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Modeller Build Logs
Tasca M32 Recovery Vehicle w/ T1E1 Mine Roller |
| By James Wechsler |
| Started: | Apr 15, 2008 | | Updated: | May 13, 2008 |
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First off let me say that Paul Owen is a great guy, even if he is a Vancouver Canucks fan. Having built 44 Shermans, I really hadn’t planned on buying the Tasca M4A1 kit since I’d built that variant a few times over. But Paul sent me this kit and it is a really, really great gift. So I got motivated to do something special.
After thinking about it for a while, I realized that simply building this kit as a gun tank really didn’t get me excited. Then it dawned on me, it would make the perfect conversion base for an M32 Armored Recovery Vehicle. I mean the old Italeri kit was just staring at me and screaming ‘I need a new hull, suspension, and transmission cover!’
So there it was, my mega project. But then I got to thinking a little more. Why not go further? Let’s scratch build the T1E1 ‘Earthworm’ mine roller! Never heard of this massive contraption? Check here:
http://www.jedsite.info/engineer/tango-number-us/t1_series/t1e1/t1e1-intro.html
But wait, there’s more. The M32 has two huge hatches on the turret structure that just scream ‘interior’. At last, my project has reached planning fruition. This blog will be of an M32 ARV w/T1E1 Mine Roller and a full interior.
Plan on a lot of chapters. |
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| More Scratch Building | May 13, 2008 |
| Well after the last chapter I thought I’d be ready to start installing the interior parts. But when I looked at the Verlinden engine parts I was stuck on the main engine support bracket. It’s a super thin part mounted on a very thick backing. Try as I might, I couldn’t think of a way to remove the... more |
| The scratch building begins | May 9, 2008 |
| This may seem like a strange time to start scratch building the mine rollers. But my logic is that I really don’t want to be manipulating the hull too much once I’ve got the interior in it. Sure I’ll mount everything securely, but it’ll still be a little fragile and getting the mine roller attachment... more |
| Mounting the Transmission | May 6, 2008 |
So finally it was time to mount the transmission to the lower hull. The Tasca parts fit great but there was a small gap between the hull side wall and the transmission walls. Even though the parts are separate in real life, I filled the gap on the model since it looked too large for 1/35 scale.
I... more |
| Rear Hull Fixing | May 3, 2008 |
When I decided to shave off the rivet to convert the lower hull to a more common welded one, I also had to fix the rear hull. As Mike Bedard noted, the riveted hull had an angle plate that connected the rear hull to the lower hull. The welded one had a rounded fairing.
To make this change I first... more |
| Let’s get Giggy with it! | Apr 28, 2008 |
For those of you confused with the title, I’m a big fan of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team and I just couldn’t resist the urge.
Well my idea was to use the Tasca firewall as a jig (get the title now?) to make sure the hull was correctly aligned and then remove it and replace it with the CMK one. It... more |
| Casting the Hull | Apr 25, 2008 |
| Technically, the cast texturing on the Tasca kit is pretty close to scale. The problem is that once painted it really doesn’t look textured. So I decided to add a heavier cast texture. I’ll take the hit for technical accuracy since I believe that some allowances must be made for the scaling effects... more |
| Preparing the Hull | Apr 21, 2008 |
The Tasca kit is a wonderful model but it is not really set up for an interior. There are a lot of ejector pin marks and some large recesses where the suspension mounts to the side of the hull. All these had to be filled and sanded smooth.
One item I really needed to think through was the firewall... more |
| So what is it going to take? | Apr 15, 2008 |
Well I guess you can imagine that I’ll be needing a few things for this build. The photo gives you a good idea of what’s involved. Here’s the list.
Tasca M4A1
Italeri M32 ARV
CMK M4A1 Interior
Verlinden M4 Radial Engine (hopefully)
Formations Tasca Suspension lock out set
Tiger Models .30 cal... more |
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