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Armor/AFV
For discussions on tanks, artillery, jeeps, etc.
Acadamy M-10
cartridge
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United States
Joined: March 09, 2003
KitMaker: 61 posts
Armorama: 0 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 08:52 AM UTC
I just started to build the Acadamy M-10 and I need some tips for how to build it. I just finished one side of the wheeling for the tracks.Please reply.
scoccia
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Milano, Italy
Joined: September 02, 2002
KitMaker: 2,606 posts
Armorama: 1,721 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 08:56 AM UTC
Where are you stuck Cartridge?
cartridge
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United States
Joined: March 09, 2003
KitMaker: 61 posts
Armorama: 0 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 09:16 AM UTC
I'm not stuck.I'm just need some tips. :-)
keenan
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Indiana, United States
Joined: October 16, 2002
KitMaker: 5,272 posts
Armorama: 2,844 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 09:27 AM UTC
Here is link to a review of the kit. Hit the link. It may have some info you can use.

M 10 review
Greg
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Oregon, United States
Joined: April 12, 2002
KitMaker: 455 posts
Armorama: 298 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 11:03 AM UTC
The kit is great; I just finished one. Right out of the box it is fine. You asked for tips...

1. Be a little careful when building up the turret sides and rear to get the seams minimized. It helps to get the turret together and then put it in the upper hull while the glue cures. This helps keep everything in alignment.
2. Paint the thing in sub-assemblies. I did three: Turret, upper hull, and lower hull. For the latter I masked off the already complete and painted interior. Literally the last set for this kit is to glue the upper and lower hulls together, after installing the track.
3. I used the kit's locating pins for my stowed ammo, but a more accurate way is to sand off all the locating circles and half-circle thingies on the bulkheads. Fill and smooth as necessary. The stowed ammo can be glued into a little pyramid, and lead foil or tape straps added. This is actually how they were secured.
4. Interior is white, except for stuff like seat cushions, accessories, and the fighting compartment floor. This was almost always Olive Drab like the outside on combat vehicles. A white floor is OK if you are specifically doing a vehicle from a training unit here in the continental US, but they almost always got painted right away in the field.

That's all I can think of right now, Cartridge. Let me know if there's anything else you need help with.

Greg
Hollowpoint
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Kansas, United States
Joined: January 24, 2002
KitMaker: 2,748 posts
Armorama: 1,797 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 11:50 PM UTC
Cartridge:

You asked this question back in March and this was the answer I gave then:


Quoted Text

I have both the AFV Club and the Academy M 10 kits and have to say the Academy kit is my favorite. It is not without problems, however.

First off, for some stupid reason it has bunches of knock-out pin holes on the inside surfaces of the turret -- I would strongly suggest filling these before assembling the turret. I was lucky and had a hole punch of the correct size, so I filled the holes with stryrene disks and a bit of putty.

Also, the raised outlines of the tools on the rear hull should be sanded off -- otherwise they will show after assembly.

The lower hull interior is really nice right out of the box, but again, the turret stowage is a little off, compared to references I have. Almost all the parts are in the kit, however, and you can check their placement against photos of the real thing, here:
http://www.kithobbyist.com/AFVInteriors/m10/m10a.html

Some people say the AFV Club kit has a more correct turret, but I'm not convinced. I think the AFV Club turret is too wide and the Academy turret is a tad too narrow. The turret counterweights on the Academy kit look a little off, too.

One thing that the kit gives you, but the instructions do not tell you to use are the U-shaped brackets that hold the pivoting support "spikes" on the turret top. The kit has them molded on the front part of the turret, but you must shave the U-brackets from the accessory sprue and place them on the rear part of the turret yourself using reference photos.

You get lots of extra goodies in the Academy kit, including and entire extra set of road wheels, a great accessory sprue, plus some super numbers, letters, casting marks, boltheads, wingnuts, etc., that can be used on any of your U.S. vehicles.

One last pot-shot at the AFV Club kit -- curiously, there are no ammo rounds provided for the turret racks. The Academy kit has them and they look pretty good.



Do you have any specific questions? We can give specific answers.
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