M40 SP 155mm

[arkbuilder2012]

This is my in progress AFV Club M40. Typical AFV Club, nice details, a little fussy when it comes to assembly. I did not want to use the kit tracks and wanted to use rubber chevron block tracks - so I'm stuck using the ones from AFV Club which are anything but workable. The photos highlight some problem areas - the patches on the front glacis need to be smoothed out. The display base needs to have a depression at the rear to accommodate to recoil spade. I could not find a way to keep it level and have the ramp down as well. I want to show it in firing order.













These are the tracks I'm going to try and use.

[Stokesy44]

This one's looking good too. How do you rate AFV kits in general?

[razzie43]

WOW!! LOVE THE TANK....just found it with 10 reviews on scalemates.com
I ever build with AFV and its small detailed parts to use.
Metal Bar for gun is one good thing u have all ready.
Damn those vinyl tracks inside the box just s***cks!!

I will following this building keep posting
cheers Razz

[arkbuilder2012]

This one's looking good too. How do you rate AFV kits in general?

Big fan of AFV Club kits. Great details, generally very accurate and lots of great subjects to build. They are not shake n bake kits, you have to take your time. I've got a couple of other kits to finish before I go on a Churchill tank binge (8)

[lucasner]

You've inspired me to buy one.

Instead of yet more "coulda been" Soviet and German armor, I sure wish we could get more accurate kits of all the different SP vehicles the Army put into service in the late 40s and 50s!

Dave

[Stokesy44]

This one's looking good too. How do you rate AFV kits in general?

Big fan of AFV Club kits. Great details, generally very accurate and lots of great subjects to build. They are not shake n bake kits, you have to take your time. I've got a couple of other kits to finish before I go on a Churchill tank binge (8)

Thanks mate, much appreciated.

[arkbuilder2012]

An overall coat of nice boring OD. Let that sit and bake for a couple of days while I work on the tracks.

[EasyEight96]

Boy that looks beautiful!!! Great job on the m40 it's so hard to get it now

[arkbuilder2012]

and of course now I come across information that the kit gun tube is 8mm too short. I've got two extras just don't know if it's worth it to make the change


And everything I've read thus far the AFV Club tracks are likely to be a train wreck

[schweinhund227]

Beautiful work !

[arkbuilder2012]

Beautiful work !

Thank you. I've also solved the barrel length problem. It's no longer an M40, it's now an M43. Pics to follow. Have some spares and the 8" tube is only off by 0.2069 which I can live with.

Have another M40 kit and I'll make the corrections to that tube in a future build.

[Stokesy44]

This one's looking good too. How do you rate AFV kits in general?

Big fan of AFV Club kits. Great details, generally very accurate and lots of great subjects to build. They are not shake n bake kits, you have to take your time. I've got a couple of other kits to finish before I go on a Churchill tank binge (8)

Thanks mate. Beautiful paint job

[arkbuilder2012]

Thanks. You should give one of their kits a go.

[arkbuilder2012]

Decided to punt. It's no longer an M40, it's now an M43. The tracks are another story. Like many others have experienced the AFV Club tracks are practically unbuildable. Tried spot gluing the end connectors and then thread the tracks before the glue completely set. The pins just dissolved and the track fell apart. BAD show AFV Club!! I'm still committed to using T84 Tracks and these are the only game in town so I'm experimenting with the remaining tracks (only did one half) This might work.



















Really need to make jig to drill these holes.

[arkbuilder2012]

and we are back to square one. The entire fighting compartment is wrong for an M43. So off comes the 8in gun and back to the 155. It's not glued so its an easy swap. Will just pack the 8in gun away since I have another M40 kit on the shelf and maybe then do an M43 correctly and I'll have two SP guns to display side by side.

[Stokesy44]

The problems of having a trained eye! I would say I feel your pain, but for me, if the gun's pointing the right way, it must be right, such is the level of my knowledge!! Its disappointing when a manufacturer pulls the rug from under you like this but it sounds like you will win in the end. From a novice's view it looks awesome and your skills are not in doubt. I'm looking forward to seeing more updates as your battle progresses.

Keep calm and carry on as they say.

[arkbuilder2012]

Replaced the 8" barrel and put the 155mm barrel back on. That at least was uneventful. Since I only ruined one half of the track set, I started the remaining half and if that goes well I'll order a replacement set to finish it up. Trying to do these like I do Dragon Magic Tracks and gluing them and before the glue sets wrapping them around the sprockets and idlers.



The tedious part is pre-drilling 600+ holes for the track pins. Now I really wish I'd bought that Tamiya Handy Drill

[arkbuilder2012]

Managed to finish the tracks on the right side. Not really happy with how they came out but they will have to suffice for now. Need to order another set to complete the left side. I'm going to change the assembly procedure by using thin brass rod instead of styrene rod for the track pins. I just got a set of KAIZEN T80 tracks for a future build and they look amazing. Just wish they made T84'.

[thecookiam]

Thats amazing, great work on the tracks!!!!

[Demaclies]

Love this Self propelled piece it is one of my favs, always like the look of the 155mm long tom arty piece, but its never available in my local hobby shop. Great work, and its always worth the effort you put into it.

[Razorben]

Epic work on the track!
I would have thrown them out before thinking about drilling them

[arkbuilder2012]

About done. Working on a small base and some of the accessories before I call it quits. There is an M43 planned in the future but I've got a stack of partial builds needing attention,

[Coen]

That's some great work bud. Nicely done.
Love how the tracks turned out.
It may be the low camera angles, but the base could be a bit larger, maybe by ten percent or so.
It's usually a two thirds thing that's a good measure for chosing bases. The base normally best compliments your build when it's one third larger than the subject.

[arkbuilder2012]

Thanks!! I have another base for it that's larger that I'm going to use. It was pointed out elsewhere that my ammo selection is too modern so I'm scrapping those. I think there's some WWII/Korea appropriate ones in the Bronco M114 kit. Think the running gear and track need just a little more dirt. One other problem not sure of how to tackle it; I used thread for the ramp cabling and it fuzzed on me. Changing it out is not an option since it is all CA glued in place. Another lesson learned

[Coen]

If I use thread for cabling or for tiedowns I'll coat the thread with white glue or CA glue before I install it. Helps with the fuzzies.
Too bad about the ammo... I thought that it looked really sharpe.

[arkbuilder2012]

After all the crap I dealt with on those AFV Club tracks, what do I see today........



Murphy is alive and well