Hi, thank you Barry and Carl.
philipat wrote: It might be the angle, but it looks like the rear end is squatting
Thank for the suggestion for the headlights Philipat, I will look into it. For the suspension, its the angle on the last picture. The suspension is very strong. With the way the shock absorbers number 3 and 4 were installed inside the tank, they provide a harder suspension than before when they were strait with the suspension arm.
Continuing with the build
Here is the ARVN tank crew, part 1
The plan is to have 2 tank crews and 4 infantry riders. They will make the tank come alive on its own.I want to show an ARVN crack armored unit so I will make them very well equipped in terms of uniform and weapons. There will be no drivers because he would be decapitated by the rotating turret. I have seen someone that created a mechanism the lower the driver when the mantlet is over him, it's cute.
The core body of the crew and infantry will come from the Ultimate Soldier 1/18 M48 US tank crew figure of which i bought 6. These figures sell for between $20 and $25 on eBay. They provide flak jackets (with ARVN style scarf... cool) for everyone, helmets for the tank crews, and legs with jungle boots for the infantry. Most components need some kind of modifications. I never saw a shirtless ARVN soldier so the torso will be modified to show a uniform under the flak jacket. Also, the arms will come from elsewhere.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
Compared to a Verlinden 120mm figure of a US infantryman, the 1/18 scale provides a realistic size for the South Vietnamese crew.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
Most of the heads will come from Ultimate Soldier 1/18 Imperial Marines set. They sell for about $8 to S10 on eBay. Ok, they are Japanese and most Vietnamese will likely be insulted but there are very few options available. However, I think they are all very expressive and good looking faces. I won't even have to repaint the head and hands.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
The Imperial marines are totally dismembered for the purpose of providing body parts for the tank crew. The head, arms and lower body are reused. The arms are too long and were cut at the highlighted line and reprofiled to fit the flak jacket.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
The two tank crew figures are built with the selected body parts. Putty is used inside the Jacket to make it fit the Asian head. A shirt is also improvised over the torso. The arms are still flexible at this point.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
- Capture3.JPG (77.31 KiB) Viewed 4824 times
The crew is positioned on the turret so that the position of the arms can be tested and chosen. Each arm have 3 adjustments points that are enough to provide a lot of flexibility in designing the pose. The arms are then superglued in the selected position. The tank commander will be manning the M2 Machine gun in both hands.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
Then putty is applied to remove all signs of the flexible joints. It will be thoroughly sanded for seamless joints.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
These are very cool tank crews. Pretty sure they are unique in the world... The loader has the head of Pvt Yamato, while the commander has the head of Pvt Higashiyama. They look good to me. Before painting them, I will build the infantry. I am still waiting for a few items in the mail but I cannot wait to start.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
Tank crews are important. When they are well positioned in a lively pose, they bring a lot of authenticity to the model. Having them is worth the 3 hours it took so far to make them, it was actually quite fun and easy.
- ARVN 1/16 tank crew RC for Walker Bulldog
Now, the infantry riders...
Regards, Louis