Hi guys
I posted this tank several months ago, and finally I managed to have a bit weathering done. Lots of mud is put on, partially to avoid the heavy work on wear and tier for the exposed tracks , and I suppose I will put it on a diorama base of Vietnam mud road.
I tried some photoshop on the photos, but only altered some lights. Perhapes this will give the photos antique looking.
Hey I am just a beginner and hit me with some advices.Hope you like it!
cheers

Looks like it just drove up out of the bottom of a lake (where it had been sitting for some time). You seem to have gone a little wild, with the sand. It looks too haphazard. Some of the panel lines look to have disappeared, entirely. Looks like some of the stowage (particularly on the turret) is glossy. The stars are too clean. Sand gets everywhere, but it should be a very thin layer. Maybe a little thicker where it would settle. I mean corners and such. If I was you and I know how hard it is to do, but I would go back to primer. Completely overhaul the paint job.

An M103 heavy tank??
Didn't even know such a beast existed!

Maybe start off with some better pictures. These look like they've been made with a phone using tubelights or something.
That way it's easier to say something about this build.

the picture quality is low,you posted them before iirc and they were much crisper. imho i would have put on 75% of the fenders but it is getting there.keep at it

Beginner? Hell, that's looks awesome. I love the textures.

Back to primer? No way. These tanks attract mud like little boys and the weathering is spot on for a track that's had to trudge through lots of mud and dirt roads. The crew gets just as muddy and gets the rest of the tank muddy in any left over clean spots.

Also - a place like Vietnam, going down roads and dirt, when it's not mub flying around due to the fenders removed, then it's the dust that cakes on, then rain, and all turns to mud that runs off.

I know flash photography makes these close-ups exaggerate the light areas and every tiny invisible detail pops out... I'll bet it looks even better with the naked eye.

I found when taking a photo, if you can direct the flash somewhere else (called bounce flash) it gives a softer, yet adequate light and ends up looking closer to the way we see it when we are working on it with the naked eye.

Good job! Can't wait to see the base. Perhaps sink it in the mud a bit or even better, in a foot or two of water going through a rice paddy?

You konw the M103s never served in Vietnam, right?

oh em gee...should he turn in his glue for such an error on turf ?

Mud, yes. Sand, no.

Thanks for sharing guys, very useful suggestions. I will be putting out better photos on a sunny day with my cellphone. It's all I have for now.

ummm did I put sand on it? no.
You will understand if you have a 4wd and have spent some time off road. There are only dry mud and wet mud. Yellow stuff on the hull and turret is dry mud. perhaps PS made it hard to recognize LOL. I think I will be taking some off, less wild.

and yes m103 never saw combat.
Ok, now is it an relaxing Omaha beach you want me to put this beast on? and a diorama for training marine new bees?
I will not let the thinking of 100% reality limit my enthusiasm.
and hey I am just a beginner.
anyway vietnam jungles are no places for a heavy tank like this, even m48 can not handle most of the turf.
I d just put 'experimental tank on the move' over the project assume it was in vietnam?

Thanks for sharing again. Cheers

The M103 came about as a result of the soviets T10 it was put in production in the late 50's has a heavy tank with a weight of 60 tons and armed with a 120mm gun same engine as the M48 Patton and because of the same engine was constantly breaking down it was pulled out of service and replaces by the M60 the Marines too over the M103 from the army and re engine them to become M103A2 and kept them in service till about 1972

If those WWII nazi tank guys can build every version of tank that was only designed on paper and never even made it out of the drawing room, them we can put an m103 into any venue!

Side note, anyone else frustrated with the proliferation of all the WWII things and they neglect all the Cold War stuff that most of us still alive actually lived in for much of our youth! I'd give my left nut for an interior kit of an m60!