I have Accurate Armours M45 conversion in my stash and wonder which base kit is better? Tamiya or HobbyBoss?

the Accurate Armour C076 US Army M45 Howitzer Tank page for this conversion says...

" This extensive 1/35th scale conversion transforms the Tamiya M26 Pershing Heavy Tank into the Post WW-2 M45 105mm Howitzer Tank which was used extensively in Korea."

The conversion is mainly track & turret, but the rear engine compartment plate may give you issues if using the Dragon kit. The Tamiya kit is a very nice build, btw.

I used the Tamiya kit for this conversion and I didn't have any problems.

The real challenge is getting the turret right. It was a different casting than the gun tanks.

KL

Accurate Armours product page:
https://accurate-armour.com/aa-products/135th-conversion-sets/c076

Yeah, I saw that. Including a replacement turret doesn't mean anything. They could've made a new turret just so the mantlet dust cover fit well.

I'm not going to review AA's turret off a couple of pictures. Just consider this though: The T26E2/M45 turret was constructed more like that on the M4A3E2 than on the T26E3/M26. The base and sides were cast as one piece and the roof added from flat plate. On the M45 there was one horizontal plate from the transverse centerline rearwards to the point where the bustle started (this included both hatch openings) and a second plate sloping down to make the bustle roof. This construction is visible in the overhead photograph in Hunnicutt's Pershing book, as is the casting part number, 7055446. (The normal Pershing turret was 7054408.)

Here's a close view of the AA turret from an online build: https://leicestermodellers.weebly.com/uploads/8/0/9/7/8097807/546130_orig.jpg

KL