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Testors Italeri 1/35 M47 Patton, Cold War, USAREUR


Stikpusher

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A new year, and another new project. Continuing my builds for the So Cal AMPS GB of the Patton Tank family, I’m building a M47 this time. I’m using the Testors Italeri kit, but will modify it some by changing the turret grab rails to early configuration, and not what comes in the kit. I will be building this in the markings of the 5th Infantry Division, my first line unit in the Army, during the time that they were stationed in West Germany in the early 1950s, when my father was stationed there. So this project is hitting a few personal areas, so to speak.

 

Anyways, last night I began by completing steps 1&2, essentially putting on most of the suspension.

 

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Now after seeing all of  Mustang Joe’s gorgeous engine upgrades on all of his automotive builds, I have been inspired to upgrade this power pack area with some plumbing and wiring. I have found some good photos to use as reference.

 

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The real question is how much. We shall see...

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Tony Alvarez here.  I hope all is well.

Nice start, Carlos.  I look forward to seeing the engine detailing.

When is the completion date for the SoCal AMPS Patton Tank Series?

Thanks.

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Hey Tony, good to see you here! Thanks for the encouragement on the engine detailing. Hopefully that will not slow this build down too much. I’d still like to also do a M48 as well for the GB. 

They haven’t given a hard date to wrap up the Patton GB on the Zoom meetings yet, but based off our last similar efforts, I’d take a guess of late July of having them finished. 

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Welcome to the area Tony 😉 Aren’t you over near Mesa now?

 

Today’s update: I finished steps 3 & 4, adding the shocks, road wheels, and return rollers to the suspension.

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Next session will be where I start dealing with the upper hull and upgrading tne engine compartment.

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We must have talked before...but please bear with me, they tell me the memory is the first thing to go🤫  .  I'm at the east end of Mesa in a nice little tucked away corner surrounded by parks and lots of greenery.  I live within a few blocks of my favorite places (Sonic, Home Depot, Jack-in-the-Box, Harbor Freight, Popeye's, Del Taco, Filiberto's).  Gas and pretty much everything is cheap.  Loving it so far.

I'll try to post my M48 and M60 that are in the works.

Take care,

Tony

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I think that you mentioned that you were in the area at the last AMPS Zoom meeting. I’m in Goodyear on the edge of civilization under the flight path for Luke’s outbound aircraft. Not too much around me but lots of open space. I love the cost of living here compared to So Cal. My retirement pension will go much farther out here. 

Im looking forward to seeing your M48 and M60 here. My M46 that I finished last month is here in the armor section if you want to check it out sometime.

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So today was spent doing steps 5, 6, & 7. Although step 6, adding parts to the underside of the upper hull, and 7, finishing the fender items and attaching the engine and upper hull to the lower hull, I only did partially due to my choice to upgrade the engine compartment.

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I am also backdating the kit to an early production model, so I had to swap out the driver and assistant driver hatches periscope brush guards for the older type used, rather than what comes with the kit. Fortunately I have some in my spares bin.

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and lastly I started detailing the engine part that comes with the kit. I only did the transmission section today.

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And this is what you can see thru the open grilles

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More to come in a few days...

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Thank you Chris. According to Scalemates, Italeri first issued this kit in 1978. I have a 1979 Testors boxing.

This is kinda fun upgrading an engine compartment. I’ve never gone down that route before.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

So the last couple of days I've been working on the engine. Yesterday I cut off Italeri’s sorry excuse for the auxiliary motor and generator

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Which looks nothing like the real thing

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And I also sanded off all the incorrect detail molded on the oil coolers, and drilled in holes in preparation for plumbing lines.

Today I measured and cut lengths of styrene rod to make up the ignition harness for the cylinder banks, then glued them in place. I also created a section of the right side hull fuel tank that goes under the auxiliary motor

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Then a test fit into the hull with the top on to show what will be visible

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I still have a couple more sessions worth of work to add more details in there.

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So today’s session of plumbing the engine was longer. But it feels like there is less to show. It was lots of trimming, fitting, drilling, and bending to get the stuff in place. And I added an oil filler tube and in the corner between the oil cooler and transmission housing on the left rear.

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And the view from each side

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Tomorrow I plan to work on the oil coolers and add in the carburetors and ducting, since it should be raining here all day.

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 and deeper down the rabbit hole I go... oh Mr. Rabbit!  

So today’s session has to be broken up, I have so much planned. First off I’m using some sort of idea wheel mounts and sections of sprue here to create the carburetors and intake manifolds 

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So quite a while later of sanding and filing to resemble what I want and make it fit, I had one completed

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And then I added the air ducting from the air cleaner to the carburetor.

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Now to finish the other side and get to work on the oil coolers...

Edited by Stikpusher
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My final update for today.

I finished up the carburetors and intake ducting, detailed the oil coolers, and finished the plumbing in those areas.

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I still need to add the auxiliary motor and battery lead cables. Next session.
 

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Thank you Chris. This is my first time tricking out an AFV engine compartment, so it’s a learning experience for me as I do this. A couple more items to add, then the paint goes on and then installation.

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So today I finished the final bits of work in the engine compartment. Using a jeep engine, I turned it into a two cylinder auxiliary motor

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then I added the lead line for it, and the compartment fixed fire extinguisher nozzle and feed line

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so now the power pack has gone from this

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to this

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painting to take place over the next few days...

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Thank you Bob. I do hope that old VonHammer is doing well, wherever he is. I miss his style.

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Dunno what happened to ol' Hans.

Last I recall - he became Sgt Rock - then disappeared.

I never herd anything afterwards.

Perhaps he was rotated to quiet sector for R and R  due to being in the front lines for so long.

( Conjures up the image of Oddball with his tanks being held in reserve )😉

 

Edited by cheveuxroux
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Yes, hopefully he is drinking some wine, eating some cheese, and soaking up some rays in a nice quiet sector somewhere. 

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First off this build is looking spectacular so far Carlos. As a side note for plumbing , I have found different sizes of solder to be very helpful in running fuel supply or other types of fluid lines (or throttle linkage for that matter. lol) 

Secondly....Hans von Hammer!! WOW!!! Now there's a name I haven't seen in YEARS!!! 

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Thanks Joe. I’ve detailed aircraft engines before, but this is my first time doing a tank engine. And yeah, your work has definitely been inspiring in that respect. Your car engines are fantastic.

And as for HvH, well, break out a Monogram kit and have a toast in his honor, wherever he may be.

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Thank you Chris. Next up is some primer in there...

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