M3 Stuart, Bataan Campaign 1941 (Tamiya + 3D Conversion Set)

[kunjuro]

Greetings! I would like to share my recent build on this Tamiya M3 Stuart backdated to an early production version with a 3D conversion set made by a local modeler (onescaleproject) which includes a new turret. Decals were by Star Decals but I hand painted the rear turret markings as they did not come with the kit.

The markings are for a tank commanded by 2nd Lt. Lloyd Harry Magill Jr. After the fall of Bataan, it was said he and other comrades managed to escape into Corregidor and continue in the resistance there. He would unfortunately be captured during the surrender of US and PH forces and die in a Japanese POW Hell Ship later in the war.

Thanks for looking.

[RonW]

Very well done!
Turret shape is interesting.

[TheModeller]

Lovely work James, looks very good, that set would probably be a good basis for a British Honey in North Africa.

[SSGToms]

Beautiful work. Excellent weathering.

[UBCS]

Cool！A lot of machine gun​:grinning:

[Dan]

Is this tank from the 192nd or 194th tank BN?

[JPTRR]

Really good work. Can’t have too many Stuarts - love that boxy pugnacious look.

[Buq-Buq]

.
Dan:

I was curious about the unit as well. I did a quick Google-Search and came up with this:

Magill, 2nd Lt. Lloyd H. Jr. - Bataan Project

I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the information, but there is certainly a lot of stuff there.

Greetings from Minnesota.

Mark

[Dan]

Mark,
I served in the 194th BN, MN National Guard.
I’m also from MN.

[Grauwolf]

Well as usual, a very nice model…well painted and weathered!
Cheers,

[kunjuro]

Thanks Ron The boxy-shape of the turret gives it quite a distinct look - they’d change it soon though to something less conspicuous

[kunjuro]

Thanks Les Piper. Having built the Academy Stuart last year, I can definitely say the smaller, inaccurate turret in that kit is quite noticeable now. It would be nice if Tamiya releases this version of the Honey so there would be no need to mod the existing late kit.

[kunjuro]

Thanks Matthew, much appreciated While the surviving reference photo of the tank is quite clean, I wanted to give her a bit more character with some weathering

[kunjuro]

Thanks ubcs The Americans did love their machine guns early in the war - I found it surprising that the earliest Shermans still had slits to mount MGs that the driver could fire.

[kunjuro]

Thanks Fred! Yes, I rather like the various stuarts - from the early M3 to the late M5. The boxy hull gives them quite a distinct look

[kunjuro]

You are correct Mark - that’s where I got my information from as well (Bataan Project).

@Dan - Ohh that’s quite the coincidence I hope I did a good job painting the kit then. These tankers went through hell and back during the war - they deserve to be respected and remembered.

[kunjuro]

Thanks @Grauwolf! I really appreciate your consistently kind words in my builds

[kunjuro]

For those who are interested, here’s a photo of the vehicle before getting paint showing what was replaced from the Tamiya kit (sorry for the bad quality, I forgot to take final shots before primer)

The CAD drawings of the 3D prints shows the parts off in more detail:

The main changes were the backdated turret, new hatches/visors for hte driver, and unarmored (correct me if I’m wrong) fuel caps + some thinner headlight guards and step for the front hull.

[Dan]

Many, if not all of the tanks had the right side sponson MG removed and a patch welded over the hole. A radio was installed in its place.

[Buq-Buq]

Nigel:

Yes — lots of good info on that site.

I very much like your work on this M3: very well-executed, particularly since there is a local connection to the unit (see Dan’s post; he was a tanker with the 194th, but presumably not during WWII . . . )

Anyway, I will use your model as inspiration for a Stuart I am working on in a different media format. Very good work!

Dan: 2nd Squadron, 11 ACR . . .

Mark