A pair of M2's

[camokid]

It has been a while since I joined here and I've never posted any of my work other than whats in my sig. After a conversation with Saul, who encouraged me to post this here, I'm finally posting something.

This project was initially started on another site but It lost steam, what with real life getting in the way and all and I really need to get back to it. It will also help me get back to some other Half Track related work I am very overdue on. I will be building a pair of M2's, They will for the most part be a representation of a vehicle showing early/mid properties and another with mid/late. For the ease of typing I will from here on out refer to each as and early and a late.

While I am thrilled with the DML half track, I have to admit that there's a bit of disappointment with the kit in terms of accuracy. From a technical standpoint there is so much 'wrong' with it for any detail oriented freak like myself but it will allow me to do what I love most, fix it. This thread will mostly be about correcting any inaccuracies along the way and/or super detailing. I will be using a few different after market sets, Eduard and Voyager PE sets as each has some things I like and some things I don't like, I will also be using after market tires/rims by Trakz.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/resintires.jpg


I wasn't happy with the rim detail on the Trakz combat rim, the hub is far too square, the actual rim was much more round, Dragon's rim is quite nice so with a little cutting and sanding, I've got the best of both worlds

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tires.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tiredone.jpg

From here we move on to the construction of the bogies, or 'suspension basements'. There are a few different styles found on actual vehicles and I will do my best to represent an early style as well as a later style. I'll start with the early style like the ones found on this M4A1. Studying these photos will help one understand all that is missing/wrong with Dragons parts. Notice the square hub just under the return wheel bracket, the casting scar that follows from there and all the way down the face, the missing rivets on the road wheel arms and the casting marks/numbers and what appears like 'ribs' from the main body to the mount. Also notice in this early style there is no sharp square lip around the bottom edge, in fact it's just the opposite, a seemingly ground down chamfer.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlystyle2.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlystyle.jpg

The first thing I have done will be done for both early and late, I will make the drainage hole found on the bottom of the angled section of the basement assembly. After drilling the holes I take the same drill bit and wrap some thin copper wire around it a few times.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/drillwrap.jpg


Then after sliding the wire off, I will cut it with a knife and press each ring flat. This will represent the raised lip around the hole.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/knifecut.jpg

While those are drying I have added the large casting scar found on the outside surface of the suspension basement (left basement in picture ), the four missing rivets on the road wheel arms and I have also added rough casting texture to the arm with glue as these things were fairly rough and not smooth like the Dragon parts, and I removed the square lip around the bottom edges with a knife and beveled it back.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/scarrivets.jpg

After joining the parts, I add the casting ribs with stretched sprue and casting numbers from an Archer set. I have also scratch built the exhaust bracket using plastic sheet, copper wire and bolt details shaved from spare parts, ( it could've been much better though, notes for the next build ). I have glued the exhaust end on in order to help hide the seam when attaching to the pipe.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlybogieclsup.jpg

Now to the springs. The early vehicle would have either been without a idler spring or had a single spring. I have chosen to scratch build a single spring. With some tubing, wire, sheet stock and a bit off the kit part I can make a fairly believable single spring for the rear idler.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/singlespring.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/snglesprngclsup.jpg

[camokid]

Next the late style suspension basements. They were similar in many ways but are known for the oval cut out on the large arm portion. In the following photos you can see this hole, some different style casting marks and that square lip found on the Dragon part.

Not all of the late style housings I've seen appear to have the 'ribs' seen in these photos, connecting the angled mounting portion to the main body portion so I will be leaving mine off. The casting numbers will also be a bit different in placement as I am using other pictures ( not on the internet ) as my references. These pictures are of an IH M9/M5 series vehicle, the pictures I have here at home are of an M2A1.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latestyle2.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/Latestyle.jpg


Problem is when you make this cut out you expose the part underneath which is just a flat square part and not the Volute suspension springs ( I think that's what they are called ), with a little scratch building I can fool the eye into thinking the two round spring housings are visible through the hole. It's pretty clear at this stage I have made the oval holes quite a bit too large, there is no turning back now but I'm taking notes for the next go 'round and will make those smaller next time.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latebogie.jpg


To make the dual spring for the late vehicle I decide to do just that, make a dual spring. Cutting the part in sections and using to different diameters of tubing I make two springs, an inner and the outer. I will then glue them to each opposing part for fitting purposes. There were also spacers in between the springs, so with some foil, I wrap these around the tube and then cut into halves. Hard to see in the photo but the inner spring is visible, hopefully it will still be visible after paint and weathering.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/spring2.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/spring3.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/spring4.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/spring5.jpg

Here are some photos of the finished parts.

Early

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlybgs.jpg

Late

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latebgs.jpg

and a comparison with the kit part ( minus the Archer casting numbers ).

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/allthree.jpg

[camokid]

As the frame and suspension begin to take shape you are directed to choose front bumpers. I will be using the unditching roller for the early and the winch for the late. Looking through all of my references I have never seen a front bumper with the eight bolted brackets like the kit bumper. I will remove these altogether and sand it smooth, this also marks the start of the Voyager PE set. Heres a shot of the bumper as in the kit, those large brackets will need to come off.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/bumper.jpg

I remove those mounting brackets and start on the Voyager brackets, then they are installed and the roller mounted.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/frontspring.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlyfront2.jpg


You may want to take notice of the casting marks at the end of the unditching roller, here is a photo of the real thing from the same M4A1 and then the kit roller, although hard to see in the photo I did my best to match the marks with what is found in the set, again Archer casting mark set was used for this.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/rollercasting.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlyfront.jpg

So, after all that, this is where I stand, most of the chassis and accompanying parts assembled and ready to start on the body panels.

Early

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlybogiefin2.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlybogiefin.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/earlyfullfin.jpg

Late

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latebogiefin.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latebogiefin2.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/latefullfin.jpg


If ANYONE has any critiques, corrections, opinions, please feel free to speak up. Don't be shy, I listen to learn friends. :D

;)

[sharkmouth]

Nice to see you posting here Ken, about time!

So far, so good. Your early springs came out a bit better than mine so I will try again. ;)

the only things I did add to mine, and are barely visible, are the one scale inch nuts which holds the metal track guides to the rubber treads. I did them before gluing the tracks together.

Are you going to show us HOW you slotted the screws with this build?

Guys, Ken slotted the screws on another build while I WASTED my time carefully slicing off the screws from a Tamiya kit. Live and learn. The Tamiya kit was not really sacrificed as it had received a TWS update set which replaces the panels for my Mexican Army build.

Will you correct the text on the winch?

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/sharkmouth/Dragon/M2A1-024.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/sharkmouth/Halftrack%20Real%20Deal/M2A1WinchLeft.jpg

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/sharkmouth/Halftrack%20Real%20Deal/M2A1WinchClose.jpg

Regards,

[camokid]

Nice to see you posting here Ken, about time!

Well, it's all thanks to your encouragement.

the only things I did add to mine, and are barely visible, are the one scale inch nuts which holds the metal track guides to the rubber treads. I did them before gluing the tracks together.

Well, you are just a bit more nuts than I Saul, I bet you even torqued them to the required tension as found in the service manual. :thumb:

Are you going to show us HOW you slotted the screws with this build?

Yes sir, I will make sure to get good and detailed with an explanation and pictures of that.

Thanks for the push.

:D

[sharkmouth]

Well, you are just a bit more nuts than I Saul...

Suuuuuurrrrre, this from the guy who SLOTTED the kit domed nuts. :D My 'lunacy' was simply salami slicing hex rod, gluing, and sanding to a respectable height, about 30 minutes for both tracks...how long did it take to slot the kit's domed bolts? Seriously as I want to try it. I'm just afraid of slipping and scratching the plate.

Regards,

[sharkmouth]

Ken,

In case you don't know where you saved the photos last time, I posted the whole set here:

http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3957

Regards,

[Sticky]

Super stuff so far Ken. I really love these vehicles and am enjoying what you are doing so far!

[camokid]

Will you correct the text on the winch?

Hey Saul,

sorry 'bout that but I missed your edit. I haven't decide on the winch yet, if I can clean it up well, I might be able to use the Archer set to fix it. I might just hide it with some stowage like I did to my last one though.

Re those photos, thanks for the link, I believe I have them stored with my own of that same vehicle, that's the one in Connecticut right ?


Super stuff so far Ken. I really love these vehicles and am enjoying what you are doing so far!

Thanks for the response John, when the builds are done though, can I mail them to you for you to paint ?

:D

[sharkmouth]

... that's the one in Connecticut right?

Indeed it is!

Regards,

[Sticky]

:lol: Ken! Sure. But it maybe a long time before I can get to them!

[RickLawler]

Dy-no-mite!!!! Wonderful start Ken, that was some pretty nifty cut-n-past.

This is going to be fun to watch, knowlege and skill all in one package...fantastic.

talk to you soon,

[MartinD]

Hi Ken,

This is one heck of a nice piece of modelling. Bring out the glue and knifes, I might need to relook at my assembly skills and methods. I've just bashed one M2 together and need to paint it. Just a tad more simple than this :D This is very, very good!!! :thumb:

Cheers, MartinD

[Andrew Hall]

Excellent stuff Ken, I like the way you're improving the kit using old fashioned skills :thumb:

Andrew

[panamadan]

Great job Ken! Dan

[Flak]

Excellent SBS posted...GREAT work :thumb:

[camokid]

that was some pretty nifty cut-n-past.


Rick, that was a nifty play on words, albeit unintentional I'm sure. :D Thanks for the encouragement.

Martin, Thanks for the kind words, they are appreciated.

Andrew, Dan, Marco, thank you all for the comments.

I am currently happily fiddling around with the cab, lots of stuff to do to that part of the build and do it twice mind you, so hopefully updates aren't too far away.

Thanks again guys, and as always feedback and criticism is always welcome.

[camokid]

Hello Planeteers,

it's been a while since my last update but I have been slowly progressing on these two H/T's and now feel I have enough for a decent update. My biggest problem is that I'm currently at the stage where it's a lot of cutting/removing and then bending/replacing (PE) . This bit slows me down to a crawl.

:o

At any rate, on with the pics.

The first few pictures I want to put up are applicable to even OOB builders of this kit, as it is a fairly important fit issue. Looking at the rear area of the fuel tank where it joins the rear compartment wall we can see that the join surface seems to taper to an almost point

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/fitbefore.jpg

.

This causes the rear and side panels to slowly open up at the bottom when they are joined as seen in this dry fit

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/badfittwo.jpg

.

After a bit of cutting/shaving with the knife and some light sanding, the join is fairly straight across its whole surface allowing the outside corner to come together tightly

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/goodfit.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/fitfixed.jpg

.

Next I'm going to address the fuel tanks themselves. You can look right here on Planetarmor to see where the problem lies. Saul posted a thread here: http://www.planetarmor.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3957 which contains among many things, this picture

.

http://i90.photobucket.com/albums/k247/sharkmouth/Halftrack%20Real%20Deal/M2A1LeftFuelTank.jpg

.

Even though the vehicle is in an obvious state of dis-repair, we can still clearly see the actual fuel tank is separate from it's protective sheet metal cover. Toadman's M2A1 photo CD shows this very same thing on a completely restored vehicle shown here

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/fueltanktext.jpg

.

To apply this to the model, a few simple steps are as follows. The first thing I do is dry fit the parts and scribe a line into the plastic as a reference to the floor of the crew compartment

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tankmark.jpg

.

Remove the parts and the line is clearly visible

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tankline.jpg

.

I will then cut away some of the plastic to represent the curved edge of the fuel tank

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tankgroove.jpg

.

When the two parts are re-fit, you can see the bottom of the tank becoming clear

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/tanksfit.jpg

.

Once I have the bottom figured I continue this rounding off of all the edges, including right up against the outer wall so the final product looks like this dry fit picture. I have also shaved away a bit of the plastic present in the cover, to give it a more in scale thickness, as the actual cover was fairly thin sheet metal. I've also removed the fuel cap, and all the plastic in the hole, remade the cap and placed it on plastic with spacers, to give more depth to the fuel tank

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/onetank.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/lonetank.jpg

.

The rear compartment wall in the kit fits snuggly to the fuel tank cover, yet on the real vehicle there was a sizable gap. If you return to the Toadman's photo, you can actually see this. I've already shaved a bit of the cover away as you can actually see in the very first and third picture and as a result, you can see where the bolted, stiffening strip along the rear wall ends, when in fact it should continue behind the fuel tank into the corner of the vehicle

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/gapissue.jpg

.

I add the thinnest styrene sheet stock I have and then sand it down, place a few bolts in the right spot

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/rearpanel.jpg

.

A bit messy and a whole lot of work considering not much will be seen. Although to me, it's enough to make it well worth the trouble

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/fixedgapissuetwo.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/fixedgapissue.jpg

.

The last part of the crew compartment I will be posting today is the skate rail, just a quick photo of the added styrene strips, as the actual skate rail is shaped like an I beam and not flat as the kit is supplied

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/skaterail.jpg

[camokid]

You may also be taking notice of other things in the pictures I'm not mentioning. Most should be self explanatory but others maybe not be, feel free to ask questions about anything you're unsure of.

.

Now on to the cab of the vehicle. There are tons of things you can do in this area as the kits details are lacking quite a bit. The kits gear shift isn't quite right, so that's the first thing I've tackled. At first it's just a roughly bent piece of brass rod, which will be trimmed and re-shaped as the interior gets assembled

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/gearstick.jpg

.

The next thing I add is the Eduard floor pan and pedals, as I like them much better than the Voyager offerings. You may also want to take notice of the upper firewall in the drivers foot well. Notice on the right hand kit part it just rises straight up after the slanted section. On the left you can see the corrected version, which slants back to the same plane as the rest of the firewall

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/firewall.jpg

.

The other H/T's interior with more of the parts in place and before the reshaping of it's firewall

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/cabfloordriv.jpg

.

In between adding these small details I will work on other, smaller assemblies. The battery box for example, the kit part is missing three large bolts on the top and eight screws per end. Maybe tough to see in the pictures but here are the two side by side

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/batbox.jpg
http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/batbox2.jpg

.

Lastly for today, a quick shot of the screw heads after being slotted. Not perfect by any means but a slow and arduous task that becomes tiresome right quick. I just hope they look good after paint

.

http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g12/camokid/Tale%20of%20Two%20Hal%20Tracks/slotted.jpg

.

Thanks for looking and as always, comments, questions and criticism are very much welcome.

.

[James Tainton]

Nice work on improving the basic kit- sort of what modelling is about, for me at any rate. I'll have to save a copy of this for my build.

[RickLawler]

Man, that update hits you right between the eyes! That, my friend, is REALmodeling.

So much to take in and comment upon....ALL GOOD! You definately have the magic going for you on this one.

Rick

[Pvt Mutt]

Oh No
Here too Camo?

LOL
Mutt

[sharkmouth]

Ken,

About time for the update! I was about to fire off a PM! :D Yet, you STILL have not shown us the technique for slotting the screw heads...:rolleyes:

Thanks again for remembering to update this Vbench SBS!

Regards,

[Flak]

What are the updated is :thumb: I know it is NOT easy to re-work the hundred of screw heads...

[MartinD]

Yep, just like James states. I need to keep a copy of that for my next M2. Or, we send DML the link so they can rework their upcoming M3 kit :rolleyes:

[camokid]

Nice work on improving the basic kit- sort of what modelling is about, for me at any rate. I'll have to save a copy of this for my build.

Thanks James. I agree about modeling, if it wasn't for researching and improving, I don't think I'd still be gluing and painting.

Man, that update hits you right between the eyes! That, my friend, is REALmodeling.

So much to take in and comment upon....ALL GOOD! You definately have the magic going for you on this one.

Rick

Thanks Rick, much appreciated.

Oh No
Here too Camo?

LOL
Mutt

LOL

Actually this isn't posted over there Tony.

:thumb:


Ken,

About time for the update! I was about to fire off a PM! :D Yet, you STILL have not shown us the technique for slotting the screw heads...:rolleyes:

Thanks again for remembering to update this Vbench SBS!

Regards,

Sorry I'm so slow Saul and you're right about the technique photos. I will have to do something about that.

What are the updated is :thumb: I know it is NOT easy to re-work the hundred of screw heads...

Thanks Marco, it's not easy, it's not fun and it's not quick...

twice. :D

Yep, just like James states. I need to keep a copy of that for my next M2. Or, we send DML the link so they can rework their upcoming M3 kit :rolleyes:

Thanks Martin. I'm glad you're finding it useful and most everything mentioned can be used for the M4 mortar carrier as well.

And thanks again for the replies gents. Judging by the view count, I know people are looking and I appreciate the feedback. Hopefully the next update doesn't take months...

:o

[sharkmouth]

Sorry I'm so slow Saul ...

Hey Ken,

Don't be sorry, I know it isn't easy! It is just my way of saying I was squirming with anticipation for this update. As for the technique, I want to try it on my second kit.

Regards,