RC 1/16 M3 Lee - early production tank - build
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2020 3:50 pm
Hi everyone,
Another month of pandemic confinement means another project and probably a fast build.
My next project will be to try to produce the best US M3 Lee tank that i can make.
A precursor to the Sherman design, its unique early war weapon configuration, the number of variants and choice of markings makes it a most interesting tank.
It was provided on lend lease to the Soviets.
The M3 Lee offers the opportunity for a lot of RC action, with its main 75mm gun, secondary 37mm on turret and Browning on the cupola.
Four years ago, i created a M3 Lee with the material and my skills of the time. It is based on the Vandra kit and is mostly static with only the gearbox. I made some attempts at the time to fix some issues but i did not go all the way. It was based on a Heng Long M4A3. I drilled out the roadwheels, idler and flattened the chevron on the tracks. I beefed up the turret with the application of a plasticard sheet layer to make it a bit bigger. It looks ok but i think i can make a much better one now, and packed with RC features.
It will be based on the Mato M4A1 chassis. Last year, Mato Mart was selling their older basic plastic M4A1 chassis and letting them go at clearance cost of about $40 each with gearbox, tracks and speaker. A good bargain on black friday with free shipping, i picked up 3 of them with other stuff. One will obviously become an M36 in a future build.
For the 1/16 build, i will be helped by the latest 1/35 Miniart M3 Lee kit for shapes and dimensions. This kit comes with full interior and is a real gem for a 1/35 builder.
The M3 Lee was produced in multiple, sometime confusing versions, it is better to use good references and stick to one specimen in order not to mix components from various versions into an unrealistic model.
I also have on inventory the older Tamiya kit from the 70s for comparison.
I purchased another Vandra M3 Lee kit as base kit for the conversion. This time, it will be butchered.
Continuing on following post
Another month of pandemic confinement means another project and probably a fast build.
My next project will be to try to produce the best US M3 Lee tank that i can make.
A precursor to the Sherman design, its unique early war weapon configuration, the number of variants and choice of markings makes it a most interesting tank.
It was provided on lend lease to the Soviets.
The M3 Lee offers the opportunity for a lot of RC action, with its main 75mm gun, secondary 37mm on turret and Browning on the cupola.
Four years ago, i created a M3 Lee with the material and my skills of the time. It is based on the Vandra kit and is mostly static with only the gearbox. I made some attempts at the time to fix some issues but i did not go all the way. It was based on a Heng Long M4A3. I drilled out the roadwheels, idler and flattened the chevron on the tracks. I beefed up the turret with the application of a plasticard sheet layer to make it a bit bigger. It looks ok but i think i can make a much better one now, and packed with RC features.
It will be based on the Mato M4A1 chassis. Last year, Mato Mart was selling their older basic plastic M4A1 chassis and letting them go at clearance cost of about $40 each with gearbox, tracks and speaker. A good bargain on black friday with free shipping, i picked up 3 of them with other stuff. One will obviously become an M36 in a future build.
For the 1/16 build, i will be helped by the latest 1/35 Miniart M3 Lee kit for shapes and dimensions. This kit comes with full interior and is a real gem for a 1/35 builder.
The M3 Lee was produced in multiple, sometime confusing versions, it is better to use good references and stick to one specimen in order not to mix components from various versions into an unrealistic model.
I also have on inventory the older Tamiya kit from the 70s for comparison.
I purchased another Vandra M3 Lee kit as base kit for the conversion. This time, it will be butchered.
Continuing on following post