For a groupbuild on the sistersite of the Dutch Twenot I chose to build an Italeri M47, but in Portuguese colours. And not just any old OD, but in a 3-tone camouflage!
I found the following picture that was the inspiration for this:
For that I needed an M47, which I had obtained secondhand for a very good price, and matching markings, to be provided by Star Decals.
The build will be pretty much OOTB.
I have been searching far and wide, but could only find 2 more (colour)images, showing said 3-tone camouflage.
which is part of:
… and …
I found some b/w, which I think show this pattern too:
Coincidentally the Italeri M47 has the right features for this build, such as the right type of tracks and the large radiobox on the rear. What it misses though is the canvas guncover.
But first things first.
A glance in the box show that the previous owner left his “mark” on the wheels, arms and lower hull in the form of a really thick layer of gloss dark green enamel paint.
I did not bother removing that, because it would involve either sanding, with the risk of severe danages or a bath in brakefluid (no fan of that), so I figured that once painted and weathered it would be not very noticeable.
The build is rather straight forward, fit is good albeit that the instructions are confusing at times, because it uses multipointed arrows, whilst showing multiple steps in one image.
I managed to break off one axle, when putting (pushing) on a wheel. Some of the green paint had found its way into the location hole and had clogged it up a bit.
One of the first steps I always take with kits such as this, is to glue the barrelhalves together, so that they can properly harden, before filling and sanding them into an acceptably shaped tube.
The kit comes with quite a nice engine with lots of detailing possibilities and enginedeck hatches that can be opened, but still not much can be seen.
I wish Italeri had done so with the interior itself as well, but other then a very rudimentary breechblock, no interior is given. Shame really, since that would have elevated this kit to an outstanding level.
I needed filler on the front suspension arms, which had major sinkmarks, but other then that the kit was pretty much free from blemishes. The turret halves were a bit tricky to line up and some sanding and filling was needed.
I opted for the T-shaped muzzlebreak, for looks mainly, but managed to find 1(!) image of a 3-tone with T-break!
I thinned down the exhaust pipes and the edges of the covers too. Tools will be placed after painting, minus the sledgehammer on the turret. That one appears to have been omitted on the real deal. I think I will alter the rear mudguard braces. They look too thick. The antennas will be replaced by either metal wire or taken off entirely later on.
Then there’s the thing with the tracks; they are tick, stiff and very tight! that causes a issue when putting them on when the hull halves are joined, since there is very little room left.
I made the mistake of glueing the rear plate onto the hullbottom, which causes an issue when joining the hullhalves. Because of the rearlights and the small triangular plate on the mudguards there is too little room to slot the hulltop in place! The rearplate must be attached to the top, but then towing hooks and pintle, which fit over the joint between rearplate and hullbottom, must be left off until later.
Nice work - and a cracking model by Italeri too.
The different colour scheme is very interesting as well. I had great fun producing an early Bundeswehr version some time ago:
Not meant as a hijack by any means, merely to extol the Italeri kit.
Definitely an oldie but goodie!
Indeed it is a fine old kit. I built one a couple of years back, but I did backdate it to an early production type.
Yours is coming along quite nicely!
Another Cold War era tank that does not get the love it truly deserves.
M47G of the Hellenic (Greek) Army - Circa 1973
I remember your M47 very well Stik- beautiful job!
Looking forward to your progress. I built a tank from the same unit a while ago, though mine was the Takom kit and is finished in boring OD. If you plan to perhaps put the vehicle on a base, this is what the square all those tanks are on looks like at ground level.
Since most/all M47’s showed a barrelcover, I had to make one myself… from parchmentpaper. It is reasonably pliable and retains its strength when wet. Had to, because I was forming it with diluted white glue.
Next step is painting!
I opted for 3 AK colours
The OD is the post WW2 OD from their Vietnam set, hoping it would be dark enough. The other are from the MERDC-set.
As it turned out the OD is even lighter, more pale then Tamiya’s OD!
So I had to handmix something, using Tamiya XF-61 Dark green and XF-69 NATO black.
And the started masking it.
And then the camouflage colours.
When using masking tape, use proper tape. I used a cheaper versie, Revell I think, that sticks to anything but the model… or itself. It especially likes fingers and tweezers!
The first colour was the AK earth yellow, one of the worst paints I ever used! It is very watery and runny, covers poorly and I had to use at least 10 passes over each surface, using various pressures and allowing for dryingtime inbetween. The paint did stick to the muzzle and paintcup though. Had to clean the muzzle 3-4 times, since it got glogged up. Ended up using almost half a bottle, just for the yellow.
After a night’s drying time I once again masked and grabben the second colour, earth red this time. Worked much better; less runny and better coverage and the endresult is not too bad really.
I was quite nervous about bleedy, especially with the yellow, but the touching up should not take long.
The colours resemble the ones in the pictures, albeit that the yellow could have been more yellow, less red. The pattern is not wavy enough, but masking was a PITA, especially the turret.
However… there is an issue with the green that was on the hull bottom; the Tamiya paint came off with the tape. But since it is all pretty straight I hope fixing the issue will be relatively easy.
Should’ve sanded that enamel green better.
Love your crew. Do you remember what you used to cobble them together?
Thanks John; they may have been from these:
which are amongst one of the most useful sets ever for converting to Cold War AFV crews (in my opinion of course) or from this other Dragon set:
I’m afraid I can’t quite remember; the thing is, both are fairly easy to modify for the early Bundeswehr uniforms for the time, although the camouflage pattern can be a bit daunting, and I certainly don’t claim to have got it right all those years ago; I also painted the caps the wrong colour!
Anyway, thanks for the interest.
On with this jinxed project!
The painting stage is as good as completed, the hickups have been taken care of. So the next step was to apply a satin varnish, since the real deal has a sheen to it too. It gave me an opportunity to try a new, to me, varnish; satin lucky varnish by Ammo.
I apply it with a brush, since I am hestitant to use an airbrush and have it dry up on me milky. But the varnish ran off..?!
After more brushing and adding a second layer when the first had almost dried, it stayed on…
I did some detailpainting such as tools, lights and periscopes and I also added rust to the exhausts. The rear looked really empty on an already very empty model, so I added a towingcable.
Now I have to wait until the decals arrive for more painting and weathering. And before I forget, the canvas gunshieldcover:
It really looks excellent Ron, despite your mishaps! Unique camo makes it stand out. Lovely detailing.
That looks great Ron! The camo pattern is very nicely done and the satin varnish came great too- and I can’t see any brush marks- excellent!
I’m tellin ya that old Italeri kit is still great imo, builds up very nice for its age.
