Mike
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Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by Mike on Jan 4, 2024 20:10:10 GMT -5
Greetings, and thank you for taking a peek at my thread. Yes, this is the classic and proliferant Tamiya Walker Bulldog sold, built, reviewed, and videoed millions of times. I already have one of these built up where I went full tilt into the welds, brackets, and details and it took me months to finish it. This one was a gift from my brother and I thought I'd try something different with this build by making it a "movie" tank. You know what I mean, where a tank is used in a movie that may not fit the period it's being presented in, but the movie crew couldn't find the correct tank for their low budget film. For this build I'm going to present this M-41 as a late WWII 1945 tank. I've removed the soup can and blast deflector from the 76 and cut the stowage box off the back of the turret, as these items were easily removed for scrap and other projects when a tank ends up in a scrapyard. The Spare tracks and tool rack will also be omitted for this reason. I may also use this reasoning when omitting other parts later. At this point I've added the cast texture to the mantlet and turret glacis using Bondo glazing putty with a stippling brush. A super easy technique that dries quickly and you just knock down the high spots with a light sanding. I've tossed a coat of paint over that to see how it looks in a similar color to the raw plastic. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr The end of the main gun tube would've been plasma torched off in the yard so my imaginary movie people had to clean it up and make it look useable. The inside of the stack parts are definitely not round and I patched this up with a couple of layers of sprue glue before running a drill bit through the center. The outside of this old Tamiya gun tube are definitely not round either and it took quite a bit of sanding to fix that issue because removing the can and deflector makes this more obvious. I think I've got it pretty close to being in round now. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr I didn't do it on my last Walker Build and I really wish I'd tried for that one, but for this build I separated the exhaust covers from the mud guards. No one ever does this and after hours of watching other modelers on you tube ignore a lot of basic techniques to clean up parts before assembly and painting I started to notice a few more things that stand out with this build and watching almost every single one of them rust up these covers made me realize just how stuck to the side of the tank they look. When I did the research for the markings on this kit, it hails from Ft. Hood, Texas in 1953 as a training tank. There's no way those covers would ever be allowed to get rusty and that's how I portrayed my first build. Simple heat dis-colorization of the covers is all you'd have ever seen. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr To further disguise this little tankette for its role in our imaginary upcoming film I'm going to add the sand skirts that I've seen in prototype photos as they add a bit of that WWII look to the M-41's silhouette. I already have some cut out, but after my measurements came up short I'm going to start over with these because these don't fit unless I lift them up past the mud guards. Trimming them down throws off the other dimensions so I'm going to start over and pattern out the front and rear skirts first then add the center section in last. They should end up more accurate that way anyways. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr So yeah, that's the basic idea for this build. It's been built thousands of times by thousands of people and there's not much variety in any of them. They're all unique, ranging from amazing to, well, beginner. It's hard to make anything original with this kit anymore lol. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Just having some fun and enjoying a simple build with this one. I'm not going to go over all of the welds like I did on my last M-41 build. But I am going to have some fun being creative with it.
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stikpusher
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Post by stikpusher on Jan 5, 2024 0:54:09 GMT -5
This will be a treat to watch. But the M41 didn't appear until the end of the Korean War.
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Mike
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Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by Mike on Jan 5, 2024 1:04:59 GMT -5
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Mike
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Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by Mike on Jan 5, 2024 1:07:13 GMT -5
This will be a treat to watch. But the M41 didn't appear until the end of the Korean War. I know that. This is going to be a "Movie" tank made to appear as if it's from WWII. We can move this thread to the Post WWII area if that's more appropriate. I kinda wasn't paying attention when I started this thread lol.
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Mike
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Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by Mike on Jan 5, 2024 3:32:16 GMT -5
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Tobi
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Post by Tobi on Jan 5, 2024 4:54:10 GMT -5
I always thought about turning a T-34 into a Tiger as in "Kelly's heroes". The German title of this movie, BTW, is "Stoßtrupp Gold", which is much more fitting! :-)
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Post by tcoat on Jan 5, 2024 6:41:56 GMT -5
Last time I built this was in 1969. It was the motorized one with the wired "remote". It met a fiery end to cherry bombs and gasoline while trundling through the garden a couple of years later. Love the idea of a movie tank with this kit. Not sure why but the Bulldog seems to have been used more in TV and movies than any other tank. I guess it was just the era they came from and since they were light and easy to get in many countries they became the stand in for anything. Panther
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Post by deafpanzer on Jan 5, 2024 8:45:54 GMT -5
That's very old classic kit and I admire your work to turn this into a gem!
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armornutii
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Post by armornutii on Jan 5, 2024 9:14:57 GMT -5
Wait...what?? That's NOT a King Tiger? Really cool Mike. Love when modelers move outside the norm and have fun. Side bar, have you been to the Spring show in Renton? Just wondering if we crossed paths and didn't know it.
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Post by 406 Silverado on Jan 5, 2024 10:41:32 GMT -5
Good details added to the sides of the turret and great looking body work on this so far Mike. Glad it's turning out how you want it to so far. I have a tough time with builds sometimes because I reach the point where the model wants to go one way and I want something totally different out of it. lol.
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Post by chromdome35 on Jan 5, 2024 11:52:32 GMT -5
I really like your fictional modifications. This may be the most built Tamiya kit in existence. In the US, this is the only Tamiya Tank that Hobby Lobby stocks on their model aisle. With the frequent 40% off, you can get this kit for around $15 which is why so many have been built.
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stikpusher
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Post by stikpusher on Jan 5, 2024 15:59:34 GMT -5
Looking good Mike! Ya gotta love that Value Gear stowage for dressing up any armor project.
This is starting to look like one of the tanks used in Patton for the 3rd Army Battle of the Bulge scenes.
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Post by kyledehart5 on Jan 5, 2024 18:12:53 GMT -5
Very cool! Love the additions here. Really sprucing this old kit up.
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moparmadness
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Post by moparmadness on Jan 5, 2024 21:55:49 GMT -5
A great take on a vintage classic!
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 5, 2024 22:34:00 GMT -5
Lol! I don't know why this kit always attracts so much attention, but it does. I've got another two boxes of unused parts from this kit. One of which I'm not sure where or when I got it. I only remember building one before this lol.
I've got the AFV Club M-41A3 in the stash and some white metal cast Indy links for it.
This and the M-47 appeared in a lot of movies over the years as German tanks, but I seem to recall seeing one M-41 mocked up as a tank destroyer with a weird sheet metal castle built on top of it to hide the roof. I've considered that idea, but there's a lot of curves to the top of this tank and if I recall correctly I'd have to remove the commanders cupola.
The exciting news is that I dug into my spare parts stash and have sources out a few more greeblies to really make this a unique build lol. I'll post update pictures when I'm done playing around.
Thanks for all of the cool comments and the picture of that "Panther" lol. I noticed they removed the grab handles from the turret and I see the drivers hatch rests are still on the vehicle, but omg wth happened to the left headlight guard?! That thing is mangled lol!
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Post by tcoat on Jan 5, 2024 22:57:01 GMT -5
Lol! I don't know why this kit always attracts so much attention, but it does. I've got another two boxes of unused parts from this kit. One of which I'm not sure where or when I got it. I only remember building one before this lol. I've got the AFV Club M-41A3 in the stash and some white metal cast Indy links for it. This and the M-47 appeared in a lot of movies over the years as German tanks, but I seem to recall seeing one M-41 mocked up as a tank destroyer with a weird sheet metal castle built on top of it to hide the roof. I've considered that idea, but there's a lot of curves to the top of this tank and if I recall correctly I'd have to remove the commanders cupola. The exciting news is that I dug into my spare parts stash and have sources out a few more greeblies to really make this a unique build lol. I'll post update pictures when I'm done playing around. Thanks for all of the cool comments and the picture of that "Panther" lol. I noticed they removed the grab handles from the turret and I see the drivers hatch rests are still on the vehicle, but omg wth happened to the left headlight guard?! That thing is mangled lol! The poor old Bulldog spent more time on movie and tv screens than any other tank. From radioactive monsters to battling Martian invaders it saw all sort of fights. www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Cadillac_model-M41+%27Walker+Bulldog%27.html
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 6, 2024 4:48:14 GMT -5
Oh, yeah she's more of a movie and TV star then she's ever been a warrior lol. That makes this kit a good base for all sorts of projects. As I said above I got into my spare parts stash and found a bunch of good bits to work with. I've added lift rings to the front hull and found some spare Dragon vision blocks for the driver's station. I also found a Ma Deuce I've already detailed out a bit and mounted that on the MG stand-pipe. The kit supplied .50 takes a lot of work to get detailed out and this speeds things up a lot. I also added a fake gunners sight to the loaders periscope and that really distracts from the standard look of the M-41. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Then I found the carriage for the old Tamiya German anti tank gun and I've always wanted to convert it into a trailer. Ad-Hoc trailer by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Ad-Hoc trailer by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Ad-Hoc trailer by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Ad-Hoc trailer by Mike Brindos, on Flickr Ad-Hoc trailer by Mike Brindos, on Flickr That little side project distracted me for hours. It still needs a little refinement before painting, but I'm satisfied for the night. This is a good place to stop for the day.
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Post by Leon on Jan 6, 2024 5:30:01 GMT -5
This is looking great Mike!
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adt70hk
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Post by adt70hk on Jan 6, 2024 7:09:09 GMT -5
Coming on very nicely. We have a new member at our club that has just come back to hobby and he is doing this as his first kit back! I might point him in your direction.
Andrew
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 6, 2024 22:52:31 GMT -5
This is looking great Mike! Thank you, Leon!
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 6, 2024 22:53:11 GMT -5
Coming on very nicely. We have a new member at our club that has just come back to hobby and he is doing this as his first kit back! I might point him in your direction. Andrew I would be honored. Thank you!
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Post by rbaer on Jan 7, 2024 21:25:46 GMT -5
Mike, good to see you over here! And of course you've hit a soft spot of mine, lots of enhancements on old stuff. Looking good.
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Mike
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Dec 28, 2023 0:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by Mike on Jan 9, 2024 3:51:57 GMT -5
Hey, Russ! Good to see you here too! You know I'm having fun when I'm scratch building greeblies on an old kit lol! I've made slow progress over the last couple of days. I still have some parts to clean up and add to the lower and upper hull but I finished the turret and gave it a spray of primer. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr The .50 needed some work because the top cooling jacket vent holes were not aligned from the last time I worked on it it and back then I didn't know about sprue glue yet and I didn't think I could fix it. Now I know I can so I'm waiting for the sprue glue to setup so I can re-drill those vent holes in a straight line. I spent my evening scratch building an ammo box for the ammo belt. Lord knows as we all do that the stock option is laughable. I'm certain it's not completely accurate, but I got this far and decided it's detailed enough. I've got a second belt of ammo that goes over the top of the one you see in the picture below and feeds into the breach. Tamiya 1/35 M-41 conversion by Mike Brindos, on Flickr I may get back to it in a little while but I'm feeling a bit under the weather, which is storming here for the night. Pine cones are certainly making a lot of noise lol.
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Post by Leon on Jan 9, 2024 4:51:43 GMT -5
Coming along nicely Mike! Turret looks really good.
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 9, 2024 6:32:00 GMT -5
Thank you very much, Leon!
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Post by 406 Silverado on Jan 9, 2024 6:33:25 GMT -5
Heading out to work in a few minutes but when I catch a break I'll be coming back to this beauty. WOW!!
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Post by handiabled on Jan 9, 2024 10:30:29 GMT -5
What a transformation! Excellent details added to this
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Post by deafpanzer on Jan 9, 2024 11:14:06 GMT -5
Love the stowage and figure additions!!! You just made me realize we don't have much options for M41 kits. It's either old Tamiya or AFV Club kit which is just OK.
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Mike
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Post by Mike on Jan 9, 2024 17:14:34 GMT -5
Thank you very much! I'm surprised you guys like it so much, considering I'm just tacking on stuff on a whim. Lol
No, there are not many options for this tank, but there are not many options for the M-46 or M-47 either. It's just not a popular time period, the early cold war era. I did check out the figures for the Tamiya Sheridan and they will work fabulously for the A3 when I go to build that up later.
The figures for this build are from Dragon and I'll be adding the driver as well. However I'll be making them removable so I can use them in a different build later. So I've made the hatches moveable as per the instructions.
I've got another Tamiya Easy Eight I'd like to model with a full crew in the hatches, but that's a project that's a bit further down the line for now. I've got a Leopard 2A6NL I'd like to build up after this.
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Post by 406 Silverado on Jan 9, 2024 17:25:32 GMT -5
All that detail on that thing is really putting a good touch on this whole build and the figure just adds the cherry on top of all this eye candy Mike. Coming together VERY nicely buddy.
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