So far everything is out of the box, bu I will be replacing the machine guns and the radio as well as modifying the stowage in the rear.
The subject is painted with Tamiya Khaki Drab mixed with their Clear gloss. It helped to reduce 'haloing' on the decals. The Decals are stock provided in the kit, with the exception of the Pork Chop name. That was donated by another kit.
Named for the commanders favorite meal... his wife's pork chops. The decal was found in a spares bag. I am unsure where it came from. Something the DML kit lacks are the slotted screw heads. These fasteners held the armor plated body together.
The rubber band tracks want to hold a circle shape, so I had to wire them down. The wires don't show too much.
The rubber band tracks want to hold a circle shape, so I had to wire them down. The wires don't show too much. The other side...
A little better view of the radio handset.
The rear stowage is modified from the kit parts. I added a crate from the Armand Bayardi collection. The straps are painted pin striping tape.
I did a rudimentary wiring of the radio. The hand-set is wire twisted with loops on either end filled with CA glue. The antenna aerial is a bristle form an inexpensive paint brush.
Kit bags and blankets are from Blast. The mines come with the kit and the ammo boxes are from Academy. If I make another one of these M3's, I will attempt to remove the ladder and replace the tiee down cleats.
The blanket are from Blast. The mines come with the kit and the ammo boxes are from Academy. Again, the star is a decal. There are raised panel lines to aid in painting the star one, but I was less impressed with that than the decal option.
The canvas bucket comes from the Tamiya GMC 2-1/2 ton truck accessory kit. When you glue the bucket to the jerry can, it looks like they are molded as one piece.
The jerry can holders are Eduard photo-etch. The canvas bucket comes from the GMC 2-1/2 ton truck accessory kit. When you glue the bucket to the jerry can, it looks like they are molded as one piece.
The stars on the side have to be cut to avoid covering the ladder. The ladder molded to the body is probably the single largest complaint about this particular kit. Stenciling the star in this area would VERY difficult, so a decal or had painting are really your only options.
This time around, the stars are decals. Looking closely, you can see the "halo effect" on the clear areas. It's no wonder dry transfers and stencils are so popular.
There isn't a "hard point" to place the radio, so I just plopped it on a seat on the antenna side of the crew compartment. I figured placing it on the fuel tank would not be a great idea, as radios of this era were not solid state and relied on glass tubes that could get hot.
