[NATO/Cold War] Portugal M5A1 "Gina"

[Stormbringer]

and once pointed out its hard to ignore

[ColemanCollector]

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of detailing and correcting. and found these great and unexpected sites for Stuart reference photos--vehicle auction sites! Each Stuart has a hundred plus images taken in great light, and because they're selling to a potentially remote buyer, they crawl all over, around, and under the tanks. Scroll down to the pics in each listing. A treasure trove of M5A1 goodness!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1952-m5a1-stuart/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1943- ... m5a1-tank/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1944- ... m5a1-tank/

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1944-stuart-m5a1/

Mike.

[Ecam]

Terrific source for pictures.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Do they come with the transmitter and receiver already installed?

[ColemanCollector]

Do they come with the transmitter and receiver already installed?

And the famous "Batteries not included" said in the fastest and lowest voice possible.

If I was some Richie Rich guy, I know what I'd be spending my $500k CAD vehicle budget on...and it wouldn't be a new Ferrari.

Mike.

[ColemanCollector]

Figured before fitting new fenders, I'd get the rough stuff on the upper body completed. Off come the 36DDD hinges as flush as I could get them for final sanding with my soon to arrive--hopefully--mini detail sander.

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Hinges just arrived so I'll be trimming, extending, and fastening them later to look more Stuartish. They'll still be oversize, but not quite so silicon implant-like.

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I also opened up the rear mesh ventilation rectangle on the back deck for a better look, and also to let more sound out from the anemic Coolbank sound system.

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And then things got crazy! As you can see in this pic, the mesh has a thin steel frame holding it down on the real deal.

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Enter "Tinkercad" and my retired brain learning how to design a 3D part, and then actually printing it. Tinkercad is pretty basic, simple and free, and the website showed elementary grade students learning how to use it. Perfect, that's about my speed!

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Tadaaa! A frame for over the mesh! I feel like a little kid making their first clay ashtray for their Mom and Dad.

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Next up, hinging the battery/engine hatch, installing the mesh and its cover, and printing a cargo box.

Mike.

[ColemanCollector]

A fun little job to add some very obvious detail that Coolbank left off. Those cool little screw heads on the back flanks. Some silver bling for Gina!

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Mike.

[ColemanCollector]

All of the Elefante Dundums were equipped with the solid rear bustle box and fortunately there was a file for one on Cults3d. I printed a rough fast test print to see how it would fit, and while the angles are correct, there's a problem at the top. It tapers off to a point and that doesn't allow the proper stowage of the axe and sledgehammer.

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Some good reference photos show the correct profile. Nothing a razor saw can't cure!

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Printed a good quality box, a little razor chopping and then sanding and high fill primer. It's looking better now, just need to add the fasteners to hold it on the hull, side grab handles, side latches, some fine chain, and 4 tiny hinges where I cut the top edge.

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Post print work on the print ridges is a drag. I have even more respect for the builders out there working on vehicles using 100% printed parts.

Mike.

[Panzermechaniker]

This is definitely going to be a great little tank when finished

[Estnische]

Depending on what you have planned, you might find Mato Sherman fuel caps an improvement over those plastic ones. Available from Forgebear too.

https://www.forgebeartanks.com/store/p1 ... _Tank.html