Gidday all

Just a quick post of my latest WIP. Academy 1/35 M48A5k
Not finished yet but close. Wanted it to be Vietnam era but hard to find good reference so this is what I end up with.

Painted using Tamiya acrylics and MM enamels, and started weathering with Mig's.

Stowage only for show at this stage and will change.
More pics when finished (this week.......(hide from wife)....I hope)

Thanks for lookin

Looking good, Dan. I don't know much about Vietnam era tanks, but I sure know they got terribly dirty fast! I think some pigments in the form of road dust and a little bit of caked on mud could make the model jump out at you.
What are your plans for the stowage? There are quite a few good pictures of various marks of M48s in Vietnam available to be found by, among other things, Google Images.

I like what you've done with the road wheels and overall kit. Just an FYI, but M48A5 tanks were rebuilt M48/A1/A2/A3 tanks that did not start production until the late 70s.

The MRE boxes further identify it as a '80s tank too. MREs were not introduced till the early '80s.

Squadron's M48 in Action and Armor in VIetnam both have some good reference photos of this tank in Vietnam. I don't know if they currently in print, however.

Very nice. Please post some images when you are finished. If you want to do some good reading about the M48 in Vietnam, "Tank Sargent" by Ralph Zumbro is an excellent book. It is about his experiences in Vietnam and the M48. Easy to read and really good stuff!

Fuzzy

Looks good to me Dan.
If you plan to do another one you could easily improve the gun mantlet with a full cover made from putty and tissue, and correct Academys "step thingies" around the mantlet. I did this on my M-48 and it is about an hour of work. You could also add a set of AFV Club tracks, but then you have to rebuild the sprocketts since Academy sprocketts are a bit to narrow. Over all a good job.

Erik

Sorry AJ, this tank was not used in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the M48A3 was used. This is an M48A5, which wasn't fielded till the late '70s.

Typing too early...I know the tank in the post is an A5 and not Vietnam era, but Dan was at a loss for M48 pics from that period. I should have been clearer. "this tank" was meant to refer to the M48.

Dan,
The vehicle you have modeled is a very early M48A5 due to the inclusion of the commander's MG cupola. I've seen most of those vehicles assigned to the California National Guard (I don't remember the unit off-hand) and some were painted in the 4-color brown desert MERDC scheme of sand, brown, buff and black. Unless they were in the field training (2 weeks a year) the tank would be devoid fo stowage. I know the NJ NG alternated between a "gunnery year" and a "tactical year;" meaning one year the unit would spend completely on the ranges and the next one field exercises. Again, I don't know what the CA guard did in the 1980's. Anyone know? Otherwise the build looks good.
Regards,
Georg

In Southern California, the 185th Armor Regiment was the major armor element scattered throughout this half of the state. Still is, only with M1s now. The M48A5 was the major player when I was with the Guard from 81-86. The paint scheme was the desert MERDC, black/earth yellow/red-brown/sand, and it worked very well out here. The TC had the Israeli-designed Urdan cupola with the externally-mounted .50 cal. The loader had the M60-D 7.62 mg with spade grips.

I really liked the wear and tear on the roadwheels on the model, and would recommend the canvas/vinyl dust cover that covers the mantlet of the 105 mm gun.

I cobbled such a kit together about 15 years ago from the resin suppliers at the time, plus the M48 and SGT York kits from Tamiya. I'll try to find it and post a pic or two for comparison.

Jim Peterson