I found the prints finally! It sent them to a photo file in Photoshop. I made duplicates and then croped them trying to blow them up. The prints came out well, but all the numbers are unreadable (a blured mess). Suspect it's in the resolution of the original scan. But I have another plan to try
gary

Nah, they're clear as a bell. You just have to get the PDF.

KL

I printed the newest ones you posted on M/L, and they came out very clear & sharp. I'm going back and try my new method to see if the older pair come out better. One thing does bug me though. The drawings are for an M48a5 that uses a heavier gun in it. I wonder if the extra weight would make a change in the suspension hight? I doubt that it'd be much, but the rounds weigh more as well as the gun itself.
gary

The Academy offering has the more pronounced point on the hull. Here's a different angle. More to come...

First off, I have no dog in this hunt. Some of you may know I've spent an awful lot of time measuring vehicles in the past few years, for no fewer than six companies. I'm not going off of what someone said, nor do I have the plans in front of me. Others have made their own measurements, and in recent days, based on their measurements of other vehicles, I'm not certain of their methods, eyesight, or both.

So:
I'm simply going off of my own measurements, and you may draw your own conclusions from them.

The first thing I did when I started taking this more seriously was to purchase the right materials. Since a lot of measurements are similar to the situation we have here, ie, measuring out from the top of a slope surface like the M48 turret, I purchased a four foot level. It was a Stanley, so I figured it was pretty straight.



Next, a long enough tape measure so I can get the whole measurement in one shot, without having to add multiple measurements, leading to error.



And of course, measuring models with my daughters grade school wooden ruler was no longer going to cut it, so...

I got out the calipers, and THREE different makes of M48 turret, just for fun. Since this is about the Tamiya turret, tonight I'm sticking to that one.



Now then, I've read several times that the kit turret is one inch high. That's reasonable enough. It's hard to measure hundredths with a ruler. That said, here's the height:



"Are you kidding?" you say. Two hundredths of an inch. That's pretty damned close to one inch, right?

Let's do some math: .02 * 35 = .7

So, the turret height scales out to 35.7 inches. That little bit DOES make a difference after all. So if you round it off to an inch, error starts creeping in.

Now, taking my four foot level, and laying it across the flat portion of the turret, in the same locations from which I took the kit measurements, I took several measuremnts. As the surface of the roof was somewhat rough, the more measurements, the more accurate the final results.
Along the left side of the turret, I got measurements ranging from 35 inches even, to 35 1/8, on up to 35 3/8.

Guess what? The REAL M48 turret is too squat! We need to raise it and add shim to it somehow so that it is as tall as gthe Tamiya turret! Even if you disagree with my findings (and if you go make your own, that gives us more data to work with- even better!) the suggestion that the Tamiya turret is 1.5 mm too squat is, well, not realistic, to put it politely.

1.5 mm * 35 = 52.5mm

52.5/25.4 = 2.06 inches. So, adding shim would make an already too tall kit turret over 2 scale inches taller. No, tanks.

One last thing I did was VERY unscientific, but fun nonetheless.
Take this photo:



Hold your Tamiya turret in front of it until the front and rear line up. Now line up the top and bottom of the turret and photo. Look pretty balls on dead accurate to me.

Since someone was curious about the Academy turret, here are the results:


As you see, it's ONE one hundredth of an inch higher than the Tamiya kit. What does that mean?

1.03 * 35 = 36.05

The Academy kit is too high by anyone's measure, mine, other posters, or even the spec sheet. And .001 inch = 1/4 of one milimeter. Again, I do not see how adding a whopping 1.5 mm gives the correct height.

My overall conclusion for my next M48 build, and all the ones I've done previously: The Tamiya turret is correct, and by a mere .001, the Academy one is too high.

Maybe for fun I'll do the old Monogram turret next. Any guesses?

Forgive my ignorance here but I thought the only M48 on the market was the Tamiya offering. What's this about an Academy kit?
Joe.

I know of three in 1/35th and one in 1/32nd
gary

Whether you're counting the Mongram one as 1/35 or 1/32 (and it IS 1/35) that still adds up to four that you know of. I only know of three, so I'd be happy to know the other one. Maybe it can get the caliper treatment too.

if memory serves me right there are the ones from Monogram and Tamiya that we all know of. Then there is an M48K something, and now think there was (or is another. Maybe an M48a5? I'm refering to the upgraded one with the 105mm gun, or is it the samething as the Korean tank? Of course we also can add in the list of conversions from Legend and others. Having never owned a monogram M48 in 1/32nd scale I cannot say one way or another what scale it actually is. I do have two Monogram 1/35th kits, and agree with your thoughts on these. All the kits I own are Tamiya and Monogram, and have never seen the Academy kit in the flesh. So I will agree with you unless proven wrong
gary

There are 3 definitely M48 kits out there, and one sort-of. There are the Monogram M48A2 (yes, it is 1/35), Tamiya's M48A3, Academy's M48A5K US/ROK 105mm version, and AVF Club's ROC (Taiwan) M48H/C-11 "Brave Tiger" which is an M60A3 hull w/an M48A2 turret sporting a 105mm gun.

the M48a2 is news to me, but I was thinking about the M48h version. The latter kit sounds like a real oddball!
gary

Gino,
you are correct about the Monogram kit. I see that it has been released again at my LHS. It's listed as an M48a2. But the important stuff in the kit is the decale sheet! The accuracey of the kit I simply cannot say as my two kits are buried in my stash
gary

Coming in really late on this one. I am in the process of building a Tamiya M48A3. The Academy version IS the Tamiya model, someway they got Tamiya to OK them making it. Same molds, including the open bottom for the engine and batteries. I also have the Monogram and it's 1/35. I have matched them up and they are pretty close to one another.

I made a major study the best I could about the turret issue. I feel Tamiya got it pretty good, it's just a little off in terms of the angle. But the height is about spot on.

This issue about it being too low is IMO is because of all the pictures people see. They see the pictures taken from the ground pointing up. This makes the turret look different.

Three dimensions look different then two. When you take a picture it is two dimensional. Like they say a picture adds 20 pounds to the person in it, that's why models and actors are so thin, normal people look a little FAT in pictures and movies even though they are normal.

So the issue is people who never served on the tank itself saying it looks wrong. I served on M113, ITV, M577 and the models are wrong.....LOL, not by much but they are a little off. Nothing anybody could really tell unless you brought out a set of calipers. They look at pictures were the turret does in fact look like it needs to be fixed when in fact it's close enough for government work. It's just the angles the pictures are taken because of the fact that the person taking the picture is a few feet lower then the turret, the picture is 2D not 3D and that makes it distorted.

I bought the TWS turret and it does look a lot better then the Tamiya. I will use it on my next build of a M48A3. I also finally found the Ironside M67A2 Flametank which is a Marine M48A3, it is also the Tamiya molds.

I have the TWS cupola on this build and I am finding it difficult to paint. It's not taking paint well.