
That’s the photo I meant to add to my post, but I forgot.