Ok, not strictly IDF I guess, but wasn't entirely sure where to put this Chilean M51.
Tamiya base kit with scratch built rear deck and exhaust. Running gear and tracks are from Tasca with Voyager providing a majority of the photoetch along with some further additions from Legend.....



















Gary

Compliments for your work.You did a great job of detail!!!!

Cheers Luigi

Looks great! The louvers on the new engine deck are exceptionally nice.

Yeah, same here! Lot's of detail!

It's beginning to be more fun LOOKING at all the builds instead of building myself!

Almost.








Jeff

Thank you gentlemen

Matt - the exhaust was the fun part to get right. Especially the heat shield as I had nothing suitable in my spares box so had to drill out all those holes on some brass sheet Took a while but was worth the effort

Gary

Managed to start laying down some primer this evening....







Gary

Where did you get the perforated brass sheet for the exhaust heat shield?

Travel lock and rear bin look a bit like the Legends pieces?

Jesse

As I mentioned above, the perforated brass is scratch built. I had, nor could I find anything suitable so had to drill out the holes to suit.
The clamp part of the travel lock is indeed from Legend with new styrene rod arms and Voyager PE mounting base. Stowage bin is mostly Legend - substituting the supplied brass rod for styrene.

Gary

That PE and scratch work was so nice its almost ashame you had to paint over it.

But I'm sure the end result though will be 10 times more beautiful!!

WOW !!!! Thank you for sharing this awesome build !

Thanks guys.

I only have a rudimentary painting guide for Chilean M51s which come with a Bison decal set. While the instructions describe colours, 'Sand' and 'Dark Khaki' have many, many connotations so I'm having to guess the best I can here.

After searching through my paint selection, I came up with these two colours which I feel will best represent what I'm after....



I'm certainly happy with the base colour at this stage....







Gary

Superb work.

Wow! Beautiful job.

That is one awesome build you did. Can't wait to see the finish product.

Thank you gentlemen. And now for a little more colour....









Gary

A splash more colour courtesy of Bison Decals....





Gary

Fantastic build so far, Gary, super scratchbuilding.

I have the resin conversion for this M51 version, my fingers are itching to build it now.

Is the perforated cover for the exhaust custom etch, or have you used a standard etched plate cut to shape?

Thanks Sven.

I bought a resin conversion kit too initially but wasn't really impressed at all with the parts so that's why I went down the scratch built route.

I mentioned earlier in this thread that the heat shield is made from thin brass sheet and the holes were drilled out individually. I had no suitable PE in my spares box and couldn't find anything proprietary so homemade was the only solution for me.

Gary

So, some detail painting done today. Tools - handles are painted Vallejo Iraqi Sand and I then add Windsor and Newton Raw Sienna. After a few hours, the excess oil paint is 'dragged' off with a brush leaving the wood effect. Metal parts are painted metal.
Tow cable end received a coat of silver mixed with Lifecolor TSC 212 White Oxide while the cable itself received silver with a thinned gunmetal coat over the top.
Finally, for this stage, the entire vehicle received a coat of flat clear. This is to seal in the decals and prepare the surface for a filter - the Khaki Green has a slight sheen to it so wouldn't take the filter too well....









Gary

Oops, sorry for making you repeat (yet again) the info about the perforated cover, totally missed it in the earlier posts :-)

Excellent work!!! I assume that the perforated burn guard will be added back later. For what it's worth, the exhaust and guard are standard commercial truck parts, per my friend in Chile, Fernando Wilson. Looking forward to the finished version. I have one of these about 90% complete, and you've inspired me to finish it. :-)

Tom

One of the earlier posts mentioned an unimpressive resin conversion. I have the Greg Buechler Enterprises Chilean M51 and M50/M60 conversions and I think they look really good in the box and in Greg's photos. I know Greg has done his research. Haven't had a chance to start building either yet. Am waiting for his Argentinian Repotenciado (Firefly fitted with the M51's gun & new engine) conversion for my Tasca VC.