Could help be on the way for Academy's newest dog?
Properly angled cupola, with clear vision blocks. no less. Scale diameter barrel with no warp-always a good thing fer shootin' straight. Other parts apparently in the works as well.
Pic here:
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/eighteenbravo2003/detail?.dir=ef39&.dnm=b297.jpg&.src=ph
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M551 Help?
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 08:09 AM UTC
Vodnik
Joined: March 26, 2003
KitMaker: 4,342 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2005 - 08:22 AM UTC
Well... as I wrote in my article, to make this kit really accurate one would have to replace almost everything. And to spend extra money for aftermarket parts and still have model hightly inaccurate in many areas simply does not make sense IMHO.
Are there plans to provide corrected lower hull? Or driver's hatch? Mantlet? Accurate tracks?
Pawel
Are there plans to provide corrected lower hull? Or driver's hatch? Mantlet? Accurate tracks?
Pawel
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 04:16 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Well... as I wrote in my article, to make this kit really accurate one would have to replace almost everything. And to spend extra money for aftermarket parts and still have model hightly inaccurate in many areas simply does not make sense IMHO.
Pawel
I'm with ya there, bra. I HATE spending money on aftermarket stuff. So I'm making my own.
Are there plans to provide corrected lower hull? Or driver's hatch? Mantlet? Accurate tracks?
No plans to provide anything, per se. I'll make what I need. If someone wants a copy, thay can have it, provided I do a mold of it.
But your review (very informative, by the way) points out stuff I didn't notice. If I had, well...
Here is a quick list of some of my fixes, though, some known, and others based upon your observations-
Ejector pins, incorrectly shaped cupola armor-killed two birds with one stone there. Replaced.
Warped, too large gun-again-both problems solved with one fix.
Bolt heads-many need replacing. Always have donor models, and hex rod on hand for that.
Gap around (incorrectly shaped) driver's hatch. Biggest problem with the whole kit, in my mind. Working on it. Might as well make a mold of this too. Possibly do it in clear resin.
Road wheel spacing-not addressed yet, but will probably set one side further back by shortening/reinforcing bogies.
Idler mount-this is where modeling is fun. Replaced small bolts heads with larger ones, added triangular gussets with .010 styrene bits. Corrected 6 bolts on cap into 8.
Track-hmmm...a real conundrum here. I no longer have the Tamiya kit I built, but I THINK the track pads were there. Thinking of getting a cheap one from Ebay for the tracks. I do know there was no detail inside, but I'd fix that like my last one-using a Northwest Short Line Chopper, make rubber track pads for the inside from .010 styrene again. Quick job, adds greatly to the appearance. And you only need to do the ones that show.
Or how's this-Use Liquid Gasket for the track pads.. Put a dollop into each empty pocket on the track, and press the track flat, making nice, real rubber track pads. You could even press details into them or take chunks out before they set. On second thought, I hope someone else tries this.
Hull bottom-don't care. I don't even paint mine half the time.
Rounded belly plate-another more noticable problem. Same fix as angled hull on old Renwal 8 inch Howitzer-a piece of 240 wet/dry sandpaper spray mounted to a chunk of acrylic. Less than a minute job to round it off
Angles-don't care.
Heater exhaust-ten second fix.
Fire extinguisher-sliced off a piece of Evergreen tubing and fixed. Somewhat time consuming, but it DOES look better.
Surfboard hinge-Don't know yet. As I stated in another post, it is SO wrong, I have to wonder if they were looking at a different prototype that had that arrangement. If I do decide to fix it, I'll use styrene rod.
The boltheads need replacing with M48 roadwheel lugs-my favorite.
Incorrect lift rings-I THINK I have some correctly shaped ones from leftover Tamiya M60A2 hulls-I'll have to look but it could take a while. Excess TA-50 has overwhelmed my garage. (Used Esci hulls for my M60A2s)
Fuel fillers, large lifting eyes-quick fixes.
Missile transmitter-scratched.
Searchlight-again, have to dig through stuff, but I MIGHT have one left over from a Verlnden M60 update. Having said that, there's still no guarantee that it's accurate either, but it would save some work.
Turret shape-honestly hadn't noticed. I never climbed on top of the M551 at YPG. But now it bothers me. I seem to recall that the Tamiya turret was dimensionally accurate. Do you think it is? And would you suggest using it instead? From what I can remember, it did not have gorilla welds on it, like this new Academy kit.
All in all, you're right. It's a shame these things weren't correct to begin with. But the model doesn't cost near what Tamiya might've charged, and let's face it, fixing it is half the fun.
rebelsoldier
Joined: June 30, 2004
KitMaker: 1,336 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 04:21 AM UTC
keep me posted, haven't bought the new 551 yet, have an old tamiya from e bay, still goin fairly cheap there, may get another one from there for parts
reb
reb
Vodnik
Joined: March 26, 2003
KitMaker: 4,342 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 04:56 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I'm with ya there, bra. I HATE spending money on aftermarket stuff. So I'm making my own.
Oups, sorry - I thought you are hinting us on the next product of some aftermarket company...
Quoted Text
Warped, too large gun-again-both problems solved with one fix.
Wait a second here! Do you want to say that your barrel was also warped?... Man, I thought this was just my kit, but if it is not, than it is really major problem. I mean in general - for the evaluation of kit quality, cause the barrel needs replacing anyway. But OOB builders, even those who don't care for accuracy, will definitely notice that!
Quoted Text
Road wheel spacing-not addressed yet, but will probably set one side further back by shortening/reinforcing bogies.
Both sides need to be further back, just by slightly different distance.
Quoted Text
Track-hmmm...a real conundrum here. I no longer have the Tamiya kit I built, but I THINK the track pads were there.
Yes, they were there, but other than that these trucks were ugly. Much too thick and featureless on the inside. It would probably be a better idea to add pads to Academy new tracks. But if you look closely at photos in my article you may note that Academy track links are too narrow, so there is much more links on each side of the tank than there should be. I noticed that already after posting the review.
I'm sure that regardless of the quality of Academy kit, we will soon see replacement tracks for it. Most likely from Friul Model or some new small AM company (Armour Workshop maybe).
Quoted Text
Angles-don't care.
Without fixing the rear lower hull angle you won't be able to put sprocket wheel in the correct place.
Quoted Text
Fire extinguisher-sliced off a piece of Evergreen tubing and fixed. Somewhat time consuming, but it DOES look better.
For fully correct look, you would have to fill the original hole and drill a new one slightly lower and closer to the tank front. And then add the slice of Evergreen tube and new handle. Even more time consuming, but fully doable.
Quoted Text
Searchlight-again, have to dig through stuff, but I MIGHT have one left over from a Verlnden M60 update.
Verlinden's one is not accurate either. It is just inaccurate in a different way
I have it on my old Tamiya M551 converted to M551A1.Quoted Text
Turret shape-honestly hadn't noticed. I never climbed on top of the M551 at YPG. But now it bothers me. I seem to recall that the Tamiya turret was dimensionally accurate. Do you think it is?
It did not have any weld seems and the shape was much better (again I just noticed some more problems in the shape of Academy turret, which I have not noticed earlier). But I'm afraid it is slightly too large - tried to put it on Academy hull and it seems to be too big indeed. Also the area near the mantlet would still need some work, but at least it is generally correct, so should be fixable.
Pawel
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 05:31 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Slightly too large how? The turret itself or the ring? If it's the ring, I'll fix that.Quoted TextWarped, too large gun-again-both problems solved with one fix.
Wait a second here! Do you want to say that your barrel was also warped?
SlightlyQuoted TextRoad wheel spacing-not addressed yet, but will probably set one side further back by shortening/reinforcing bogies.
Both sides need to be further back, just by slightly different distance.
Yeah, but it's easier to just do one!Quoted TextTrack-hmmm...a real conundrum here. I no longer have the Tamiya kit I built, but I THINK the track pads were there.
Yes, they were there, but other than that these trucks were ugly. Much too thick and featureless on the inside. It would probably be a better idea to add pads to Academy new tracks. But if you look closely at photos in my article you may note that Academy track links are too narrow, so there is much more links on each side of the tank than there should be. I noticed that already after posting the review.
I'm sure that regardless of the quality of Academy kit, we will soon see replacement tracks for it. Most likely from Friul Model or some new small AM company (Armour Workshop maybe).Quoted TextAngles-don't care.
Without fixing the rear lower hull angle you won't be able to put sprocket wheel in the correct place.
Again, not as concerned with that.Quoted TextFire extinguisher-sliced off a piece of Evergreen tubing and fixed. Somewhat time consuming, but it DOES look better.
For fully correct look, you would have to fill the original hole and drill a new one slightly lower and closer to the tank front. And then add the slice of Evergreen tube and new handle. Even more time consuming, but fully doable.
That's why I said it was somewhat time consuming. I use CA as filler though, so it's a lot faster than waiting for putty to set up.Quoted TextSearchlight-again, have to dig through stuff, but I MIGHT have one left over from a Verlnden M60 update.
Verlinden's one is not accurate either. It is just inaccurate in a different way
Figures! That's why I had the great Verlinden purge last year. Still have some odd bits lying around though.Quoted TextTurret shape-honestly hadn't noticed. I never climbed on top of the M551 at YPG. But now it bothers me. I seem to recall that the Tamiya turret was dimensionally accurate. Do you think it is?
It did not have any weld seems and the shape was much better (again I just noticed some more problems in the shape of Academy turret, which I have not noticed earlier). But I'm afraid it is slightly too large - tried to put it on Academy hull and it seems to be too big indeed. Also the area near the mantlet would still need some work, but at least it is generally correct, so should be fixable.
Pawel
Vodnik
Joined: March 26, 2003
KitMaker: 4,342 posts
Armorama: 3,938 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 06:54 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Slightly too large how? The turret itself or the ring? If it's the ring, I'll fix that.
The ring is too large, but it is easily fixable. But the whole turret seems slightly out of proportion when put on Academy hull. This hull is 3mm too wide, but Tamiya's was further 2mm wider! It was also a few mms longer.
By the way, I just counted the track links - there are 104 on each side in the model, while there should be 102 and when you consider that the whole suspension is too short in the kit, this means that track links are significantly too short (narrow).
Pawel
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 07:23 AM UTC
Sounds like I'll have to get the Tamiya kit. Go figure. I may as well use the track too.
Red4
Joined: April 01, 2002
KitMaker: 4,287 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 09:01 AM UTC
18B, Nice work on your main gun tube. Excellent pic of it. When I built my SHeri I did a lot of modifying of things as well. Wish I would have made molds of the parts then. Oh well. Thanks for sharing your progress. "Q" 
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
Armorama: 6,097 posts
Posted: Wednesday, May 18, 2005 - 09:02 AM UTC
Thanks. Any contests within two hours of Ft. Carson any time soon?
Red4
Joined: April 01, 2002
KitMaker: 4,287 posts
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Posted: Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 07:36 AM UTC
You just missed the LOCON here in the Springs. Was held on the 14th at the Radisson by Solo's resteraunt. Where are you in CO? "Q"
18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
Armorama: 6,097 posts
Posted: Thursday, May 19, 2005 - 08:18 AM UTC
Damn! Just missed that one. My company is at Ft. Carson. My Battalion is near Aurora, not far from Buckley AFB. Usually I like to make my trips coincide with cool events.
I've been to a few armwrestling competitions at Eck's Saloon and Illif Park Saloon, but keep missing the model contests.
By the way, you're very lucky, as the Springs has the best two Hobby Town's I've ever been to.
I've been to a few armwrestling competitions at Eck's Saloon and Illif Park Saloon, but keep missing the model contests.
By the way, you're very lucky, as the Springs has the best two Hobby Town's I've ever been to.
Red4
Joined: April 01, 2002
KitMaker: 4,287 posts
Armorama: 1,867 posts
Posted: Friday, May 20, 2005 - 02:53 AM UTC
You must be with the 19th then if your Company is out of Carson. You know Mark Elrod crazy guy that he is? He's a Bravo as well. Just curious. You're correct about the Hobby Towns BTW. "Q"
"Q" 18Bravo
Joined: January 20, 2005
KitMaker: 7,219 posts
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Posted: Friday, May 20, 2005 - 03:56 AM UTC
Gunny, as Mark likes to go by, and I worked together in Afghanistan. I've got a great video of him cursing at our Afghans about how to properly handle mortar ammo. Speaking of cool hobby shops, Colpar is not bad either, but the Chinese Buffet across fom them is one of the best I've ever been to.
Vodnik
Joined: March 26, 2003
KitMaker: 4,342 posts
Armorama: 3,938 posts
Posted: Sunday, May 22, 2005 - 11:11 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Quoted TextQuoted TextSearchlight-again, have to dig through stuff, but I MIGHT have one left over from a Verlnden M60 update.
Verlinden's one is not accurate either. It is just inaccurate in a different way
Figures! That's why I had the great Verlinden purge last year. Still have some odd bits lying around though.
I just checked a few TMs and it looks like Verlinden's searchlight is actually reasonably accurate, but it is simply different type from the one used on M551. Verlinden's part is AN/VSS-3A as used with M60, while the one used on M551 is AN/VSS-3. Difference in designation is small, but difference in casing shape is significant.
Pawel
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