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Armor/AFV: Allied - WWII
Armor and ground forces of the Allied forces during World War II.
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Academy 70th anniversary M10 kit
phantom8747
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Alabama, United States
Joined: March 09, 2015
KitMaker: 281 posts
Armorama: 273 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - 05:36 PM UTC
With the new Tamiya kit coming, I have the Academy 70th Anniversary kit of the M10.Were there any problems with it? Was the mantlet corrected from the Duckbill kit?
M4A1Sherman
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New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
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Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - 05:52 PM UTC

Quoted Text

With the new Tamiya kit coming, I have the Academy 70th Anniversary kit of the M10.Were there any problems with it? Was the mantlet corrected from the Duckbill kit?


Hi! ACADEMY claims that they've improved their M10 kit in a variety of ways- Not sure about the Gun Mantlet, but I know they corrected the angle of the Upper Hull's Rear Plate and Upper Hull Sides which mate to the Rear Plate.
russamotto
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Utah, United States
Joined: December 14, 2007
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Posted: Wednesday, May 25, 2016 - 08:00 PM UTC
The mantlet is off. DEF model makes a replacement that looks much better. I'll have to pull it out to see what the errors were, but there was an issue to size and also detail.
GeraldOwens
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Florida, United States
Joined: March 30, 2006
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Posted: Thursday, May 26, 2016 - 03:31 AM UTC

Quoted Text

With the new Tamiya kit coming, I have the Academy 70th Anniversary kit of the M10.Were there any problems with it? Was the mantlet corrected from the Duckbill kit?

Academy redid the turret shell to the correct width, but didn't want to retool the mantlet, so the turret sides taper a bit too much so they will fit inside the narrow mantlet part. The upper hull was retooled. The suspension is the original, which was based on a gutted museum vehicle, and therefore, the wheel arms sit a bit too high. They can be swapped out with Academy M4A2 or Italeri M4A1/M4A3 parts, but it's a nuisance. Tracks are also a bit narrow. I'm reluctant to spend time (and money) fixing a kit that shouldn't have needed fixing, when Tamiya's appears to be correct out of the box.
ALBOWIE
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New South Wales, Australia
Joined: February 28, 2006
KitMaker: 1,605 posts
Armorama: 1,565 posts
Posted: Wednesday, June 01, 2016 - 07:15 AM UTC

Quoted Text

The mantlet is off. DEF model makes a replacement that looks much better. I'll have to pull it out to see what the errors were, but there was an issue to size and also detail.


Funny but the DEF models one I have is EXACTLY the same size as the "New" Academy one. In fact the only differences are molded in Lifting rings and a less pronounced rain gutter on the aperature points (easily fixed in the Academy one by sanding). I'd almost go as far as saying it was mastered from it
Interesting to see how the new Tamiya compares all up.

Al
M4A1Sherman
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New York, United States
Joined: May 02, 2013
KitMaker: 4,403 posts
Armorama: 4,078 posts
Posted: Saturday, June 04, 2016 - 04:53 PM UTC

Quoted Text


Quoted Text

With the new Tamiya kit coming, I have the Academy 70th Anniversary kit of the M10.Were there any problems with it? Was the mantlet corrected from the Duckbill kit?

Academy redid the turret shell to the correct width, but didn't want to retool the mantlet, so the turret sides taper a bit too much so they will fit inside the narrow mantlet part. The upper hull was retooled. The suspension is the original, which was based on a gutted museum vehicle, and therefore, the wheel arms sit a bit too high. They can be swapped out with Academy M4A2 or Italeri M4A1/M4A3 parts, but it's a nuisance. Tracks are also a bit narrow. I'm reluctant to spend time (and money) fixing a kit that shouldn't have needed fixing, when Tamiya's appears to be correct out of the box.


Hi! I WAS going to buy a "corrected" ACADEMY M10- My original ACADEMY and AFV CLUB M10s still sit in their original boxes. I had thought about kit-bashing them to come up with a "presentable" M10- I've since "deep-sixed" that idea in favor of buying the new TAMIYA kit.

It's nice to see TAMIYA come out with new armor kits every so often, though I realize that TAMIYA's priorities rest elsewhere. Examples are their Panther D, "Easy Eight" Sherman, and Somua s-35... They'll be releasing new 1/48 and 1/32 F-14s soon; I also like to build 1/48 aircraft, so the F-14 will be welcome.

I'd like to see TAMIYA come out with "all-new" re-tooled kits of M3 Lee/Grants, M3/M3A1 Stuart/Honeys, an M8 HMC, an M18, and all-new kits of the M36, M46, M47, and since AFV CLUB is reluctant to build on their WC-series Dodges, I'd like to see their take on a WC-54 Ambulance, and an M6 Dodge Tank Destroyer. Might be nice to see a 4x4 1 1/2-ton Chevy, (I forget the designation), as well...
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