Does anyone know of some aftermarket producer who makes the fuel drum racks used on M48s and M48A1s in 1/35? Or is it a scratch one yourself situation? I’m not turning up anything via Google so far…
Nope, none makes it. Slingshot was trying to make a prototype but his real work is making him go back on producing new stuff.
Here are some views of the 1:1 one :
H.P.
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Thanks for the photos guys. I was just hoping that maybe somebody had 3-D printed one up.
Me too; whilst the scratch-built one looked pretty good I just haven’t the talent, and it would really ring the changes on my M48 and M103. Sigh.
You can do it Brian, give a shot !
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Carlos,
Did you ever get one scratch-built? I am thinking about CAD and 3D printing it.
I think Steve Zaloga did an M48 build in a old Military modelling.Think he did a Jordanian version.Could be worth seeking the magazine out.
Richard
No I never did scratch build the rack. If you do CAD and 3-D one, I know I would be interested in getting one or two. Didn’t the M103 use the same fuel drum rack for the gasoline engined version?
He did and I think there was a 1:72 drawing with it.
Yup, that’s what I read - M48s and M103s using the same. Hopefully, I can sell more than 5 so I can at least get my time’s worth. We’ll see…
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Will the print include the barels as well?
Not a question for “will” because I haven’t even started and just gathering info at this point. Plus, time is not what I have. 
I can if people want the drums and are willing to pay the extra. They’ll have to be printed separately however - not attached to the rack for easier printing and support clean-up. No, I won’t CAD the hoses that go with them because those curves and irregular shapes are too much pain. I’d like to leave that to modeling skills.
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A bit of solder and some scrap will/should take care of the hoses etc.
Some photos:
M48A1 with rack
You will need to include the lower mounting points that are welded to the hull (yellow circles) since they are not included in any kit. The vehicles do not have them installed so I guess they were installed whether and if the vehicle was supposed to carry the rack.
Jordanian M48 used the rack during the 6 Day War
Some photos show something like a deflector shield in front of the whole contraption but those are rare and hard to find decent ones.
I have seen racks mounted on Turkish and Bundeswehr (West Germany) M48 tanks but I cannot find the photos now.
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I’m amazed that those fuel racks were factory made, rather than something cobbled up in the field. I knew the Jordanians had them on their M48s during the Six Day War, but never imagined our M48s had them.
Dear God, it all looks cumbersome doesn’t it (although I think it would really add to a model), but then, the Brits used this:
Now that adds cumber to cumbersome!
Note: used by nearly all nations who used Centurion; available in 1:35 from
MR Modellbau:
Just for the record.
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I scratch built a rack about 20 or more years ago, it was really hard to find pics back then. Base kit is the Tamiya M48A3 with the Legends conversion, pretty sure it’s Legends, lol, fuel drums are leftovers from the late 70’s or early 80’s, I think Tamiya also
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Cracking job! Really makes a difference.
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