I will soon begin a build/review/blog of the Dragon Models Black Label M103A2 #3549.

I am not a glutton for punishment because of the issues inherent with the kit. I knew very little about the M103 Heavy Tank before the release of the M103A1 and M103A2 kits. But, something caught my eye. The uniqueness of these tanks during the Cold War sets them apart from any other US tank. I set a course to learn about the M103A2 Heavy Tank tank and how it held a very important role in USMC Tank Battalions.

The issues with both this kit and the predecessor M103A1 kit are well represented. Brian Lockwood is doing an outstanding job on polishing up the M103A2 kit with a ton of work.
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/233825

My build will take a bit of a different approach. I will use the base kit and combine current (and possibly future) aftermarket parts as well as a small amount of scratch building.

In addition to looking at the basic assembly of the kit I will demonstrate how the aftermarket parts look on the kit during assembly. Along the way we'll look at available reference material on the M103 Heavy Tank and some history on this heavy hitter.

The after markets parts will include:

RB Models M58 120mm gun #35B132


Voyager Model US M103A1 Heavy Tank Basic Detail Set PE35686


Sling Shot Models M48 Patton Early Style Commander's Cupola SSM35004.


The aftermarket sets listed should provide additional detail to the kit. They won't correct the dimensional errors but they will make the basic kit better in appearance.

For references I will be using the following:

Hunnicutt Firepower, A History of the American Heavy Tank


Osprey Publishing M103 Heavy Tank 1950-74


Ampersand Publishing M103 Heavy Tank, A Visual History of America's Only Operational Heavy Tank 1950-1970


AFV Modeller Magazine Issue 20, M103 Heavy Tank Family article
http://shop.afvmodeller.com/customer/product.php?productid=16592&cat=&page=1

I am still awaiting some of the aftermarket parts but in the meantime the build blog will start with some history of the M103A2 and the assembly of the suspension components.

I look forward to your comments and input along the way.

Looks like quite the project ahead! I'm looking forward to how the build turns out. I'm getting sick just looking at the photoetch, looks much too complicated for me. I'll be watching for the next update!

Jason,
I have this kit also I too like this cold war beast will be following with great interest.

The PE set is designed for the M103A1 kit so there are parts for the hull that I won't need to use for the M103A2 build. The hull bins and the turret details are the parts from the set I will be concentrating on. I will attempt to do a layman's comparison of the Dragon, Voyager, and RB barrels...no calibers or abacus...just the Mk.1 eyeball.

I wish you good luck, and god speed!

Thanks very much Brian. Your M103A2 build is very inspirational and a testament to old school modelling to create a great looking project.

I am in the same boat as you (i.e., was completely ignorant of the M103 prior to all the hubbub regarding the Black Label release and now find it a compelling subject). The work that Pawel and Brian did/are doing is well beyond my skills as a builder, so I am quite eager to see what you can accomplish doing things that are probably within my abilities. Good luck!

looking forward to your build and history lessons Jason. This big beastie should be a treat to follow.
Terry

Would be pleasure to follow this WIP

Great idea and I´m looking forward to follow this build.

Cheers
Walter

When looking at the M103A2 there is so much more than just a big tank. For the USMC the M103A2 was so important and so valuable that in an effort to create a suitable armoured support for Marines the M103A2 pushed aside the acquisition of the M60A1 for the USMC.

The USMC saw great potential in the M103 in spite of a ton of production issues. Unlike the Army the USMC was not willing to sit idle while the tank went into service and they pushed for improvements leading to the M103A1.

As the M48 series was updated and the M60 was preparing to take its place in armoured units the USMC saw huge potential with the M103 to upgrade and improve its automotive performance by integrating M60 components. This greatly upped the combat range and cross country ability of the tank. The M60A1 could still not compare with the M103A2's firepower or armoured protection.

Fitted with the drive sprockets from the M88 and the T107 gave the M103A2 the suspension needed to support the weight of the tank along with the more powerful powerpack.

For the USMC the M103A2 upgrade also proved successful with the elimination of the complicated fording gear used on the M103A1. The snorkel system commonly seen on the M48A3 and M60 series was also used on the M103A2.

Limited night fighting capability was provided with the addition of the AN/VSS-1 searchlight. While plans may have been made to further upgrade the driver and commander with passive night vision viewers they were never implemented as the M60A1 eventually replaced the M103A2.

As I combed through my reference images and books I was very impressed with the images in the new Ampersand Publishing M103 Heavy Tank book. Many of the images are from the Patton Museum and not published in either Hunnicutt's Firepower or Osprey's M103 Heavy Tank book. The content on all three books is generally the same with development details, operational history, and technical information.

Over the past month as time has permitted I have been working on the hull.

In reviewing the instructions you sort of jump around on different hull details with some parts left to the final assembly. Studying the instructions should give you an idea of how you want to proceed and what can be left until later.

I have to say that the fit of the hull part is very good. The parts fit very snugly and the details on the suspension and engine deck parts is very nice to my eye.

Cleanup for sure requires a good set of sprue cutters. The parts generally have multiple attachment points on the main sprues and multiple secondary moulding plugs to remove. I was quite amazed by how many part are used to build the suspension. This isn't just a cut, sand, and glue on a few parts type of suspension.

The hull actually come in two main pieces...kind of like a big old armoured submarine sandwich!

The instructions have you attach parts to the upper and lower hull halves and then glue them together after some minor drilling on the upper hull for the driver's hatch rests.

There is cast texture on the upper and lower hull parts but I decided to added greater casting texture with Mr. Surfacer 500 dabbed on with an old brush.

I chose to not modify the front hull area and left the angle and curve provided in the kit parts. Previous builds by Mr. Krupowicz and My. Lockwood did a plethora of cutting, hacking, sanding, and filling on the front hull area in order to correct the front hull issues. I wanted to show what the front hull looks like without angular modifications in order to provide the average everyday modeller with comparative options.

Here are pics of the upper and lower hull assembled along with some of the basic suspension components attached.

The assembly of the road wheels is interesting with each road wheel using four components (inner hub, rear hub, and 2 x road wheel outers) to create each wheel. Lots of cutting, lots of sanding, and lots of gluing to create the full compliment of road wheels and the two idler wheels.

This concept of assembly is great for painting the rubber portions separately but for me assembling each road wheel was actually simpler instead of partial assembly, priming, painting, and then more assembly.

The read wheel detail extends to the back side of the road wheels where bolt details are easily visible.

On the final drive covers I noted that the outer bolt detail was recessed. It should actually be raised and as such the old trusty hex shaped punch and die set came out to create new bolt heads. Once the final drive covers are added a small additional round access plug will be added to the inner bottom side of each part.

If you are building this kit don't get discouraged by all the road wheels on the sprues. You get extra sprues from the Dragon M48A3 Mod B kit so you don't use all of the available road wheel parts!

As I stated before the powerpack in the M13A1 was upgraded to create the M103A2. Fuel capacity increased and therefore combat range also increased much to the liking of tank crews, logistics staff, and the keepers of the Spartan funds of the USMC.

The back deck instantly took the look common to the M48A3 and M60 series. The parts provided are from the Dragon M48A3 Mod B kit and are very nicely detailed. I had considered replacing the multiple triangle shaped lift handles but overall the detail is pretty good...not perfect, but pretty good.

The back deck parts fit nicely with very little give or gaps requiring attention.

Further detailing will be done to the back deck with weld marks running along the seams. I used an additional application of Mr. Surfacer 500 so cover the seams created by adding the back deck components but more sanding and filling will be required prior to attaching the fenders.

The one part that does have serious deficiencies is the rear engine access doors/grills. The add-on armoured slats are incorrect, the hinge details are incorrect, the door are lacking the lower edge cut outs seen on the M103A2, and the handles are misplaced.

How do we solve this? There are a few solutions available.

Here are images of the back deck assembly thus far.

I finished off the suspension by adding the arms and shocks. This takes some careful planning, cleanup of parts, examining the instructions several times, and then only a wee bit of glue.

The instructions for the final assembly of the suspension appeared weak to me. It was not clear on the placement of the shock absorbers with relation to the road wheel arms. After some careful dry fitting the light bulb came on as to how the parts should properly fit together. There is for sure some interlocking and overlapping components in the M103A2 suspension.

The fit of the road wheel arms is very tight and can be dry fitted without any glue to ensure the parts sit correctly and evenly so that all of the road wheels sit correctly on a flat surface. Add a bit of glue to each arm once you get that oh so nice flat sitting look.

Attaching the road wheels for dry fitting is next to impossible. There are no poly caps in the road wheels and the road wheel arms have just little nubs to fit into the back of the road wheels. I used tiny bits of Blu-Tack on the arm nubs in order to test fit the road wheels. The road wheels will for sure have to be glued on after base coat painting.

Before we take a look at the road wheels attached let's jump back to the engine doors and grills. So what are the options? You can leave the parts incorrect as found in the kit. You can remove all of the incorrect details and scratch build all of the correct details.

Any other options? Yes there are.

In looking at my available aftermarket parts I looked at the Legend Productions M60A1/A3 Detailing Set. Included in the set is a very nicely detailed rear door/grill resin part. The parts need cleanup and modifications to fit the Dragon hull but it comes without hinges attached, photo etched parts to add super detail to the cooling fins, and great overall correct details on the resin part.

Here is the box for the Legend Productions set...



After some initial cleanup of the rear hull part here is a comparison image with the Dragon part. I will be adding the PE cooling fins after the part is attached to the hull rear.

Details related to the proper hinges will have to be scratchbuilt and the handles added.



Here are images of the suspension components with the road wheels temporarily attached.

Jason I'm following along as well. I have the kit and I am debating going all out like some master modelers in this group or following your example or something in between. This has been a vehicle I have wanted to model since I saw my first one in Fort Knox. Good luck.

Tom

Working on the rear hull to correct the accuracy issues of the Dragon parts has been worth the effort.

I completed the fitting of the Legend Productions M60A1/A3 resin engine grill doors. The fit was very good after removing excess resin and test fitting multiple times.

Cut outs on the lower sides of the resin part were required to make the door accurate for the M103A2 modifications.

The use of the resin engine doors permitted the unique hinges found on the M103A2 to be scratch built without having to remove the existing hinges as found on the Dragon part.

The hinges on the M103A2 extend out past the doors on angles. This was to allow the doors to be lifted and pivoted to clear the final drive assemblies.

I used a combination of styrene and spare resin pieces to cut, sand, shape to what I thought was an acceptable representation of the hinge assemblies.

This first image shows the completed hinges in comparison with the Dragon part. On the Dragon part all they did was simply move both sets of upper and lower hinges down a few millimetres from the original part used on the M48A3.



Two more views of the hinge assemblies. The rear hull is taking shape.

One of the excellent details provided in the Legend Productions M60A1/A3 detail set is a complete set of PE grills for the engine doors. They really add another dimension to the look of the rear hull.





The final touch to the engine access doors was the relocation of the handles from the bottom where they are located on the M48/M60 series to left and right of the bottom bolt detail as found on the M103A2.

I selected not to touch the bolt detail on the square and circular access hatches on the rear hull. While the bolt detail is a bit small it is at least present and correct.

Tow pintles will be added later on and next the drive sprockets will be tackled.

looking good so far keep up the good work .

Thanks for the big update. I'm really enjoying watching you work on this kit.

When I examined the drive sprockets compared to references I noticed a few things.

The first was that on production M103A2s the M48/M60 style sprocket used on the M103A1 was replaced by the USMC with the heavier drive sprocket from the M88. The M88 sprocket has flattened sprocket teeth edges, the indents between the teeth was eliminated, mud holes were added, and there are three small holes on the outer sprocket ring.

What I also noticed was that the two M103A1E1 (pilot versions of the M103A2) were fitted with the older M48/M60 sprockets and the Jacques Littlefield M103A2 has the older M48/M60 style sprockets.

The Littlefield M103A2 sprockets can be explained due to a possible lack of M88 sprockets to make the display tank accurate. The trial vehicles likely started with the M48/M60 style sprockets and then were finalized with the M88 sprockets.

The Bovington Museum M103A2 has the correct M88 sprockets installed.

At the current time there are no replacement aftermarket M88 sprockets. You can source them from the AFV Club M88 kits or the Perfect Scale Models resin M50 Heavy Recovery Vehicle. Neither of these options are great due to the price of the kits and the fact that spares are not included.

I looked at options for modifying or replacing the sprockets.

Option #1- Do nothing and simply use the Dragon sprockets.

Option #2- Source M88 sprockets and modify them to fit the Dragon final drives.

Option #3- Modify the Dragon M48/M60 sprockets to resemble the M88 sprockets.

I very seriously entertained the AFV Club option. But, even the AFV Club sprockets need slight modifications to fill in tiny gaps between the sprocket teeth.

The M88 sprockets will fit the Dragon kit with modification and this included hollowing out the inside of the AFV Club inner half of the sprocket drum and sanding down the end of the Dragon final drive hub. This seemed like a good option.

Using the Dragon sprocket OOB was not an option as I wanted to build an operational tank and not a trial version.

Here are images of the OOB Dragon sprockets attached to the hull and a side by side comparison with the AFV Club M88 sprockets.

Modifying the Dragon sprockets seemed like a viable option the more I compared reference images and the AFV Club parts. I also wanted to try to use kit parts were possible.

The first thing I did was fill in the indented gaps between the sprocket teeth. I used short strips of Evergreen Half Round 0.040" strips.

Once dry I lightly sanded down the front of the sprockets to make the strips flush.

To top this I added Mr. Surfacer 1000 to the tops of each gap to fill in any minor indents. Once the surface was dry a quick sanding made everything flush and blended.

Here are a couple of images showing the Dragon sprockets being modified by adding the half round strips to the gaps between the teeth.

Using reference images and the sprockets teeth and bolts as reference points I marked out the location of the three mud holes on the outer drum portions of both drive sprockets.

I drilled pilot holes and then used a combination of a #11 blade and sanding to form the holes and achieve the slightly oblong shape. Once the holes were complete I gave the edges a coating of liquid cement to soften the curve just a touch.

Here are comparison images of the unmodified and modified Dragon sprockets.

One of the final modifications I did on my sprockets was slightly sanding down the pointed edges of the sprocket teeth to give them the flat look of the M88 sprocket.

These image show the three way comparison between the unmodified Dragon M48/M60 sprocket (left), the AFV Club M88 sprocket (middle), and my modified sprocket (right).

I am happy with the result and I feel it is an improvement over the Dragon M48/M60 sprockets.