M-3 Grant (1/35 Tamiya)

[Tankbuilder]

Hi there.

Here are a few images of my 1/35 scale Tamiya M-3 Grant. It still has the wrong six-spoke wheels and some day I will switch them for some proper five-spoke wheels I have here from an Italeri kit. At least I did remember to switch the terrible Tamiya tracks for some better Italeri ones from a Sherman kit.

All added rails and bins and the sand-skirts are scratch-built from styrene.

After a comment, "With those big hull doors that model just screams for an interior!" by a modeling friend of mine as I was working on the exterior of the assembled hull I decided to build an interior. It is completely scratch-built and *ALL* interior parts were placed *AFTER* the hull had been assembled. After I built that interior I signed up to become a brain surgeon. ;<)


Now that I have a better digital camera I should take a couple of shots of that interior.

Added accessories such as the three-handles Jerry cans are Italeri accessories.

The side-mounted tow-cable is painted string. The entire model is painted with Folk Art acrylic paints applied by brush as is all of the weathering.

Cheers from Peter

 

[Tankbuilder]

Hi there.

It was a decent day outside today so I used my new camera to take some more pictures of my Tamiya M-3 Grant tank in 1/35 scale. I now have some images of the interior too. The interior is scratch-built and was added after the hull was assemble. My buddy said, That model just screams for an interior." so I decided to try and scratch-build one in situ.

The transmission in the interior is a plaster casting that I made after making a mold using an Italeri M-7 Priest?Kangaroo one as a master. The mold itself was made from Mountains In Minutes Latex applied in layers and allowed to dry between coats.

To save bandwidth, I've tried to keep the images to about 100 Kbs or less in size. I think the detail in the images is still good enough to see the details on the model.

All painting and weathering was done with brushes and I used Folk Art acrylic pants for both.

I hope you like these images.

Cheers from Peter

 

[Kreighshoer]

this has slipped completely through my fingers! sorry! was too busy and occupied to check the forums thoroughly!

beautiful grant you made there!

 

[Sharkmouth]

You know, if you replaced the tracks, I would never have guessed this kit to be the ancient Tamiya offering! The issue with the tracks are the end connectors which do not connect the links, only to the shoe itself. I may have a set of rubber/vinyl T-51 tracks to spare if you are interested. That fine looking model sure deserves it!

Regards,

 

[Tankbuilder]

sharkmouth wrote:

You know, if you replaced the tracks, I would never have guessed this kit to be the ancient Tamiya offering! The issue with the tracks are the end connectors which do not connect the links, only to the shoe itself. I may have a set of rubber/vinyl T-51 tracks to spare if you are interested. That fine looking model sure deserves it!

Regards,

Hi there Sharkmouth.

I'm not sure which pattern the T-51 tracks are. Okay, I just used Google and see the pattern. Are the ones you have vinyl band? What make are they? I'm interested in them. I have been planning to change both the tracks on this model and also those six spoke wheels. I was simply going to use the Rubber block tracks from an Italeri Sherman along with the proper open pattern five spoke wheels from the same kit. In Canada the distributor Borgfelt in Scarborough, Ontario will sell you individual parts trees or tracks. They do that as a service for kit-bashers and acratch-builders.

Thanks and cheers from Peter

 

[Sharkmouth]

The same Italeri kit pieces are what I am offering. It is great that the Canadian distributor offers them. Here in the US, not many companies allow you to buy individual sprues.

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

Nice build, I think all M3s should be named Lulu Belle.

 

[Tankbuilder]

moon puppy wrote:

Nice build, I think all M3s should be named Lulu Belle.

Hi there.

Thanks for the praise.

Lulu Belle was a cast-hull M--3 Lee. I think there is or was a resin hull or kit available to make that version. I have the movie 'SAHARA' on videotape and it is an excellent film to give one an idea of how a tank looks and behaves in a desert environment.

Cheers from Peter

 

[Jenny Croft]

Lots of extra work on that Interior . I love all the extras you have done .

I think that Dragon will have a M3 Lee & Grant in the works since they have announced the M7 Priest .

Jenny :kiss:

 

[Tankbuilder]

jenny croft wrote:

Lots of extra work on that Interior . I love all the extras you have done .

I think that Dragon will have a M3 Lee & Grant in the works since they have announced the M7 Priest .

Jenny :kiss:

Thanks Jenny.

The interior *WAS* a lot of extra work especially because everything in it was put into it through the side doors or turret opening because I never started the interior until most of the kit was assembled. Beware of modelling buddies comment when you are tired and susceptible to doing strange things as a result of them. I must admit though that it was a *LOT* of fun building that interior.

Cheers from Peter