A long time coming, but here's another small round of in-progress pics of my M3 75mm GMC. Thanks to Bob's (Hollowpoint) M15 "Special".

I still have quite a ways to go. With that in mind, the gun mount is just placed for the purpose of the pics. The cab is still being worked on, along with the wheels and track and lots of other "goodies" that will be added.

Most of the parts are either broken or warped and do indeed need alot of work to fix. The instructions are next to non-existent which further complicates this otherwise unusually challenging kit.

The ammunition ready rack was reworked because the kit's ammo tubes were molded solid - a big disappointment. None the less, I used stock brass tube, drilled out to thin the tube's walls and had to drill each of the tube's mounting holes because the kit provided just a mounting point. Ack!

Any and all comments welcome.

Part One can be seen HERE

Those brass tubes really add a lot to the mount. I've been tempted to get this kit, but my money always seems to go elsewhere -- watching your build may change my mind.

Question: How good are the idlers/drive sprockets compared to the kit parts? I've seen some PE replacements that just looked like too much work -- but some nice resin parts might be the ticket. What's your opinion, Ken?

I know you know that Tamiya's drive and idler are not up to par. I have a set of The Tank Workshop's wheels and their version (resin) of the tracks. TTW's wheels are a great leap above Tamiya's, however the sproket which is sandwiched in the drive wheel is off in terms of not even coming close to lining up with Tamiya's track guides. BTW The TW's tracks are a very poor resin copy of Tamiya's tracks. Shame on TTW!
I have set of K59's M3 Wheels (Drive and Idler) which are outstanding! Well worth the cost of $18. The only place I have found them is through Mission Models, who at the moment are out of stock and I need another set. I spoke with John last night, who said they should be in next week. Fingers crossed.

I see it says part 2 but I never saw part 1. What halftrack and cannon kits are those?

ShermR., I edited my first post to include a link to Part One

It's Tamiya's M21 Halftrack and Warrior's M3 75mm GMC.

That is looking great! I can't wait to see it finished. Replacing the ammo tubes made a huge difference. Steve

Ken - just to let you know I'm eagerly following along too!

I hate to make comments at this stage of the modeling because everything is still being put together and fitted-out. I'm curious to see the K59 items too and how they look in the end assembly. When I modeled my M16 MGMC a couple of years back, I just sweated-out and worked with the less-than-spectacular Tamiya parts. Not too bad, but...

I intend on going back to do another half-track in the short future and want to whip that thing into super-shape. I'm anxious to see a nice M3 GMC.

Gunnie

Hurry and finish this half track. I can't wait to see it