Here's something I started in 2001 and has been with me through four house moves since - an Italeri M47 I was going to model at a Jordanian tank in the Six Day War of 1967:



The hulk has literally been gathering dust in my workshop ... after finishing a coupe of Cents recently, I had been looking at the M47, and all the fiddly work is done - right down to replacement periscopes with guards, all grab handles replaced with brass rod, and a mantlet cover fashioned from Milliput. I even went rustling though the stash in the shelves and found the box with all the parts I need to finish the build ... the wheels and exhausts had even been put together. I had replaced the US Jerries with British types and installed them in photo etched holders ... there was even a complete set of very nice AFV Club track good to go:



One of the kits from the "Golden era" of modelling, the 30-year-old Italeri M47 has aged very well - it is still one of the best 1/35 tanks on the market ... everything had gone together well, and I think the build stalled because I wasn't happy with the smoothness of the turret and cast hull front, but I have since discovered Mr Surfacer, and it will be a 15 minute job now to add the texture - hell, I may even add some casting numbers:





The tanks obviouslt received all sort of weird and wonderful turret fittings in the service of the many countries they were given to, and then they were modded some more when they were passed on (the Somalia received M47s from Italy, which appeared to be late models).

For some reason all those years back, I fitted grab handles to the turret - I think:it was for a different "look", however, browsing the net last night, I found this pic of a captured M47 in Israel with the same turret handles, so there must have been method to my madness:





Anyway, I need a break from Aussie subjects, and I reckon this M47 is very buildable - I'll add some more details to the hull and some casting numbers to the turret tonight and probably apply some Mr Surfacer tomorrow.

Looking better all ready!

I added some casting numbers to the turret (sliced off some parts number that were about the right size from sprues):





And gave all the cast bits a coat of the trusty old Mr Surfacer ... them sanded down seems and filled holes for the kit turret fittings are long gone, and it now has a nice cast texture. Likewise, the hull front looked like it was cast from glass, but now it has a nice texture:





I'll fit some bits to the hulk tonight, and I am looking forward to having a crack at the tracks - they look great!

Blimey Mick another one out of the wood work .

Nice work any paint on your other projects?

Yes, I also note that it has been fitted with Sherman steel track, and since the exhausts and track are yellow it has certainly been re-painted. That said, I doubt of the turret fittings have been monkeyed with.

I plan to paint this vehicle desert yellow with swathes of Olive Drab, which is a well referenced Jordanian colour scheme.

I think the major factor in this project bogging down was the turret ... the joins were visible, as were the filled holes, but this was many years before I discovered Mr Surfacer.

Occasionally I like to build a "no brainer", which this kit is close to apart from the need to texture the turret and hull. I suppose this will be another "almost OOTB" build.

I just found the inspiration for the build in my library - it was Steven Zaloga's Tank Battles of the Mid-East Wars (1) the wars of 1948-73, which has a colour illustration of the tank I am modelling (or should I say "have been modelling" ... for a long time).

I must say that re-visiting this kit has only reinforced my appreciation of it - I though it was great 10 years ago, when it was 20 years old! Now I have textured the hull and turret, the kit is all but ready for a coat of paint, although I will have to nut out how to replace the front fitting guards with either aluminium or brass using the kit parts as patterns.

I did the cover with Milliput ... it is amazing that such a great kit has precious little updates - I suppose it is considered a "sideline" or Third world military aid" tank. The M26s served in World War II, the M26s and M46s made a name for themselves in Korea, the M48s served in Vietnam and with the Israelis, but the poor old M47 served on one operation with the French, and then seemed cursed to fight on the losinng sides of several small wars.

I remember when I was in Somalia I saw a few late type M47s that had been Italian army that had been passed off to the Somalis ... it may have been a sound tank, but I think history conspired against it.

Hi Mick,

I also have a shelf queen Jordanian M47 back under construction for the Get the Job Done Again campaign and look forward to watching your build. I recommend using a sharp knife to clean up those T84E1s. The links break very easily when cutting them off the sprue.




The museum example wears T80E1 Steel Chevron Track for the Pershing/Patton series. AFV Club makes these as well.

-Doug

Good Job Mick! It will be fun to watch you build this old-timer!
Dan

The hulk is starting to approximate something that resembles an M47 and sometime in the next couple of days I'll decide how I'm going to tackle the horn and light guards, which should be pretty simple.

But them tracks .... oooooooh boy! The detail is intricate and the design innovative, but they are almost certainly going to be the biggest investment in time in buiklding this model, and I am not sure if the return will be worth the cost.

I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place because the kit tracks are long gone and I like to finish what I start.

I'm starting to get a system in place - the two sprue holding the track shoes need to be cut simultaneously, otherwise they will buck and break, and the holes on the guide horn need to be drilled out with a pin vice. There is an ejjector mark on the inside of each track show, and these are removed easily enough with a sinding stick when they are on the sprue.

After all that preparation, it's a case of VERY carefully poisition the guide horns, and then the end connectors ... after three hours work I have a lenth of 24 shoes and three broken ones - I hope there's some spares!



It's just a case of fighting through - as I said, the assembled tracks are rich in detail, but at what cost?

Just has a good friend of mine drop off the twig (that's Aussie for deceased) ... not unexpected, but still a loss I feel. His memorial service is later this week, and I have a bit to help out with regarding the estate, so I will have my distractions this week, and M47 posts may be sparse.

Hi Mick. Really nice build so far. Your additions have seriously lifted this model to a much higher standard. The tracks are beauties ... well worth the time investment, and you´ll be glad when its finished, that you took the time.
Hopefully the finishing is a little quicker than the build!!

Nice work Mick with your older kit. Your texture and cast numbers turned out well. Have a couple of 'half-started' ones as well, might just have to finish one or two...maybe!

Cheers -
Tim

She's looking good far an older kit, nice build so far.Doing those tracks would drive me nuts, my hat goes off to you.

Rob

Apart from the smoothness of the cast areas and over thick light guards, there's absolutely no bugs in the build, and today's manufacturers would do well to look to the standards of this kit as the bottom line of what they should be offering.

Even better - it's not one of those dreaded Panzers, but something different which served a multitude of armies for a very long time.

I'mm probably putting a coat of paint on this beast this weekend ... I remember there was a decal sheet for Jordanian M47s - does anyone remember who produced them and if they're still available?

Ah, this one has always been one of my secret favourites! Still never got around to actually buy one... (well, ok, I built a horrible Revell USA one about 20 years ago...)

I'll be watching your progress! Great work mate!

Cheers
Stef

PS: I heard the new Dragon DS-Tracks supplied with the orange pack M26 would fit this?

Looks likke this is going to be a nice one, Mick. This old kit is very nice and builds up quite well from the box. I admire your patience at giving this beast new tracks.

Looking forward to see more

Ah yes but Mick, you're forgetting its glory days of the 1960s, when it played at being German armour in so many WWII war movies of that era!

Have you forgotten for example how awe-inspiringly impressive that array of splendid, light grey M47 "King Tigers" appeared, all lined up for inspection by Robert Shaw in "The Battle Of The Bulge"?!

Personally I think it's a lovely-looking tank (the turret shape does it for me) and I'm following your log with interest. It's shaping up really well.

- Steve

Thanks for the encouragement on the build ... I got bogged down in life, and straight jobs, and way too many projects bogged down - much like King Tigers in the Ardennes.

I don't know about "lovely" ... I'd call it "ugly but interesting" - I just sat it down next to my (ever increasing) completed Centurions, and the Brit tank from the same era presents as a far more formidable predator (52 versus 46 tons with a better gun).

I think the Yanks scrambled to make a 1942 concept applicable in the late 1950s, but there were limitations in the hull - even with an upgraded power pack.

The M47 was a significant tank, but history conspired to fade it in to obscurity - while the Centurion that so decisively pounded it went on to legendary status ... that said, crew skills and training could have been a factor, but sitting the machines alongside each other in 1/35th scale, the Cent was definitely the neighbourhood bully.

All that aside, the Italeri M47 is one lovely kit,and I am enjoying the (protracted) build.

I reckon I will have a spray-a-thon this weekend ....

Forgot to say, Mick, that I like your casting numbers method. Very clever!

- Steve

There's a first ... "Mick" and "clever" appearing in the same sentance!