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Armor/AFV: Allied - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Allied forces during World War II.
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which M36 ... AFV Club or Academy?
PantherF
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Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 12:13 PM UTC
Help remind me of which is the more accurate kit.

I need to take measurements of the upper hull for a 1/16 scratch build I will do later this year. Exact details I can work around but the dimensions I want to be precise. I have the walk around for the M36 Jackson so I'm covered there.

Thanks a bunch!


~ Jeff
sdk10159
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Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 12:30 PM UTC
I've built both and I think both are very good kits. AFV Club has the wrong engine deck, as they used an M10/M4A2 style.

As far as dimensions, I believe they've both pretty close. Read the reviews from Terry Ashley's site.

AFV Club
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35058.htm
Academy
http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/academy/acd1395.htm

Steve
Belt_Fed
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Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 01:05 PM UTC
Another good question to ask is: Which has better fit? I would like to mention that the Academy sprockets are off. The spokes that fit into the tracks are not long enough, and they are also too thin. I ran into this problem when i built their M10
PantherF
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Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 02:11 PM UTC
Thanks so much for the information guys!


~ Jeff
lukiftian
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Posted: Thursday, September 15, 2011 - 02:17 PM UTC
Academy, but use different bogies, the Academy ones sit the TD too high

You might need a spacer in the drive sprockets to accept AM tracks
barkingdigger
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Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011 - 02:17 AM UTC
Of course, if you are not interested in building the 1:35 kit and just need the numbers, why not tell us what dimensions you need? I've got the Academy kit handy to measure from...

Regards,

Tom
ericadeane
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Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011 - 04:12 AM UTC
Jeff: if you're going to rebuild the M36 in a larger scale, why are you relying on others' work on two 1/35 M36s which both have accuracy issues? Why aren't you trying to get hold of drawings instead?

You want to be precise -- about what? Upscaling an inccurate 1/35 kit or precise about matching actaul Ordance Dept drawings? I think you should aim for the latter. Let me check so see what I have on my hard drive for you.
PantherF
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Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011 - 08:43 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Jeff: if you're going to rebuild the M36 in a larger scale, why are you relying on others' work on two 1/35 M36s which both have accuracy issues? Why aren't you trying to get hold of drawings instead?

You want to be precise -- about what? Upscaling an inccurate 1/35 kit or precise about matching actaul Ordance Dept drawings? I think you should aim for the latter. Let me check so see what I have on my hard drive for you.


Geee, I thought this was the place to get valid opinions and seek out reviews on kits? All I have is the Tamiya kit and of course it's motorized so it can't be accurate at all.

Besides, I like taking measurements off kits ... been doing it a long time too.


~ Jeff
lukiftian
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Posted: Friday, September 16, 2011 - 03:19 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

Jeff: if you're going to rebuild the M36 in a larger scale, why are you relying on others' work on two 1/35 M36s which both have accuracy issues? Why aren't you trying to get hold of drawings instead?

You want to be precise -- about what? Upscaling an inccurate 1/35 kit or precise about matching actaul Ordance Dept drawings? I think you should aim for the latter. Let me check so see what I have on my hard drive for you.


Geee, I thought this was the place to get valid opinions and seek out reviews on kits? All I have is the Tamiya kit and of course it's motorized so it can't be accurate at all.

Besides, I like taking measurements off kits ... been doing it a long time too.


~ Jeff


Gee Jeff, why are you being snotty? How many posts here said Academy?
Biggles2
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Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 04:15 AM UTC
I can also add that both AFV's and Academy's turrets have wrong dimensions and shapes, but Academy's is closer to being right.
4-BO-Green
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Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 05:05 AM UTC
Hey Jeff,

I have looked for the M-10, the british Achilles and the m-36.

read a copple of reviews and came to the following conclusion;

- M-10 and British Achilles go AFV club. Little con's
- M-36. This is tricky... The upper deck of the AFV is wrong (its more M-10 style) but has nicer detail... The academy upper deck is right, but has less detail than the AFV club one

If you want the best of both worlds, take the upper deckparts you need from the academy kit and combine these with the AFV club M-36 kit

4-BO-Green
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Posted: Tuesday, September 20, 2011 - 05:07 AM UTC
These problems are in a nuttshell ofcourse

For more flaws you have to reed the reviews...

Happy modeling
tgannon
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Posted: Thursday, October 06, 2011 - 12:00 PM UTC
The M10 diesel deck version is absolutely correct for what was designated the M36B2. In fact the M36 was actually a diverted M10A1, which was built using the M4A3 Ford V8. The M36B2 was then used to supplement production. The M36B1 was built using standard M4A3 hulls. In other words, the M36 series as a whole was a hybrid design using hulls originally meant for something else.

Tom
long_tom
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Posted: Thursday, October 06, 2011 - 12:14 PM UTC

Quoted Text

The M10 diesel deck version is absolutely correct for what was designated the M36B2. In fact the M36 was actually a diverted M10A1, which was built using the M4A3 Ford V8. The M36B2 was then used to supplement production. The M36B1 was built using standard M4A3 hulls. In other words, the M36 series as a whole was a hybrid design using hulls originally meant for something else.

Tom

So Academy's kit is actually the M36B2, just misidentified? Or if not, is it possible to make an M36B2 conversion?
staybolt
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Posted: Thursday, October 06, 2011 - 01:56 PM UTC
FWIW the Academy chassis is too short by one scale foot and too narrow by six inches. Also, the Academy ammo tubes are for the M10's 76mm and not the M36's 90mm. The main gun is too short but since I was going for one of the earlier ones without the threaded muzzle, I wound up turning one out of brass.



Pat.
tgannon
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Posted: Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - 11:37 AM UTC
I don't have the Academy kit, so I can't say for sure. Picture an M10 hull with the M36 turret and go from there. I would find a photo, and model a specific vehicle or perhaps a fictional vehicle from the same unit as your photo.

Tom
barkingdigger
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Posted: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - 01:41 AM UTC

Quoted Text

So Academy's kit is actually the M36B2, just misidentified? Or if not, is it possible to make an M36B2 conversion?


Well, kinda, but I don't think Academy intended it. They provided all the diesel parts from their M10, and then added new rear-hull and engine-deck parts to dress it up as a gasoline-powered M36 (which as stated used the M10A1 hull). So, if you use the diesel parts it becomes an M36B2, but if you use the gasoline parts it is an M36 from every angle except underneath! (The diesel access hatches on the underside are moulded into the hull tub...)

Just don't confuse it with what most sources call an M36B2 in the Korean war - those appear to me M36 gasolione-powered tanks with the added turret roof armour and E9 spaced suspension that first appeared at the end of WW2 on the diesel-powered M36B2. I know, because I've stared at all the available Korean-war "B2" photos I could find where the rear can be seen, and they turned out to be M36s...

Tom
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