My latest - I'm trying to force myself to take longer to finish my models, so I decided to add an interior to this Tamiya Grant 1. It's ended up as a partial interior from spare parts and plastic card. If I tried to add everything that's shown on the AFV INteriors site then the hull parts would have burst at the seams!. How they managed to get 6 people in there as well amazes me!!

dave,

i wish i could pump out finished models as quick as you!

looks nice, any chance of some shots showing the interior you added?

also how is the kit, i know its old, but are there any problems with it?

cheers

joe

Hi Joe, posted a few more pics just for you, page 3 of my gallery. I'm being a bit careful as I keep having to delete pics to put more on, and can't afford to join the A-Guard at the moment ( will do when I get a job though). Where possible I've reused old parts from other kits, the M2 75mm breech is from a Sherman, and the 37mm gun is from an Academy Stuart. The only problem I found with the build was getting the hull together with the 75mm housing and mudguard section - no definite locating points.

you did this with spare parts and scratch . Fantastic is all I can say Dave. You do build some great models and the subjects you choose are different from a lot That we all build here. You are like The Roo about building some of the most interesting subjects. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the compliments on all of my models all of you. I've been making conversions and scratchbuilt truck bodies since I was a kid of about 14. In the last couple of years I've seen other modellers work on the internet and that has made me want to improve my own work to try and match what I've seen elsewhere, so the compliments really belong to all of you and the guys on http://www.totalmodel.com/ for inspiring the improvements.

Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but the Tamiya Lee and Grant kits are pigs, with the Lee being well the worst of the two due to its horrible turret and ficticious rear end.

The Grant suffers from:
- a hull that is .100" too wide (so you can forget about using any aftermarket transmission covers to replace the poor kit parts).
- incorrect 6 spoke wheels (should be 5)
- oversimplified bogey assemblies
- tracks with the end connector in the middle of the pad and not connecting anything.
- a turret that looks to be overinflated because it is about 4mm too high
- really poor idler mounting assembly
- seriously undersized 37mm gun
-pistol port/protectoscopes that were of at least two sizes (The larger one is correct and should be placed at all locations).
- a driver's vision door that is too small by .040" all around
- hull angles and heights that are offf (but you can ignore them as they don't detract from the overall impression)
- soft or poor details throughout.

Should you have unlimited amounts of money and the fantastic good luck to find one at all, the ABM Grant is much, much superior to the Tamiya kit.

At the very least you have to replace the tracks and the bogey wheels and, if you can, scavange the idler mounts from an Italeri M4A1 or DML Sherman.

Academy is _supposed_ to be coming out with a Lee/Grant late this year, (which I will believe when it's in my hot litle hands) and I can only hope they don't screw the pooch as they did with their Stuart, which was a real disappointment.

Paul

Hey, I recognize that tarp! M21 halftrack, am I right?



Cuhail

The tarp just came out of the spares box, I filed a chunk out of the back so that it fitted over the rail. I've never built the M21, most likely a Tamiya accessory pack for the 2 1/2 ton truck?