G'day everyone, i have ordered in the Tamiya M48A3 Patton ( vietnam version) and i am wondering if anyone has built this kit before, is it good, do you know any sites that have reviews on it with pics, also, i wanted to know if the patton was used at khe sanh, in my books they dont mention it, but they do mention the m41 and some others, anyone know if the M48 was there? cheers

I'm fairly sure the only armor in use at Khe Sanh were NVA PT-76 amphibious tanks.

As i know, M48 never been used in Khe Sanh....

Tamiya's M48A3 is an almost perfect kit. You'd want to lower the hull a little and can add PE nowadays, not that I think it's necessary ...
A few model pics can be found on www.patton-mania.com
- Andreas -

It's been around a long while now, but just like the original M4A3 from Tamiya, it's a wonderful kit! Easy, fall-together build.

I've heard some good things about the Academy Korean M48 as well. Maybe someday I'll build a second M48 using it.

If you want a great read about M48 tankers in VN, get the paperback called "Tank Sargeant", by - I think - Ralph Zumbro(?).

I built one a few months back. It's a great kit. You might want to order some individual tracks for it instead of using the one piece rubber ones that come with it (personal preference though). The only part of the building that really gave me any problems was the headlights. It took me hours to get them to fit on there right (probably just me). It was also originally slated as a RC tank and there's a hole in the bottom of the tank for wire, or something. Not a big deal unless you have it positioned rolled on its side. Otherwise, it's a great kit and looks great. This happened to be my first tank build and it’s probably my favorite.

Thnx Guys, In regards to Sabots comments, i know for sure that the M41 was in use with the 13th marines, but they used it as artillery, although they did have there own artillery guns. Does anyone have any ideas for a diorama to put it in? i was thinking something like this

cheers

ok i think ive figured it out now

WooHoo! took me a while #:-)

I've built part of the kit, used most of the turret in my recent m-60 kitbash. Looking at what's left and the directions overall, it looks like a great building kit of a truely classic tank, glad I've got another one to build as an M-48. As to your dio idea. It looks wonderful, sure gona have to use a lot of clear resin water to do it. You could do a Hue City dio, a bunch of Marines trailing behind one reference the movie "Full Metal Jacket". I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate mine into a dio along with my Panda Huey D, an ambulance and Green berets. Probably neen a 3' by 3' hunk of wood for something that big though

hey Blaster, in regards to "You could do a Hue City dio, a bunch of Marines trailing behind one reference the movie "Full Metal Jacket". well, i found this pic on the same site i got the other one from.

is it what u r thinking ?
cheers, and thnx everyone

No US armed force used the M41 Walker Bulldog in combat. ARVN forces did use them though.
Visit this site to learn more about the USMC's armor during Vietnam: USMC Vietnam Tankers Association.
And visit this site to see who used the M41 during Vietnam: M41 Walker Bulldog Light Tank.
In fact, I don't believe the Marine Corps every went back to using light tanks since WW2 (M2 and M3). I don't recall them using the M24 Chaffee, M41 Walker Bulldog or M551 Sheridan, but I could be wrong. Here is a brief history of the Marine Corps armor: History of Tanks in the Marine Corps.

Ditto on Sabot's statement. The only ones in Nam that used the M-41 were the ARVNS. I saw a lot of M-48's and M-60 used by both the Army and Marines.

The Army didn't use the M60 series in Vietnam (except for the CEV), they were used to guard against a Soviet invasion in western Europe and replace Israeli tank losses in the Middle East. The Marines didn't transition to the M60A1until 1975.

I was a Vietnam armor buff back when Vietnam era armor was considered "modern".

Hi Sabot , wern't the M60 AVLBs used In Vietnam?
Josh UA weingarten
IDF armour group janitor
www.homestead.com/IDFarmourgroup/index.html

Thaqnks for the info on which M-60's were used in Nam. I knew I saw them but wasn't sure which ones. http://www.vwip.org/articles/usarm.htm

hi guys, Phantom Major, the M48A3 patton that tamiya has is their only one i believe, and it is the veitnam one, so no they havent released a new one, not that i know of.
Sabot, i must be wrong then, but the reason i thought they had M41's was because a marine that was there says so, here is the link ... http://www.pbs.org/battlefieldvietnam/khe/index.html after you are in that, click launch retrospective, then, go to stories of khe sanh, then click on Bruce M. Geiger, here is where he mentions the bulldogs for the first time

Bruce M. Geiger
At Khe Sanh:
February 22 - April 14, 1968

First Lieutenant, 1st Battalion, 44th Artillery, 108th Artillery Group, 1st Field Force, U.S. Army Attached to the 3rd Marine Division

"I was a platoon leader responsible for up to eight "Dusters" -- M42A1 self-propelled light tanks (M41 Walker Bulldog) with a twin 40mm anti-aircraft gun system mounted in an open turret..."

thanks guys, cheers

This explains it then. The M42 was used, it is considered ADA or air defense artillery and not a tank. He mentions the M41 in parenthesis just to give the casual reader an idea of the vehicle since the M42 Duster is based off of the M41 chassis. The tracks and running gear are the same, but it's not just an AA turret on a M41 hull, the upper hull layout is much different. But an M41 is not an M42 just like a Bradley is not an MLRS.

The Duster actually had a much longer life in US service than the M41 Walker Bulldog. My National Guard division (50th Armor Division) still had M42 Dusters in service when I left the Guard in 1986 while the M41 left US service in the mid 60s.

Thanks for Clearing that up Sabot, cheers

A nice diarama would be a couple of the tanks in the water with the soldiers maning the 50 cals, or whatever they are. and a couple of snipers or "kong" in the woods waiting for them. That would be pretty cool.

The Marines also worked closely with Army tankers in Vietnam. My old platoon sergeant was in a unit that supported Marines on the DMZ. He hated the duty because the Marines would not keep behind the tanks, where infantry belong in conbat.

The M48A3 kit is a great kit. I have 2 more on the shelf and plan to build one as a D Company, 11th ACR tank that I have a number of pictures of. It should be cool. It also comes with good decals.

The available M48A5 kits, both Academy and AFV kits, are also good kits.

I recomment the chevron style AFV tracks for all of these.

See http://patton-mania.com for information on most of the kits and lots of pictures. If you need any more M-48 pictures email or PM me offline. I have many of them in my quest to build the perfect patton tank.

Some good ideas there, but i was just thinking, i was reading about the acav M113, and how they would get about 13 of them and 4 or so pattons or other tanks, and just role through enemy villages wiping out all vc and nva as they went through, what about if i bought tamiyas m113 acav, maybe 2 of them and my patton, and had them in a village firing on the enemy? just an idea, i mean i have alot to do, with RMG and all these nam dios, i dont know how im goin to get the time or money, but like i said, they are just ideas

Good to see someone trying their hands on a Patton. Look at this website to get an idea of what Andreas is talking about the suspension:
http://www.vietnamodels.com/m48-1.html

I've built the kit and it looks great out-of-the-box. The suspension problem is unnoticeable to me.

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC