6x 1/72 PSC M5A1 Stuarts - some decals!

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So this has been progressing slowly and but I can now see the finish line up ahead for three of the kits.

And yes that's right - one thread, 6 (repeat SIX) builds. How's that for value for money?!?!?!?!?!?!

That said it's not the exactly the quickest build though as it started XX months ago elsewhere.......

As with most Plastic Soldier Company kits you're able to make three kits from one box and in this case you can make three different versions of the M5A1 - early, mid and late.

Unfortunately, the way the sprue is laid out means though that you are left with two spare hulls and a spare set of tracks.

Queue some enterprising chap over on another site who came up with the idea of making a 3D printed spare hull to go with the early spare tracks and hull tops. Buying these allows you to make the jalopied/turretless/kangaroo/recce versions used by a number of British and Commonwealth units - next thing I know I'm paying out money to Shapeways.......

I also forked out on some metal barrels from RB - very nicely done and much stronger than plastic

The original plan had been to do do two turreted versions and four jalopies but my son had other ideas, so there is now a 50/50 split - meaning I'm one metal barrel short (no big deal) and now have a fairly expensive spare hull in the stash - such is the life of a parent!

Initial obligatory shots of sprues etc below. More pics to follow soon!!

ATB

Andrew

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The obligatory box shot




Shot of 1 of three 3 identical sprues. These also including has Cullen hedgecutters, plus US and British commander figures.




RB Barrel - this was the first one I ever bought and have been sold on them ever since!




The four 3D printed bases. Unfortunately the printing was a bit ropey in places - but I have cunning plan....




A highly complicated set of instructions - all 2 pages of them....20ish pieces per kit - simples!!!

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all As promised more pics and general waffle!! As you know I'm not one of life's rivet counters for various reasons. That said I have done quite a lot of research and where possible we have drawn inspiration from what I've come across during it, albeit most won't be exact copies. However, we do intend one of them to be a close copy of a Stuart in British service at the end of the war, as by happy co-oincidence I've come across pictures of one from the same formation as Junior's Churchill's. It would appear to be fairly well known as you can even buy a die-cast version for a stupid amount of money (link HERE!!). Unfortunately though I came across the picture after I'd finished the main construction so it won't be a perfect recreation. Below are pics of my three main 'reference' examples. ATB. Andrew ----------------------------------------------- For reference purposes only From one of the Osprey books Then I found the picture of the real thing! Probably the clearest shot I've seen of a turretless version in the field Another inspirational image

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all

Below are some shots of them pre-painted to give you an idea of how we 'upgraded' them

All we've done is add some stowage plus some sandbags. Junioress yet again took the lead on the tissue-paper tarpaulins, which for some reason she really loves doing. The sandbags were the first junior had ever made. The first set (the three on the turreted version) were therefore a bit too big and pushed down too flat but I think the ones on the jalopied version were much better.

Also, as removing the turret was a field conversions and I have seen lots of adaptations, add-ons, extras etc. in my travels, I decided to let my imagination run free - besides if nothing else it's good practice! You'll therefore see a lot of extra's added that might upset some rivet counters out there. I've added extra jerry cans on the back of one and another has the storage from the rear of an M4A4 'welded' on the back, so will obviously be marked up as an 11th AD.

As you will have seen from the above pictures of the 3D printed hulls the interior is not perfect. Fortunately, in the hunt for more info I came across a build that makes use of Verlinden's 1/35 detailing set so I now have an idea of how to approach things.

I was considering trying to scratch two rudimentary engines but then I found a restoration thread of one from the US and it turns out the radiators were mounted horizontally over the engines meaning you can't see them, so that makes life a lot easier.

ATB

Andrew

PS unfortnatey the scaling of the .50 cal MGs is off but I had them in stash and at least the thicker barrels will hopefully last longer with all the handling they get.....

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Sorry for some being a bit blurry but trying to get all three in focus was tricky. I've also corrected the wonky aerial too - it really wasn't that bad in real life - honest!

As you can see the interior still needs work...

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all So this where they currently sit as of last night They had been languishing on the to do pile for a while because I was had not worked out how to make some scratch built smoke dischargers as per the second set of pictures. I then stumbled on some precision brass tubing at my LHS that was the near perfect external diameter at 1.57mm and drilled the inside out to 1.2mm. It should have been 1.4mm but it just wouldn't work. I still so though have to paint the dischargers and glue them on. ACW as usual. Andrew PS apologies for the variable light causing the different colour greens you'll see (the bottom two are closest to the actual colour). ----------------------------------------------- I deliberately didn't glue all the way through the brass tube so there was a reasonable amount of metal for the CA to fix to. The pre-painted 'finished' article. Not perfect but I think ok for my first attempt at this sort of thing

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So I've finally got the smoke discharger finished.

I have obviously seen some painted on surviving tanks but a lot of the ones for sale online seem to be in the natural metal finish, so I thought why not leave them naked given all the effort I put in on it - after all it's only around 8mm long in total length.

True to form though I'd already thought of a better way of doing it prior to gluing it on!!

Next up for this a pre-decal coat of varnish.


ACW.

Andrew

 

[Jason Crausby]

Very nice Andrew!

 

[adt70hk]

Very nice Andrew!

Thanks Jason! Much appreciated

ATB

Andrew

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice addition Andrew. Miniature madness at its best. Thanks for sharing

 

[yak face]

Looking fantastic Andrew ,loving the add ons , cheers tony

 

[adt70hk]

Nice addition Andrew. Miniature madness at its best. Thanks for sharing

Thanks Steve, much appreciated. It's just a shame it took me a year to get around to finishing the dischargers.

Yours

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Looking fantastic Andrew ,loving the add ons , cheers tony

Thanks Tony, much appreciated.

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So a couple of sets of decals on.

Junior's forces are comprised of two units from the 11th Armoured Division (its armoured recce regiment and 23rd Hussars) and the independent 6th Guards Tank Brigade, so each of the three units will receive two of these Stuarts.

One of the below is marked as belonging to the recce platoon of the 23rd Hussars, the senior of the three regiments in the 11th Armoured Division's 29th Armoured Brigade. This is the unit all of Junior's Shermans are marked up as being from. I've taken a bit of a liberty and added a name to this just to break up the monotony of the green (I know it won't be accurate but he likes to see some names).

The other is marked as belonging the recce platoon of the 3rd Tank Battalion Scots Guards, the junior formation in the 6th Guards Tank Brigade - that is the unit all of his Churchills belong to. By a very happy and complete fluke the Stuart I have just completed with the smoke dischargers, based on a real tank, is also from this unit.

ACW as usual.

ATB

Andrew

 

[Mickc1440]

Lovely work Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Lovely work Andrew

Thanks Mick. PSC are fun little kits, perfect for wargaming and simple enough for Junior!

 

[Mickc1440]

They certainly look the part, I have some Warlord Games ones in my cupboard I picked up cheap but need some decals for them

 

[JR]

Boy are they small ! Good for you Andrew they look the part.

 

[adt70hk]

They certainly look the part, I have some Warlord Games ones in my cupboard I picked up cheap but need some decals for them

Mick

Send me a PM to let me know what you need. Some of my supposed 1/72 decals look a bit too large to my eye but might work at 28mm.

ATB

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Boy are they small ! Good for you Andrew they look the part.

Thanks John. Small but not quite perfectly formed being for wargames but they do the job for us!

ATB

Andrew

 

[Deleted member 4539]

Looking real good Andrew .

 

[adt70hk]

Looking real good Andrew .

Thanks for that. I find that putting decals on has an effect on the look of a model out of all proportion to their size!

ATB

Andrew