Hi Nick,

nice start of this Vietnam icon! I don't know if you decided yet on what decals to use but MecModels (okay I know; it's a shameless plug ) do two 1/35 decal sets for the M48!

http://www.mecmodels.com/wordpress/?product_cat=decals-1-35

good luck with your build and keep us posted here please!

best regards,

Mark

Hi all, just started building DML's smart kit of the m48A3. Seems like I reasonably small kit compared to some of DML's previous releases.

I've never built a Vietnam era afv, so how does this kit some up, any must do after market replacements or any thing that will make my build easier?

Main one that stands out for me is a metal barrel.

Tia, Nick

Dennis,
Peavey's book is indeed a great one for the Marine Tanker point of view. There are a couple others that will give similar stories for Army tankers in VN. One is Tank Sergeant by Ralph Zumbro, who gives a Army tanker's view just before during and after the 1968 Tet Offensive. Another one is 100 miles of Bad Road, Dwight Birdwell's story of his experiences of a tanker in 3-4 Cav, 25ID around the same time before and after Tet.

Good info but there are a couple of things in your post that need to be clarified. Keep in mind that the USMC were not the only ones who spent significant time in the field supporting light infantry units. Army units were also doing the same thing farther south where it was not so great tank country, as well as convoy escorts, manning strong points, and such. Zumbro has some good discussions of tanks fighting in close quarters with supporting assaults on villages, mine detonations, post operations maintenance - all fun stuff for tankers. 3-4 Cav was the unit that mounted sandbags on the turrets of their M48A3s, as crew protection during convoy escort duty.

USMC did not use Mod B's in Viet Nam, they used M48a3s, with most having the riser for the cupola. The Marines received Mod Bs after redeploying from RVN. Also, there was at least one USMC tank Battalion (1st Tanks?) that never "skymounted" their .50 caliber MGs.

Nick,
The pic that you posted is a Death Dealer tank from 2-34 Armor of the 1st Infantry Division. Their battalion's tanks all had the ace of spades painted on both sides of the turret. Google "2-34 Armor in Viet Nam" and you should get a bunch of pictures.

HTH

John

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Hi all, just started building DML's smart kit of the m48A3. Seems like I reasonably small kit compared to some of DML's previous releases.

I've never built a Vietnam era afv, so how does this kit some up, any must do after market replacements or any thing that will make my build easier?

Main one that stands out for me is a metal barrel.

Tia, Nick

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Hi Nick, and everybody else that has, or may take an interest in this thread that you've started!

My question to you- Are you planning to build a US Marine Corps M48A3, or a US Army M48A3? IMO, the DRAGON M48A3 kits are WELL WORTH BUYING, if you're an AFV modeller, a modeller of the Vietnam War in general, or if you just dig big US tanks!

If you are going to be building a USMC tank, here are some pointers that I learned from a book entitled "PRAYING FOR SLACK" by Robert E. Peavey, who served as a TC (Tank Commander) with the USMC in Vietnam. He spent all of his time in M48A3s, and this book should be in everyone's collection, whether you are an AFV modeller or a student of US Armor in Vietnam, or the Vietnam War, in general...

This book is VERY readable, without getting bogged down in a lot of "official history", military theory and/or "armchair strategy". Rather, it is a compelling personal story of what it was like to be a Marine Tank Commander and his experiences in two different M48s in Vietnam, during the fateful year of 1968.

Corporal Peavey describes his experiences in detail, without becoming too technical, or as dry as a service manual would have been written. Even if you are new to tanks and how they operate, this book spells it all out in very understandable layman's language. The book also dispels the erroneous notion that a great majority of the Vietnam War was a "Jungle War", and not a war where armor was used in any great quantity. On the CONTRARY! Not only was there A LOT of US armor in Vietnam, but US armor WAS in action on a daily basis, and in some very major battles, as well. Corporal Peavey also injects some humorous stories, as well as the tense drama of what it was like to go into combat in an M48..

The Vietnam War wasn't a total jungle war, as Hollywood would have us believe. In fact, the territory up North below the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) was actually EXCELLENT TANK COUNTRY!

And now, let me share with you all, some of the information in the book that may set some of misconceptions right, as regards to the DRAGON M48A3 Model B:

First off, USMC M48s were in action continuously for YEARS, unlike the Armor during World War II in Europe. As Corporal Peavey relates, the Marine M48s saw a lot of action, and consequently took a quite a beating, insofar as constant usage wrought havoc upon fenders, driving lights and their surrounding headlight guards, among other things. As a matter-of-fact, Corporal Peavey states that most Marine M48s were missing their headlights and headlight guards, and if they DID still have them, they were hopelessly beat up, and/or ready to fall off the vehicle, anyway...

Most Marine M48s were also MISSING THEIR SEARCHLIGHTS, so a lot of the complaining about the missing searchlights in the DRAGON M48A3 Model B should be taken with a grain of salt. As some of the modellers in this thread have stated, aftermarket searchlights are plentiful, and many of us die-hards would replace a kit supplied searchlight, with an aftermarket searchlight kit of better quality, anyway. In fact, I'm going to leave the searchlight off my Vietnam-service Marine M48A3, as well as the headlights.

Many Marine M48 drivers would also weld a length of steel pipe across the upper glacis plate from fender to fender. This was done in order to pile sandbags, packed tightly in front of the driver's position, just below his line-of-sight through his periscopes. This practice provided at least SOME extra protection against VC or NVA RPG rounds. RPGs could be devastating against armor in those "pre-Chobham Armor" days... Another form of anti-RPG protection was to bolt extra track links to the sides of the M48s' turrets, in the Gunners', TCs' and loaders' positions.

Since Marine tankers basically LIVED in and on their mounts, all forms of extra "creature comforts", packs, tarps, personal stuff (known as "274" Equipment) and other clap-trap was stuffed into the "Gypsy Rack", as the tankers called the Bustle Rack, and anywhere else that the stuff could be tied, or strapped to... Nothing resembles a "Gypsy Wagon" so much as a military vehicle loaded down with possibly as much as an additional ton of stowage besides what was normally carried in it's combat load...

Quite often, fenders became pretty mangled in action, especially during the Tet Offensive, in places where a lot of street-fighting took place, such as in the city of Hue, for example. Fenders were quite often replaced with make-shift corrugated roof sheet-steel fenders- Who cared what they looked like, anyway?!?

Here is another suggestion that may make your M48 a bit more interesting- Many Marine Corps TCs removed their VERY BULKY M2.50 calibre MGs from the TC's cupola, and re-mounted the weapon outside, on the top of the cupola, just ahead of the hatch opening. This re-positioned .50 was called a "Sky Mount"...

Finally, as often as not, Grunts would pile onto the M48s, hitching a ride; they dismounted for breaks, or when reaching their destinations or objectives, and/or shortly before going into action. Mounting some hitchhiking Grunts on your M48 not only adds interest, but also imparts a sense of "scale" to your model. Unfortunately, the NVA or VC didn't much care if they killed in-the-way hitchhiker Grunts when ambushing M48s, or LVTP-5s, or Army M113s, with their RPGs...

There are a couple of gross error in the DRAGON M48A3 instructions, regarding the painting of your M48:

US ARMY M48s were NOT painted in FS 34087 FLAT OLIVE DRAB- They were painted in FS 24087 SEMI-GLOSS OLIVE DRAB, which appears to be much darker than the FLAT OD.

US Marine Corps M48s, just like everything else USMC, before the advent of MERDC, CARC, and NATO Paint Schemes, were painted in "MARINE GREEN"; that includes Vietnam-era equipment. The "MARINE GREEN" of the Vietnam-era equipment that is generally agreed upon amongst modellers is actually several colors, which should all be SEMI-GLOSS: FS 24064 or FS 24083. Translated into TAMIYA Acrylic and Lacquer Spray paint, these are XF-74, XF-13, XF-58 and AS-17 Spray- take your pick. I'm not going to use any of them- I'll use my own custom-mix that I'm going to match to my Official FS-595a Color Chip Album...

Hope this helps both you and anyone else who may be considering creating a diorama or stand-alone model of a realistic Vietnam War USMC M48A3 or M48A3 Model B...

Wow so much information and options. Best thing about our hobby is that we can be creative or farfetched as we like...I plan on making the tank from 2-34 1st infantry. I have just completed the hull and turrets minus the clear parts. Can anyone tell me whick of the dome shaped clear parts need to be masked and what they actually are? Also same with the clear part on the commanders cupola. Which area on these parts need to remain clear?

So after a bit of confusion I have sprayed the M48 the right colour of semi gloss olive drab to represent 2-34 Dreadnaughts tank as pictured. The colour looks much better than what I previously had. Will try to post some photos soon.