Moon Puppy's 75mm GMC M3 Halftrack

[jknaus]

Hey MP I'd like to order 8 sets of tensioner spring assemblies and 3 sets of spring assemblies for the ditch clearance roller (cant remember proper name).


Looking awesome.
James

 

[moon puppy]

James for you, I'd do it. Just keep that Socket handle away from me ya hear!

OK I asked this somewhere else and the guys just rolled their eyes. The tread plate in the cab. What do you all think. A lot of you have built one or the other of these Dragon Haftracks. Is it worth the effort to sand down the floor and detail to replace it treadplate? There are some other details that will be added for sure but the Treadplate? I don't know..whatcha think?

 

[Iron Mike]

You know you want to, go ahead :evil:

Lawrence, you couldn't live with yourself if you did! :whhh

Sounds a little like Animal House, dontcha think?

You've gone this far, what's a little more? B)

 

[Sharkmouth]

if the detail is finer on the treadplate, sure. If not, then why?

Regards,

 

[Ken Abrams]

Me personally, I'd leave it as is. It's hardly visible on any of the finished builds I have. I think it would be crazy to go through all that and then hardly see it. The running boards I can see, but the cab floor?

:gogo

But do what you want.

:peace

 

[tomwes]

Ya know he's going to do it.....just because


Tom

 

[moon puppy]

Tom, taunting me doesn't help things. but time to be practical, If it's not even going to be seen in the finished product I dont see the point. I will upgrade the floorboard and those lame peddles. But all that tread plate way down in the floor boards...I'm going for time saver. Thanks!

 

[BradJ]

Hey Mooners
Some great detailing there mate. Makes a kit *pop* when you can slap some wire and brass onnit. Tidy work too...
Brad :side:

 

[jknaus]

moon puppy wrote:

Tom, taunting me doesn't help things. but time to be practical, If it's not even going to be seen in the finished product I dont see the point. I will upgrade the floorboard and those lame peddles. But all that tread plate way down in the floor boards...I'm going for time saver. Thanks!

Well the tread plate you are not going to use on this build could probably be cut up for pedals or treads on some of your other kits. Nothing in the playbook says you have to use all of the am parts on a build. :evil:

James

 

[moon puppy]

See James, I didn't know that on the Lion's Roar Halftrack. I was thinking then that I had to use all of it or somehow I was less than a modeler...Now I'm thinking this stuff will spread out on alot of other builds and scratch built stuff.

 

[Ken Abrams]

Without seeing the PE part close up, I can't be sure but I'm guessing it's just a more accurate shape of the cross hatch stuff.

You know how some tread plate has the shape of the raised portions, pointy on each end, with small 'nubs' in the middle? The Dragon Kit just has simple straight 'lines' with slightly rounded ends.

While the PE is probably the more accurate representation of what it really looks like, I'd bet most would be hard pressed to even notice once it's painted and weathered without the use of a magnifying lens of some sort due to the scale.

I love detailing and accessorizing but sometimes the line should be drawn at just this side of institutionalization...

:gogo

 

[moon puppy]

That's my thinking Ken, Instructions called for a washer installed on the back of the gas peddle where the throttle linkage attaches. I'll give you one guess as to it being there or not.

I tell ya, there is a lot of great pieces in this set. I could see the two sets, Griffon and Lion's Roar being combined to make one VERY well detailed build. The Griffon set could be used to make more details on the underside, linking throttle, brake and clutch lines. Griffon has more to offer under the hood also. But I think the Lion's Roar stock is better detailed and the parts are more well defined. But like you said Ken, by the time it's painted, weathered and washed, can you really tell the difference?

 

[Tim A.]

I think I lost a contact on the floor of the cab. Can I borrow a light and magnifying glass to look for it there?

Awesome work Moon puppy! The brass work is top notch

Tim

 

[shawngehling]

Bob,
Unless you plan on stealing the show at some AMPS Competition??? I would go with
what looks good to you... I know that you and Jenny are detail hounds and we do really
love to see every little piece that you too manage to find and put into your kits,
but don't get burned out adding every little after market thing that comes along.
(Unless that is the look YOU are after)???
Enjoy "The Hobby" and have fun with what you are building.
Just my two cents...
Then throw all the spare stuff into the spare parts bin/box/room or whatever you have
going and I'm sure that someday, somehow, you're going to say, hey I could use that
Hoozamadingy on this kit, pull it out and keep on modeling.
Shawn

 

[moon puppy]

Shawn you're right. That's what happened to me with the Wildcat. Even after all this conversation about how much is really needed and the tread plate, I still replaced the tread plate. I also scratch built some of the louver lever making the whole thing out of brass. But right you are, I can't get held up on the minuet details that may never be seen.

 

[Ken Abrams]

moon puppy wrote:

I still replaced the tread plate.

:laugh: :laugh:

You might want to see a doctor about that.

:p

 

[panzerace007]

MOONIE,

Lookin Good ! Griffon surely keeps you on your toes don't they ! Can't wait to see some Paint on her.

Would this be a Vehicle that th German's might have captured in th Kasserine pass ? No matter, I'm just a German Nut ! A friend of Mine did a Review on AMPS for the Super kit( http://www.amps-armor.org/ampssite/reviews/showReview.aspx?ID=1190&Type=FB ) I know at times He was ready to pull his hair out ! Keep at it ! it's Gonna be a Beauty !

ERIK

 

[moon puppy]

Thanks for the encouragement y'all.

Erik I really haven't run into any difficult task with the Griffon set, actually I've found it very easy to work with. I have to take exception to your buddy Mike's review, specifically about the parts in the cab over the peddles. "floor plate (F11), angle plate (F10) and support plates (A31 and A54)." I found the instructions very clear about what folds what ways. I know,these are the parts I worked with just last night.

Now you want to talk about bad instructions. go back and look at the rantings I had over the Lion's Roar halftrack build.

 

[moon puppy]

Well like I said earlier, after all this discussion about if it's worth the effort to add all this extra detail, I went and added the treadplate. Actually it's Saul's Fault. I used his criteria to judge if I needed to replace it or not. So...it's replaced.

I did add the extra plates under the drivers side, Erik these are the parts we were talking about. Perhaps the instruction sheet had been update since the review your buddy wrote, but what I had was pretty clear about alignment and bends. It's very nice to tell the truth.

Here you can see the radio I just got finished with. All soldered..yeah I'm sick. Need a little touch up here and there and there's more parts coming with it.

But as you can see, I'm using the original kit parts under the dash. There's a heater vent (I think that's what it is) that needs to be added that's from the Griffon set.

Test fit on the chassis.

Here's a close shot of the completed Idler spring.

I think the bolthead adds some to it.

Thanks for looking and the encouragement. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

OH, if anyone has good pictures of that radio set, I sure would appreciate a look at them.
tia!

 

[Ken Abrams]

Notice the difference between the adjustable drivers seat base and the stationary 'passenger' seat base? Nice job Griffon! all you need is the little adjustment lever big guy.

B)

As for the SCR-610, without digging too deep, I grabbed this one. If it's not good enough I could find better?