Guys/Gals,

Has anyone built this kit yet? I know of one or two reviews, but has anyone actually put glue to plastic and built it? I have one coming from a far and would like to know of any issues/trouble areas.

TIA

Brad

There are two different AFV Club M41s, one is their original kit and the other is the kit originally made by Skybow but AFV Club gained the molds sometime after its release in late 2002.

The Skybow one was the better of the two; it was released about 3-4 years ago in W. German markings by AFV Club as the M41G.

AFV Club's is an outstanding kit, Skybow's was a little better though. I built the AFV one shortly after it was released, I think in Jan or Feb 2003. I liked the kit and picked up a Skybow one much later. I did not build the SB one yet, but a look in the box and I think the detail is a little finer on it than the AFV kit.

Hi Brad,

Well, as far as I can tell the biggest problem are the underscaled turret.
I'm writing a paper for school right now so I can't give any exact evidence (comparative photos, measurements etc.) but if I'll try to sum it up.

If anyone have plans and the kit I would be glad if someone took the time to confirm my statements.

My references are the AFV Club M41A3, the Skybow M41A3 and the plans in Hunnicutt's Sheridan: A history of the American light tank 2

Here we go:
I was about to reshape the AFV Club late M41 turret to an early style. I looked on some photos of the real thing and got a bit puzzled. The diameter of the bottom of the AFV turret were smaller than that of the "ring" on the hull that the turret rests on. The lower turret edge were inside of that ring, while on the photos the turret edge and the hull ring where lined up.

I got hold of my half-built Skybow kit and could see that the turret and hull seemed right. I tried the Skybow turret on the AFV hull and it too looked right too. Now I compared the two turrets and was a bit stunned when I realized that while just using the Mk. I eyeball I could see that the AFV turret was smaller than that of the Skybow kit (length, width, hight etc.).

Last week I compared the turrets to the Hunnicutt plans. I didn't make any 100% scientific measurements but as far as I can tell the AFV turret are way (well relatively- were talking millimeters) underscale while the Skybow seem to match up pretty good. (the measurements of the two hulls are pretty much the same).

There is also the chance that this is old news and common knowleage but at least it was new to me. Again: I'd be happy if someone else could take the time to confirm (or smash) this statement.
Or put in a different way: DO NOT TAKE THE ABOVE WRITEN AS A FACT UNTIL SOMEONE ELSE CONFIRMS IT. I might have overlooked something.

Sorry for these negative vibes. The build kit will look like a M41 when done. Personally however I feel that one can see that the proportions between hull and turret doesn't look right.

A part from that above it's a pretty nice kit. The panels for the engine deck left a small (1-1,5 mm) gap. If one start installing the panels from the rear and then put some plastic card in the gap that should now be under the turret it should be fine.
The kit lack the cover for the mantle. This is sold as a separate vinyl (why AFV Club - why!) item by AFV C.
AFV Club makes a fantastic set of workable link-by-link track set, but I'll guess there's nothing wrong with the vinyl included in the box.

Now I have to go back to my paper.

Cheers,
/E

Thanks very much Sabot and Erik! The kit I have coming is the AFV kit with the South Vietnamese markings.

All the best
Brad

Hey Brad, be sure to post some pics of your build. I'll be building the Skybow M41 for the Hollywood Campaign in April. A comparison of the two could be interesting!

Cheerio!

So, Now that I have the kit, I noticed that it indeed does not have the dust cover for the gun mantlet. Did all 200 M41A3's that the South Vietnamese had come with the dust cover? I also have the accessories set that has stowage and the cover, but it requires surgery to install the cover. So I guess what I am asking is, can I build an M41A3 OOB in Vietnamese markings? The kit I have comes with the MG shield...

TIA

Brad

Brad,

I'm pretty sure that all M41's came with the cover when delivered but I have a few in-action photos that show them without. I'll guess they got damaged in the field. PM me your e-mail and I'll send a few of the photos to you.

Regarding the AFV Club's M41 kits:
If one buys the M41G you get the dust cover as it is the Skybow kit wich had it included. So you either buy a AFV Club kit without it and have to buy their seperate item dust cover, or you buy a AFV Club kit wich has it included - where's the logic in that AFV Club ?


Cheers,
/E

Hi Erik, I bought the Trakz stowage set which also includes a resin dust cover gun mantlet, which meansd you have to remove a portion of the upper and lower half of the kit turret and replace it with the dust cover resin portion from this set. A PITA, but I can't seem to get the AFV version any longer.

Cheers
Brad

Brad,

Just remembered the source of most of my Vietnam era M41 photos:
http://picasaweb.google.fr/zippo132/ARVNArmor#

There's enough photos with vehicles without the cover to save you the trouble with the Trakz part.
A few samples:









Good luck with the build. Keep us posted.

Cheers,
/E

Hi Brad , I'm finished building AFV's M41a3 , now up to painting .I also used AFV Clubs etched metal . I cant comment on accuracy , but its a sweet little kit to build. Rear engine cover gap is evident , but I just filled and sanded . Check out PMMS website for review and comparison with Skybows kit , also Tamiya Model Magazine International issue 102 Dec/Jan 03/04 did a build of Skybows with a searchlight and ACAV gunshield for the 50 cal .
Eric thank you for the link with the photos , I tried unsuccessfully to find online reference .

Thanks very much for the pics Erik and the reply Brian.

Much appreciated
Brad

Now it might be just me... but does anyone else notice the Turret of the front tank in the last pic looks like it's trying to take out the girl on the bike?

Well if you look at all three tanks, they all seem to have their barrels drepressed downward to the the tanks right somewhat...

Brad

It's a safety issue for vehicles traveling in column. If a gun discharges accidentally, it won't nail the vehicle directly in front.