THIS IS ONLY MY SECOND POST . SO BEAR WITH ME,
I AM PLANING ON BUILDING A DRAGON WAGON WITH A M-31 AS A LOAD.WHICH CONVERSION KIT IS THE BEST(CAL.35,DES ,OR ADV).
ANY HELP WOULD BE GREAT

THANKS
STEVE

Welcome to the site. Just an FYI type of thing, but using all capital letters is bad online etiquette and considered shouting.

Perth Military Modeling Site (PMMS) has a review of the Calibre 35 M31 conversion: M31 Recovery Vehicle.

I haven't seen the ADV/Azimut or Des Kits conversions in person before.

sabot
thanks for the info on the capitals. i didn't mean to shout ,still learning.
have you done the m-31 conv. yourself .

thanks again
steve

No, sorry, I have not, but I have seen the Calibre conversion built before. I thought it looked very good and asked the builder if the correct M3 road wheels came with the set (they did). He did not mention any problems, but I did not ask if there were any.

Hi Stephen:
Without a doubt, your best route will be the Calibre35 M31/T2 conversion. It is very comprehensive and the fine details are nice (e.g. the cotter pins on the nuts are there!). The production (casting) is top notch too.

(Please note that I supplied some research material to the company and that my sample was gratis but nonetheless, it's very good.)

I had the Azimut kit and ebayed it when the Cal35 kit came. It's generally accurate but one of the hull boxes is too short and it's level of finesse isn't as nice as the Cal35 one.

I've seen the DES kit built up but it looks comparable to the Azimut kit, I'd say.

(I think www.missionmodelsclearance.com has the Cal35 kit on sale right now)

Steve:

I have both Cal35 & DES kits and would highly recommend the Cal35 kit over DES. I am aware of the ADV kit, but cannot speak to it personally.

The best part about the DES kit is their effort to make the booms support legs "work", but you could do that with the Cal35 kit using brass tubing to replace the kit parts. Other than that, I do not think their(DES) detail is a fine, and I think their crane boom is too long.

The only thing I think Cal35 missed is not telling you about the side doors. Both were welded shut & hinges removed. The left side lost the vision port, but the right side retained it.

Neither addresses the turret shape problem.

John

John said:
"Neither addresses the turret shape problem."

That's where my stashed away Armoured Brigade M3 Lee update will come in handy!!

(and no, I don't want to sell! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA)

I whacked away at mine(turret) by hand -- see my Gallery, Mud/Sweat/Gears Album. Actually overdid it a bit & had to muck about to get crane to fit right.

No new pix as project is on hold.

John