M41 Sales Tool

[rbaer]

Yup. From a couple of tiny pics in a book on Us tracked vehicles, two pics of an M41 hull with a Cadillac-Gage turret with 105 mm gun. It was a proposal aimed at M41 users around the world seeking to modernize the M41 at reasonable cost, since the M41 was basically reliable and robust but armed with a pop gun. I liked the look of it a lot, so I pulled one of the Tamiya M41 kits from the stash and got after it, taking some artistic license with the hull itself to "modernize" it too. I used some Bradley (?) tracks I received in error, scratched the fenders and added some additional glacis armor, giving me a good starting point while I pondered how to approach the turret.
Pre turret:
IMG_4258 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4257 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Googling "Cadillac-Gage" got me examples of the V-150 with different turrets, one of which looked a lot like the one on the M41 in the tiny pic I had, so I ordered the Hobby Boss kit and started on the Challenger. Well, the HB kit showed up, and the turret was a 2-man turret, about the size of what's on a Panzer2. Hmmm..... Then I realized that since I have next to nothing for actual reference, why not just scale up the V-150 turret, using my pic, and see what happens? So I got started. Size and proportions are guesstimated from the pic, shape too. So far I have the shell and mantlet, no top. I'm thinking I'll model the roof and hatches from the little Hobby Boss part.
Turret shell:
IMG_4282 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4283 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
The turret looks more like what's on the "Stingray" than anything else, but on an M41 hull looks kind of big, very aggressive.
PS: I just Googled some more and found a pic of one used by the Thai army. I guess somebody bought some....

[handiabled]

Bookmarked!

[rbaer]

I already have a correction. It turns out a bunch (more than one?) of these things are/were in service with the Royal Thai Army, and pics of them are clearly showing the mantlet centered in the turret's nose. So I filled the cutout and have a template in place for the new cutout, which I'll make after all the glue and putty is truly set. Pic shows new mantlet location (masking tape)
IMG_4284 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I'm also noodling how I might make the mantlet moveable. Should have thought of that earlier though.

[deafpanzer]

Another cool project for us to follow and learn. You have my attention as well!

[rbaer]

I got busy last night.
IMG_4288 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4287 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Building the step for the main sight was "fun".

[handiabled]

The turret look fantastic!

[rbaer]

I'm still working on the basic turret structure. I did the mantlet, blocked in the bulge for the commander's station and a basic gunner's sight housing. Then I shot some primer to check seams, whether I had my basic angles close, did I do the horizontal surfaces parallel, and are they parallel to the hull, all those tricky things. I was happy enough.
Raw primer:
IMG_4295 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
Then I went back and, using MrSurfacer 500 that's nearly dried up (MrSurfacer 50?) filled gaps and seams. After that I block sanded to get my sharp edges back and started comparing to pics again. There's a couple of areas I'm not totally happy with but I'll either fix them or move on, and wait for a kit of somebody to 3D print the turret and make all this moot. Anyway, after sanding and minor corrections I have this, with a mock-up gun tube that's actually the correct length:
IMG_4297 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
And where the hatches will probably go:
IMG_4299 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
I'm very happy with how the mantlet fits.
IMG_4298 by Russel Baer, on Flickr

[reserve]

I always thought the designers of the M-41 had to be WW II vintage to make a tank so undergunned. This project, as most all of yours, shows vision that I lack. I'm most impressed

[handiabled]

Your scratch work is really top notch!

[stikpusher]

May 12, 2024 0:41:55 GMT -5 reserve said:

I always thought the designers of the M-41 had to be WW II vintage to make a tank so undergunned. This project, as most all of yours, shows vision that I lack. I'm most impressed

Actually the M41 was developed during the Korean War. It probably was one of the best armed light tank designs to ever be operational. It was a huge step up from the M24 Chaffee, which was an improvement over the M3 & M5 Stuart’s. The high velocity 76mm gun was quite effective in its’ time, as would later be proven in Vietnam where ARVN M41s destroyed “superior” NVA T-54s/Type 59s as well as inferior PT-76s. I don’t recall reading if they ever encountered T-34/85s, but those being less well armored than a T-54. From what I’ve read, a modern armor piercing round with even better capabilities was developed for the Danish M41s in the late Cold War.

Edit- During the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the exiles invasion force had a platoon of 5 M41s that did engage communist T-34/85s and had no problem knocking those out.

[buddho]

What a cool conversion.

[rbaer]

I should have put this pic up, from the book "US Military Tracked Vehicles" by Fred Crismon:
IMG_4293 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
This was done more than once but wasn't as successful as it was hoped to be. There are some pics of a couple pf Royal Thai Army M41s with the Stingray turret, but I don't know if they were operational or done by some goofy dude in ordinance or the Thai version of "Monster Garage".