Something I started over 15 years ago, received as a gift and shelved when I lost interest. I thought it would be a good idea to clean up or part out all my shelf queens, and this one got the nod to finish. Interior was mostly done from before, so I left it as is, OOB, and tried to concentrate on the exterior. MArkings are scrounged, to represent "another tank in the same unit" as the often pictured tank in the Concord "TDs in Action" book.
IMG_4268 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4267 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4269 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4270 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4271 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4272 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Excellent work!! very cool

Hello, Russell, or do you like Russ?

VERY NICE!!! I'm glad that you didn't over-do the weathering!

(Off topic): I only wish that some model manufacturer would start out with a "clean slate" and bring the M18 into the 21st Century, in 1/35th scale, of course... 'Nuff said...

The suitcase is a very cool but of stowage.

Fine job of weathering! Has that used & lived-in look, and yeah, the suitcase is definitely cool. Got any photos of the fighting compartment?

Russ, your Hellcat looks great, and the markings, dust effects and stowage (love the suitcase!) are very effective, but you might want to shorten the tracks by a couple of links on each side - since the M18 had live tracks, there was no track sag.

Jerry

Came out real nice, I like the weathering. I have the same kit after seeing yours I think i will start it soon.
Andy

Thanks all.
I agree, the Academy kit is "vintage", but it was a gift from my wife, so I did my best. The major mod was to adjust the ride height a little lower to give it a better stance. It's nearly OOB aside from that.
The suitcase is a Historex item, from a "Western US" set.
Re the tracks: actually, it's a "dead" link, with a compensating idler, but should appear tight, agreed. Problem is, with even ONE link out, the tracks are simply too short.
Here's a lousy pic of the fighting compartment, but it's OOB...
IMG_4369 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

Hello Again, Everyone!

Wellll, not quite, Jerry... Even with "Live Tracks", there will be just a barely-discernible amount of "Track-sag", due to the Tracks' great weight. However, I did notice the "Track-sag", which I thought was just a bit too much for a US Tracked armored vehicle. I didn't say anything earlier because I didn't want to offend anyone. US "Live-Tracks", according to US Tech Manuals stipulate that the Tracks should be adjusted to length as tightly as possible, without binding any of the Road-Wheels, Return Rollers, Rear Idlers, the Drive Sprockets, or pertinent Suspension Components. Too tight an adjustment can and will wreak havoc...

One or two links, or at the very most, three links taken out of each "Track-run" should do the trick IMO, unless it's already too late to do so...

Didn't mean to sound like a "fuss-pot"...

No worries here Dennis, but as I slid in earlier, even ONE link out makes the track too tight to fit, and the position of the idlers was set in stone when I first started this kit around 15 years ago. Yup, it was a serious shelf queen. I consigned this one to the bottom the of the stash for a lot of reasons, one being the fit of the tracks. Honestly though, that's always a problem with using Friuls for vehicles that run tight tracks. I'll live with it.
BTW, I'll answer to pretty much any derivative of Russel, I'm easy that way.

Hi Dennis and Russ,

I stand corrected - since all other tracked U.S. AFVs (not halftracks) in WWII had live tracks, and since I had never seen a picture of an M18 with track sag, I assumed that was the case here, too. Thanks, guys, I learned something new today.

I guess the tech manuals instructed M18 crews to keep the tracks as tight as possible because of the high speeds it could reach on roads (50 mph IIRC) - at those speeds, it would be easy to throw one.

Anyway, Russ, bummer you can‘t adjust the tracks, but you did a great job on this old kit!

Jerry

Russel, great work on the old kit! Really like the weathering.

Hi, Russell!

Thanks for that, and sorry that I wasn't much help to you... She's still a very nice build, even though she was a "Hangar Queen"!

Thomas, thank you.
Dennis, no worries at all. Believe me, I fretted over it for a while, then decided to just build it, concentrating on the rest of it.