Just a couple of pre-painting pictures of my latest insane conversion. Insane, because that's the effect it has on me. I will post more pictures later after I have finished painting it.



















These are just test fitted. It is still in sub-assemblies to make painting easier. The fit between parts will be much better once it is all glued together.

Dave

Great stuff Dave. You know that I know how much work this has taken!

Thanks Roy.

Much more work than I anticipated at the beginning of the project. I had no idea the Commander set was so inaccurate.

I have recorded the ordeal, and will submit to Boresight once finished.

Great job. I love to see these things before paint.


Unfortunately, an all-too-common occurrence.

Paul

Very cool Dave! What nationality will it be?

Paul - Thanks. Yes, it is a shame that Commander Models has that problem, because they produce things that no one else does or probably will.

James - It will probably be an American unit in Europe. Since it was used in American units from Africa right through to Korea, you can pretty much pick any AA unit.

Cool conversion!!
Love it!

Looks great, I assume the trailer is pretty much scratch built? Well, everything but the wheels and trailer frame from an old Testors kit maybe?

Yep. The frame is a composite of the two trailers in the Testors kit. I had to modify the frame to match the "BenHur" frame. The wheels are M3 Halftrack replacement wheels from an old Squadron AM set. The rest is just plastic sheet and strip. I got lucky and found a description of the BenHur trailer that was modified specifically for the M15A1, so I was able to replicate the correct interior.

Mr Black,
Outstanding work. You know what is coming next... Are you going to enter it at Sumter in April??

John

You already know the answer John....LOL However it will be on display at the Atlanta show in February. You can see it there

Dave

Been doing a little painting today.







Dave

your build is great .cant wait to it finised

Touch-up painting and weathering start tomorrow.













Dave

Very Nice work Dave

I remember taking photos of this vehicle at the Fort Derussy museum in Hawaii in 92 and expected Dragon to release this variant when they did the half track run .

Nice attention to detail and the trailer brings it all together .

Well done on a lovely build .

This was used extensively throughout late WW2 and Korea and cannot understand why this has not been released .
Looking at your work just proves what a excellent weapon platform it is .

Thanks
Michael

Thanks Michael.

I'm with you on the disappointment with Dragon. They started out with a great series that no one else had done since Tamiya in the 70s. It just fizzled out though and left many interesting Halftrack versions undone.

I guess Bobbleheads and Didney toys were more important to then than the M3.

.

Nice one Tim

Maybe DML prefers 35th scale German Tiger 1 releases selling better then US M15 Halftracks used in 2 conflicts

They skipped this variant altogether when they had 3 quarters of a half track platform to work off .



Michael

As much as I'd like to see more halftracks, if the bobbleheads and Didney toys are really profitable, there is no way a company isn't going to make them. If it allows them to stay in business, I'm all for it. I won't buy one, but corporately, these guys exist to make money. If they stay in business, they can always come back to the models.

Paul

Weathering done. Now just to create a base, do figures and then it will be complete. Time to move on to a new project.

WOW!
I have a couple pictures of this setup in a book about the Remagen Bridge head. Said to myself that it was strange that nobody ever kitted this one. Now I got to do this one!

Your build is outstanding in every way.
gary

Thanks Gary.

A couple of pictures of the Dio Base in-progress.





Sorry for the poor quality. I'll post better ones when I finish the base and figure.

Dave

As promised, here are pictures of the finished model and base. If you get to the AMPS Atlanta show in February, it will be on display there.

























Dave

That's amaing work! Great job sir