I had a look at Tamiya's effort. It seemed to be a bit long in the tooth. Who else does an M3 kit?

I'm afraid the Tamiya kits are the best/only game in town at the moment, if you discount the even older Monogram M5 kit (which may be 1/32 anyway).

Tamiya is the only one who makes this... for now. We can only hope and pray that Academy or AFV sweep us off our feet with a new one... one day.

Are there any update sets around for modifiying the basic model i.e not conversion kits as such?

Eduard makes (made) some PE sets for them. They are pretty nice, if you can still find them.

Tank Workshop makes resin upgrades for the track. AEF Designs also makes quite a few conversion sets for various Tamiya half-tracks. Verlinden makes some resin conversions as well.

Can you actually make a decent model from this kit? I'm not a rivet counter but I try to make models that actually look like the original. I'm able to do some basic mods and scratchbuilding but not major structure stuff if thats needed. Should I get the model or is it a waste of time?

i think itarly makes one but i might be wrong.

the biggest problem with the Tamiya kit is that it is a vehicle that never served in WWII. It's an M3A2 and it takes a bit of work to make it into an M3 or M3A1. Here's a link to a good review by Saul Garcia on the Track-Link website that runs down the pluses and minuses of this kit: http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k1117

Personally, I think the M16 and M21 halftrack kits are better, but all are definitely buildable. For their age, they are not too bad.

That said, it's high time for someone to make a reall nice kit of these important vehicles (Academy, are you listening?).

Got the kit....thanks for finding the review Hollowpoint I never knew there were major inaccuracies with it. Now when I get ready to build it in a year or so, I'll be able to change what I need. I got the kit real cheap, and i bought it mainly for the figures to use for my DuKW kit

What are the figures actually like - are they decent - i've seen some pics of early tamiya figs and they look like blobs

The figures aren't too bad for their age. They are also available as a separate figure set, kit no. MM180A, "U.S. Combat Group Set." The BAR man is kinda spastic, but the seated figures are nice, as are the two standing/relaxed figures. They can all use replacement heads, but the hands are not too bad.

Last year I've built the Tamiya M3, and as mentioned earlier it's the M3A2.
It's a 30 years old kit, but it's still a joy to build it, and with a little (and easy) scratchwork and some PE, it will turn into a nice model.
I've used Eduard's PE (which is still available) and the resin idler and sprocket wheels from K59. The latter will really boost your kit up to higher standards. Further I've used some pics as reference guide. In the first issue of AFV Modeler is a nice article about the Tamiya kit.

Here are some pics of my M3A2, I hope you like it...

Greetings,
Beaker

Nice job Beaker, you make that old kit look mighty fine!

The first picture looks like a halftrack that was parked in the bad part of town! From that photo, you can tell you put a whole lot of hard work into the kit. Again, great job!

As far as othe US halftrack kits, Tamiya made three of them: the M3A1, the M21 mortar track; and the M16 quad .50 cal AA GMC.

Monogram made the M3 halftrack in 1/35 and it was originally released in 1958 (according to my Monogram history book). They made the M13 dual .50 cal AA GMC in 1957. Both of these kits' tracks are rather simplistic.

Nitto made a motorized copy of the Monogram M3 halftrack. I've got a couple of these that I hoped to use the shorter combat compartment to help back date the Tamiya M3A2 into a decent M3.

is the m-3 shill made or is it out of prudtion

The Monogram and Nitto kits are long OOP, the Tamiya M3A2 get reissued every so often. Not exceptionally difficult to find, it does take a lot of work (see Beaker's work above) to back date to a production M3A1.

I am interesed in half track too,which one is good for a beginner to build?

Any of the three Tamiya halftracks are easy builds. I doubt Tamiya made a difficult armor kit to build in the 1970s. Even though the M3A2 did not go into production, it is a fairly accurate representation of one.