M-41A3 Walker Bulldog - ARVN Vietnam 1970s - Build

[philipat]

WOW! Absolutely awesome!

[Soeren]

I am feeling a bit disappointed. Not because of your build. That is fantastic and a joy to observe. But that a hen long M41 would need so much effort to do I right.
Even when I am not commenting on every step. Trust me, I am here an following.inspiring and wants me push the own borders.

[lmcq11]

As you may have noticed, I work a lot outside. During the 6 months where it is nice outside, I always do my modelling on the pool deck, under an umbrella, or where I can connect with nature a bit and have a sun tan at the same time. It is better than the basement. So, I pack everything I need in my modeller's box and go outside whenever I can, specially for dusty operations.

Modeller's cave

Regards, Louis

[Soeren]

Thank you for the great pictures. Your cave looks like a dream of a hobby shop. But what I see from the cabinet, you had more recent builds, than me in my whole life. So, now I can live and model on without going mad Cheers

[Tiger6]

You look like you have enough stock to open your own shop

[lmcq11]

Hi,

Continuing with the turret detailing

I am half way through.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

Finishing touch on the loader's hatch. This hatch requires a lot of reference study to get it close to the real thing. I redid the latch for the lock used to lock the tank when the crew is away, it was not at the required angle. Also added the little flat strip that connects to the hatch holder at the front so it needs to be positioned correctly. Heng Long did not... The Heng Long hatch holder part was reused but detailed with a M0.6 bolt and movable latch.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

As there will be a tank crew, the loader's hatch will be displayed open so the closing mechanism had to be detailed a bit. I did the head rest but the complex rubber seal around the hatch seen on pictures would have been too difficult to replicate. I have to pick my battles in order not to be stucked on secondary details.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

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Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

The machine gun mount on late M41s is on the left of the commander's cupola. There is no longer another mount at the back. The resin mount is a Nick Aguilar Sherman M2 MG mount that I modified to have the right type of attachment to the M41 turret. I also redid the handle in 1mm brass rod.

I redid in brass the armored shield for the periscopes. The Heng Long parts were not too bad but the front one had a hole on the right side to make room for the MG mount that was previously on the right of the cupola, and it was also way too high. So, I decided to replace it. In order to show consistent construction, I also did the one in the back with the same process.

All the side brackets were redone in 1mm brass for the large ones, 0.5mm for the small ones. There are various mounting arrangement for these. Early M41s seems to be a simple rod connecting strait to the turret. For later versions, they are reinforced with legs going parallel with the turret. Then I saw some picture where the legs are all facing down, or facing each other like I build them here.

Also notice the new position of the MG gun barrel holder at the front.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

I reused the tip and bottom of the Heng Long part, and used brass strip and bolt to detail it further as per references.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

The Heng Long part for the air vent at the back was too small. The Shapeways replacement part that I ordered was too big... According to my calculations, the air vent should have a diameter of 28.5mm. The Shapeways part was 30mm. Ok, it is just 1.5mm too big but it really looked oversized. So I had to sand it down to the required dimension and polish it. It looks better now.

Notice the locking mechanism on the commander's hatch. It is the only detail seen on the interior of this hatch.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

The model as it stands today.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

The provided M26 road wheels coming with the model are too wide for the M41. I will analyse if they could be reduced by a few mm.

Heng Long M-41A3 Walker Bulldog turret detailing and fixing

Next step is to build the Tamiya M2 .50 Machine gun with the Aber detail parts, always complicated but looking real good.

Regards, Louis

[HERMAN BIX]

Hard to fathom the magnitude of the mods needed to make these things right !
Its going to make a great companion to the period 113 you have Sir

[lmcq11]

Hard to fathom the magnitude of the mods needed to make these things right !

Yeah, it is pretty much like the work required on a basic kit (ie Ludwigs) where all the details needs to be figured out. The challenge on each item is fascinating.


Here is the M2 .50 Cal Machine gun.

After the disappointing use of the metal AFV-Model M2 MG on the M-113A2 build, I decided to go back to the Tamiya/Aber combination for best results. I remember that the first time I build one many years ago, I only installed the brass barrel and sleeve on the Tamiya kit, discarding all the photo-etching stuff that I was not comfortable with, thinking people must be totally mad to create and offer such a kit. On later ones, I used a few etched items, mainly for curiosity because the Tamiya parts are totally acceptable. This time, I wanted a challenge and I decided I was going all the way and use every etched parts, no matter how long it took. After all, it is a good puzzle to build and I am paying for it, so let's not see it as a burden. Let's have some fun instead and try to avoid the main pitfalls that discouraged me in the past.

These are the main parts for the MG build, it is a small project on its own. It is my last Tamiya M2 I had in store, I will need to find more if I can find a supplier. The ABER set is the 16 L-04. Now, clean up your desk and make sure all parts are secured. If one of those small Aber parts jumps in the air or rolls on the floor, it is guaranteed you will never see it again. To see the parts in the first place, I have to put on 2 pairs of glasses on top of each other because this stuff is really small.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Pitfall number one are the two handles at the back which always gave me issues making them strait and keep them in place. I decided to drill holes on the braces so that the small pin at both ends of each handle have a deeper slot to fall into. Problem resolved, it went really well.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Pitfall number 2, the dreaded sight, it is so tiny. The required 0.3mm wire is not provided to anchor the flexible sight onto the mount. Instead of scavenging the house for some kind of wire of the right small size, I decided to sacrifice my 0.3mm micro bit. It is solid and the etched sight just solidly wraps around it and is then superglued in place. Both ends of the micro-bit are then cut. This time, it took me 2 minutes instead of 1 hour. I ordered ten 0,3mm micro-bits replacement from China for $2 with free shipping... so there is no point looking for more options.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Overall view of the model. The Tamiya ammo loading mechanism should not be glued so that you have the option of presenting the gun being loaded. It makes it more interesting. The 0.50 ammo rounds are from Live Resin .

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Pitfall number 3 is the barrel handle. Instead of using the flexible wire provided by Aber, I decided to use more rigid 0.5mm brass rod from K&S. It was much simpler this time. It was a lot more easier to wrap the thin etched strip around the brass rod, and then wrap it again around the barrel.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

The machine gun back sight looks good and can be raised or lowered. The front sight is a challenge to make... you just need to take your time and do and undo it until you are satisfied. The 0.3mm bit can become handy again in making the pin in the middle of the front sight. I used a sanded down brass 0.5mm rod section because the front sight was done before the rear sight solution was designed.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

It is a nice addition to the M41. Although the Heng Long MG is acceptable and looks ok, the details on the Tamiya/Aber combinations provides extra satisfaction to the demanding modeller.

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Tamiya / Aber M2 Machine gun

Overall, it took about 3 hours to build this little gem. With the right mind set, it can be done. It is a good challenge, can be fun to build, and it brought a lot of satisfaction having done something I did not do before, I mean, all the way.

Regards, Louis

[Model Builder 4]

It looks fantastic Louis

Cheers, Lee.

[HERMAN BIX]

Like you said, a build all of its own !
The M2 sure does make an imposing sight.
As its quite a "sticky-uppy" accessory, is it robust enough to take the odd snag or bang in case of bad driving !!?