Rare Medium Tank M3 variant, from a MiniArt kit

[Jakko]

This probably won’t help to clear up the confusion, will it?



I cut these plates from 0.5 mm plastic card after drawing them on my computer and printing them out, so I could glue it to the plastic and cut accurately without the kind of measuring and drawing inaccuracies you’re likely to get with a ruler and pencil. I then stuck the bogies to the hull with Blu-Tack and glued the plates to them so the assembly is removable for painting.

Now I need to find a way to make 1.5 mm quarter-round plastic strip, or find something else to buy together with that so the postage costs don’t outweigh the order value too much

 

[scottie3158]

My next guess target tug.

 

[Jakko]

In a strange way, it kind of was something like that, now that I think about it.

 

[JR]

Is the periscope an important part of this?
So it's a wader of some sort .

 

[Jakko]

The periscope does feature prominently, but not for underwater use — sorry

 

[Jack L]

Nuclear test observation?

 

[adt70hk]

Ok. So based on your response to Paul's suggestion it was designed to tow/pull something in some kind of way....

 

[Jakko]

Nuclear test observation?

Someone else suggested that too, but how would it explain the gun barrels?

based on your response to Paul's suggestion it was designed to tow/pull something in some kind of way....

When I said it kind of was something like that, the emphasis was very much on “kind of” So no, not designed for towing something.

 

[Graeme C.]

A moving target tank? A tank adapted to serve as a target driven by a crew, with extra armour to protect from the practice rounds.

 

[Jakko]

That actually was a small part of its role, yes. Just not in the way you’re probably thinking of

 

[Jakko]

I had a problem in that the tops of these side skirts curved inward, and I had nothing to make that with. In the end I ordered some 1.5 mm quarter-round plastic strip and glue that to the top of the skirts. Unfortunately, it proved to be slightly too wide, which I fixed by gluing 0.25 mm plastic card to the outsides of the skirts I had already made:



Once more, I deliberately made these oversize so I could trim them down after the glue dried:



I also filed the seam between the side and the strip, to try and make them blend in and appear one piece. There is still a seam visible in some places, though, so I’ll need to fill that first before I can add more detail — mainly, 56 (off the top of my head) rivets to each …

 

[Jakko]

Just got done adding the last rivet to the side skirts:



Before that, I added pieces of strip at the front and rear:



These got their seams filled and sanded, and I also added two lengths of plastic strip to the sides for an L-profile that runs the length of the side skirts.

 

[Jakko]

I extended the thing on the left rear, between the superstructure and the stowage bin, so it comes to about halfway:



I also added a plate on the rear of the original superstructure, for which I had to cut away the rivets there and the fire extinguisher handles, and glued the latter back in place over the plate.

 

[Jakko]

This bit is finished now too:



The reference I have is too poor to tell for sure if there were rivets on this structure, but I have the impression there were not, so I think I’ll leave them off.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
Very neat extension to the thing on the rear left and the track skirts. I'll bet you dream of rivets
Jim

 

[Tim Marlow]

More good stuff on show. Is that an mg sticking out of the box?

 

[Jakko]

It’s … probably the same thing that sticks out of the little structure on the front roof

 

[Tim Marlow]

Certainly looks like it. Still don’t know what this baby is though…..

 

[Jakko]

Hopefully, things will become clearer soon, when I put some paint onto the model. I still need to add some genuine kit parts first, like the headlights, tool brackets and a few more of those little bits, though.

 

[adt70hk]

How about a remotely controlled tank in some way...