Well, for once I only have one item on the go, and it’s HMS Victory… I feel a bit weird not having any armour on the go and being built …
So I thought I would run with this a little side build.
I was going to try and do it at some point as an IDF variant as Israel @ReluctantRenegade sent me a ton of images ( which I still have Israel - thank you ) but I think I may just look for a DML IDF M3 kit…
I won’t be rushing this, more a steady plod until Victory is done. I have the Eduard PE set for it, which for once I will try and use most of it…
One question to start with, is the whole thing pretty much olive drab all over and inside ? Chassis, axles, inside all over etc etc ? Thanks for looking in 
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“Any customer can have a M3 Halftrack painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is OD”. (Apologies to Henry Ford)
Given the M3A2 was never actually built, you have some license to do what you want, or back date it to an M3A1, but generally, following the procedure for its predecessors, dip in OD.
Just don’t do what many modellers do and add metal to the track faces - they are really rubber bands.
As you can see, mould lines on the sides of the tracks are not a problem…
The weakest points on this kit are the sprocket and idler which are not skeletal frames.
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Will be following. No idea why but half tracks really interest ne
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If your so inclined, FC just released a track set for the kit.
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All that FCM gear looks nice. I have had a few bits from them, and they do a good service. I wont be splashing out anything on this one though, just as is and the PE set I already had. I might have a look at the kit and see if there are any little tweaks I can add …
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I get that….only mentioned cause I saw it today.
There was an older resin set from R&J I have/had. If closer and still had it, it would have been yours.
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There used to be a resin set that had corrected wheels and track. The wheels were not skeletonized to the extend of the real ones, but looked far than the Tamiya ones. There was also a PE set to build the idler and drive wheels. That one did not go well. I still have all of the sets. I still have two M21’s and two M3 kits, and even though they’re not up to today’s standards, they’re still not bad. Hint: If you have an M21 in the stash as well, you can substitute the rear compartment side panels from it and use them to backdate the M3. This saves you from having to shave those ladder racks off.
And in my case, the loss of those parts is no big deal as I have two civilian projects I started many moons ago - a half track based tow truck, and a railroad car pusher, both of which I photographed with in North Texas or Southeast Colorado decades ago.
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Well thats one of my questions answered about the ladder racks on the side
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Shapeways have a set for the Dragon kit, but it costs more than the Tamiya kit itself:
You can always opt for the easy way out - camo based on this M16 at the Ludendorff bridge:
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It was certainly built, it was just never issued to troops.
Late in the war M3A1’s had those racks as well, there’s no need to shave them off if you don’t want to.
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The things that make this model an M3A2 are the extended pulpit armor, the dashboard and maybe something in the rear crew compartment layout, but it’s been a while since I looked at that kit.
Okay, yes, technically one was built. A pilot vehicle designated the T29 was made and tested. It was later given the M3A2 designation.
Re the rear layout, the left picture here is of the T29:
Well, not to be a stickler, but there were five.
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Okay. You win! 
Another internal pic John.
Thanks to Tamiya’s instructions generations of modelers have called those side racks ladder storage. If you read R.P Hunnicuts book on the half track you will find that these were NOT ladders but a rack system for storage of packs and tarps. Look closely at pictures of the real thing and you see they are NOT quickly removable. JFYI.
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Good to know, thanks for the info.
i haven’t seen any of the these built in a long time, so I’m going to be following this with interest.
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Damn. I had better start cutting some plastic soon … like tonight. I suppose they have always been lurking around as a kind of favourite vehicle and one I have been interested probably stemming back to when I was growing up and these and Shermans seemed to be in just about every WW2 film of that period that I loved to watch, be it American or one to made up to look like a German halftrack.
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Some of those might’ve actually used that term in lieu of “ladder-shaped storage racks”.
I for example, having spent some time around AFVs, would’ve never thought upon reading/hearing the term “ladder storage” that that was its literal role. Just my 2 cents…
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