Academy 1:35 M3 Stuart.

[Russ72]

I thought I might do a build to honour ANZAC Day, 25th April. I went through a number of ideas, but settled on this one. The M3 will be set in New Guinea during the Battle of Buna, 1942. I'm no expert, so i'll be reading reference along with the build.



And i'm starting with the tracks.





Any advice, guidance or criticism is welcome. I want to do a good job.

Cheers

[Tiger131]

Looking forward to seeing you go through the process of this build. .got this kit from Bovington..

[Russ72]

Update 2
Second attempt, was almost finished and then accidentally closed the window.

The Bogies and Lower Hull



I found it easier to assemble the bogies by gluing J3 to J9, then this assembly to J1, then add the road wheels, then glue in J2. The forks of J9 go to the inside of J1 and J2.



The Upper Hull



Since i'm building an Australian variant of this tank, which this kit seems well suited to, I've used bits of the American and British variations. Australia received Stuarts from both America and Britain as well as from refugee cargo, the Stuart's used in New Guinea all appear to be of American origin that have been modified in accordance with British improved fightability practice. Some changes can be done with this kit but I will have to do a couple of small things, one being to scratch build a front stowage bin.

The Interior and Turret Basket





The kit comes with an interior, that I won't be using, and turret basket that all fit in well together.

The Diorama

This is going to be a diorama so it needs figures. These will be made by kit bashing and scratch building.





Thanks for looking.

[PaulAyrey]

Looks like you have made a great start, can't wait to see your progress

[Russ72]

Looks like you have made a great start, can't wait to see your progress

Cheers Paul

[Russ72]

Here's a short update. A few extras added to make it look more like the reference pictures.



Thanks for looking

Russ

[ConnorM]

very nice.

[AchtungPanzer]

Looks very interestingly and good . Well done !

[Russ72]

Cheers guys.

Here's where i'm at. I'm not totally convinced with the composition. The situation is that the tanks and troops are moving through coconut plantation towards their destination, Japanese pillboxes are littered through the plantation. Of the eight Stuarts that took part in this operation two got bogged beyond recovery and one got caught up on a fallen tree and was abandoned. What i'm going for is the troops moving through while the Stuart negotiates a fallen tree. The ground is going to be uneven with a bit of knee high grass.







I like the guy guiding the commander but he's got his back to the action. The palm trees are scratch built, and i'm pretty happy with them.



Any advice or guidance would be appreciated.

Cheers

[Coen]

I love those palm trees buddy... they're excellent. It seems that there's a run on making scratch palms lately. I've seen 4 pieces where fellas are scratching them. Your's are very well done.
If you had a Japanese figure it would look interesting to have him hiding in the shrubs at the base of the palm by the guy guiding the tank commander. Waiting to charge out and show his bravery to his Emperor with a Katana. Or maybe a wild pig about to charge out of the underbrush to scare the peanuts out of the boys while they move forward?
Even with out those things this is an interesting story Russ, lots of potential for dress up and creativity. You could go almost anywhere with what you have there.
I'm envious bud.

[longlance67]

lovely work mate

everything is shaping up very nicely

keep it up

Shane

[Mike00]

The palm trees are fantastic I can't wait to see the finish

[Russ72]

I love those palm trees buddy... they're excellent. It seems that there's a run on making scratch palms lately. I've seen 4 pieces where fellas are scratching them. Your's are very well done.
If you had a Japanese figure it would look interesting to have him hiding in the shrubs at the base of the palm by the guy guiding the tank commander. Waiting to charge out and show his bravery to his Emperor with a Katana. Or maybe a wild pig about to charge out of the underbrush to scare the peanuts out of the boys while they move forward?
Even with out those things this is an interesting story Russ, lots of potential for dress up and creativity. You could go almost anywhere with what you have there.
I'm envious bud.

I saw Toni G's diorama on YouTube last night, mine won't look that good. You got me thinking about your suggestions, Tamiya do a figure set with the perfect pose, an officer on one knee with sword drawn. Unfortunately I can only find it in the UK and Hong Kong (on eBay), i'll hunt locally today. I can get 1:35 Samurai but that might be taking things a bit too far. The pig maybe a good option. We'll see how we go.

Cheers, Russ.

[Russ72]

lovely work mate

everything is shaping up very nicely

keep it up

Shane

Cheers Shane.

[Russ72]

The palm trees are fantastic I can't wait to see the finish

Thanks Mike. I was quite happy with the result.

[Russ72]

Since the last update.











Cheers

[Coen]

I love the Japanese soldier hiding behind the tree Russ, very cool.
That is cooling to look so cool when it's done. It's going to take a shed load of foliage to build that up I think. A high degree of awesome possible hahaha.

[longlance67]

looking great Russ

its really coming along now, have to agree with Coen that the hiding soldier is really good touch


keep it up mate


Shane

[Russ72]

Thanks fellas.

A high degree of awesome is possible, probable is another story. LOL

I've been busy over the long weekend, no photos yet, but just finishing touches to go.

The Japanese soldier is nice, not the figure I had my sights set on but I think this one works better, he's from a MiniArt Japanese Tank Crew set. And, since I had the tank crew I picked up a Tamiya Type 97 Chi Ha. "I had to I to I tell ya".

3 days to go.

Cheers Russ.

[PaulAyrey]

Looking great, and the trees are outstanding

[Russ72]

Looking great, and the trees are outstanding

Thanks Paul, much appreciated.

[Russ72]

Its all finished now. I don't have time this morning to put up all the photos, I've a lot to go through to try and pick out the unflattering ones. I'll post them in the completed work section, but i'll leave this as a teaser. (A bit dickish I know)



Thank you to all who viewed, and a special thank you to those who commented. Asking questions out loud, for me, isn't always about getting answers, it helps with looking at things another way, and getting a more rounded product.

Cheers, Thank-You, and I will post some pictures tonight.

Russ