... and see whether it was possible to make a 1:48 Bandai M3A1 halftrack into something that looks good.

Working from the 48th scale drawings in Hunnicutt's book on halftracks, I decided that I wanted an accurate M15A1 in 48th. So, I used my trusty calipers, measured twice and cut once and so far, things are looking good.

There are correct dimensions on the kit.

The length of the bed is correct and the tracks match up perfectly. That was a good point to start. Unfortunately, it's 3mm too wide. So, I chopped a 3mm section out of the center of the track. Forward of the rear armor is where it gets kinda weird.

The fighting compartment doors are the correct width, but are 4mm too tall and the posts just aft of the doors are 4.5mm too tall. As a result, the windscreen angle is too steep and the resultant window is completely wrong. The armor panel just ahead of the door needs to be narrowed by 2mm as well(10mm down to 8mm). The doors are too tall as well, needing to be cut down from 15.5mm to 13mm.

So, now that I've chopped it all up, I'm starting to sand, test fit and re-glue the basic frame. Of course, since I'm making this an M15A1, I've still got a gun turret to build.

I'd originally contemplated doing this as an M15 "special", as used by the 209th AAA (AW) Battalion in the Philippines, but after interviewing an M15 driver that landed on D-Day, I'm going to take a stab at the CGMC turret.

The M15 Special was a field modification of the M3 done in Australia that mounted a 40mm Bofors in a rotating turret on the back of the track. I could easily stick a Gaso.line M1 Bofors gun on the back and call it quits. The Gaso.line kit is pretty awesome. I just finished one and highly recommend it.

The M15/M15A1 however, was much more widely used, seeing action in all theaters during WWII. In addition, the test version of the M15, the T28 is also a possibility... There's something cool about a pair of water cooled .50 cals mounted with the 37mm gun.

In any case, we'll see how it goes. I'll get some pics up as soon as I've got something to photograph!

Jon

Hmmm... this was supposed to be under 48th scale... not sure what happened. Mods can this be moved? Thanks!

Jon

There you go Jon I have moved it for you.

Thanks Darren!

Sounds like a great project! I'd love to see in progress pictures, especially showing where you've made your cuts.

Richard

Here's a few shots so far.

Left & right sides: removed 2mm just ahead of the door, 2.5mm from the top of each door and 4.5mm from the door posts.





Front: 3mm width section removed from the entire length of the model.

Rear:

Since I'm building this as an M15, I've used a single fuel tank, mounted perpendicular to the vehicle sides. On either side of the fuel tank is a 37mm ammo box. Next step is going to be to fill in the gaps, make sure everything is straight and then mount the chassis frame (which also got the 3mm section removed from its entire length).

Once it is mounted on the chassis, I'm going to get started on the gun turret.

Jon

Great work! I love to see this sort of stuff...

The amount of plastic removed sounds positively gigantic... 2.5 mm here, 4.5 mm there (9 inches!)...

Typically, when you are 90% done is when one will appear, but at the rate 1/48th has slowed down these days, I think you are quite safe...

Removing 3 mm from the whole width is correct btw, for those who wonder... Is the hood detail now ok as is?

Gaston

Thanks Gaston!

Using the drawings in Hunnicutt's book (which are 48th scale), the hood is almost perfect once you remove that 3mm section. Angles match up, details are right, etc.

I got some more work done today, making sure things are straight, lining up, etc. Filled in a number of gaps with Bondo where I made cuts and removed plastic.

Of course, with a Gaso.line pack howitzer, Hobby Boss M4A1(76)W, Hobby Boss M4A3 (with TWS 105mm turret), Bandai M12 and Tamiya Crusader AA tank on the bench at the same time, things are proceeding slowly but surely!

Jon

Hi Jon, glad to see this project going (and would love to see pics of the others too!). I believe legend has it Bandai got the width wrong as they included the mine racks in the width measurement or something along thse lines. I e-bayed all the ones I had so it's good to see one being worked up into something special. Keep the saw busy. Greg

Ok, here's the latest pics of the track and some pics of everything else. Currently have 9 projects ongoing with a bunch more planned. They are:

Tamiya Crusader MkIII AA MkIII
Tamiya CCKW as M27 bomb truck (scratchbuilt conversion, ongoing)
Tamiya Jeep (in my Grandfather's jeep's markings!)
Hobby Boss M4A3 (with Tank Workshop 105mm turret and Gaso.line T54E1 tracks)
Hobby Boss M4A1(76)W (will eventually have resin tracks)
Gaso.line M1 40mm Bofors
Gaso.line M1A1 75mm Pack Howitzer
Bandai M12 SP Howitzer
Bandai M3A1 halftrack (converted to M15 AA halftrack)

Great WIPs - an army coming along. I like the conversions/variations you're doing. Interesting to look at

Fascinating... I especially wonder what is in the bed of that truck!

Something actually painted, now there's a concept...

Keep up the good work!

Gaston

Gaston,

The truck is an M27 bomb loading truck, based on the CCKW. I've been slowly but surely scratchbuilding the crane apparatus and will soon start on the winch mechanism.

I've done some more work on the M15, finished the Pack Howitzer, the Bofors, and I'm up to exterior detailing and stowage on the jeep, the M4A3 (105), and the Crusader AA tank.

I'll get some pics of the halftrack up tonight!

Jon

As promised, here are the latest pics. It's starting to look like a halftrack. After looking at our M15, I redid the bed and have been working on finding a Bandai 37mm antiank gun that I can convert into an AA gun.

Making sure the suspension is in the correct position has been a bit frustrating. The track suspension is good (although lacking in detail) but the front wheels will need to be moved back about 3mm. Of course, I figured this out after I'd installed the leaf springs... oh well...

Either way, the gun mount is going to be a bear to do. The question is, do I build it as a T28E1 or an M15A1?

Jon