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Need help with a Tamiya M42 Duster


RickCummelin

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OK, gotta tell the story first.  I'm a USAF vet, and I belong to a local IPMS Modeling club here in Grand Junction.  We maintain 2 display cases for models at the local VA hospital here in town.  Recently the VA requested that we add some Viet Nam era and some Middle East (Sandbox) models.  We had LOTS of WWII models in the cases, but there are very few WWII vets left, and the vets today are mostly Viet Nam and Middle East vets.  So, since I'm about the only armor modeler in our group, I volunteered to build some models for the cases.  I've already finished 7 models, and have more to build.  But, I'm really trying to do this on the cheap and I'm not succeeding too well.

So, I buy this old Tamiya M42 Duster off eBay for cheap for the Viet Nam shelf.  Seller says "I can't tell if the kit is complete or not."  You know what happened next: Yeah--the kit shows up and it's woefully incomplete.  Of course.  Two sets of tracks and 3 turrets(?), but no parts from the "B" sprue tree.  So while I have some spare parts I don't need, I will simply toss this thing if I can't scrounge up a "B" sprue some where.  Tamiya Customer Service couldn't help as the kit was discontinued years ago.

Lesson Learned: If the seller says he can't tell if a kit is complete or not, it most likely isn't complete.  Buy at your own risk. Duh.

So, does anyone out there have an old M42 kit (or a "B" sprue) they don't want?  I can pay for shipping, but that's about it.  We would like a Duster model, but may have to do without.

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Hi, Rick,

Rather than scavenge a tree from a kit, perhaps someone reading this thread has already built an M42 Duster that he/she would be willing to ship to you so you can include it in the VA display.  A lot more people will see the Duster in the VA display case than they will in the builder's home showcase or storage box. That means you will not have to build that one.  Just a thought.  I've donated built models for museum display, and I enjoy the thought that my work is (hopefully) appreciated by many others.  I am not an armor builder, so I can't help you here.

Ed

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I called Tamiya USA as a long shot but the sprue is not available.  I will check with my club.  OMG.  They want $58.00 for that old dog on ebay????   Someone has been sniffing far too much paint.

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14 hours ago, Mark Aldrich said:

I called Tamiya USA as a long shot but the sprue is not available.  I will check with my club.  OMG.  They want $58.00 for that old dog on ebay????   Someone has been sniffing far too much paint.

I also called Tamiya with the same results: discontinued, but the guy I spoke with said he would check with Japan to see if they might have one squirrelled away somewhere--let me know in 5-6 weeks. And now you can understand why I bought the $20 "maybe incomplete" kit off eBay.  I just can't justify spending $50-60+ on a Duster kit.

I think I'll wait until Phoenix in August and see what turns up.

BTW- that eBay seller had lots more kits with the same disclaimer.  Be careful out there.

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I've been on eBay for well over 20 years buying and selling (mainly) model kits. Any time someone says "they can't tell if it's complete or not" basically knows it isn't complete. Only once did I get a kit that someone said they don't know it's complete that it virtually was complete. That was an older Italeri M36B1 Jackson that was missing one small part.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rick,

If you are on Facebook, you might want to try here  - Scale Model Graveyard. It's the largest buy and sell military model group on FB. There might be someone able to help, especially since you are volunteering your time for a display for veterans.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/258721994328056/

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