Author Topic: M41 Assault Gun (Read 63625 times)

Kerick · « **Reply #50 on:** January 03, 2025, 01:05:31 PM »

No joy on the hunt for the riser pics. If nothing else I'll just wing something.
I made brass headlight guards from left over framing from a PE sheet. Much better than the kit parts. I think the originals will go in the trash. There's no possible further use for them! The pink background is a post it note pad. I though it would make the parts stand out more.

Glued thirteen bolt heads to the front today. What a pain! I had to drill a hole as there was a pin on the back side of the bolt head. I'm not sure how much help that was. I think the front armor is finished until after painting when it will get some spare track links.

ChalkLine · « **Reply #51 on:** January 03, 2025, 06:33:13 PM »

If you flipped those original headlight covers on their side they could go on the side of the turret as brush guards for antennae. I really like how you did those

LemonJello · « **Reply #52 on:** January 03, 2025, 11:07:09 PM »

Love the details - those bolt heads really add a nice feature to the slabs of added armor.

Kerick · « **Reply #53 on:** January 03, 2025, 11:09:07 PM »

Thanks!

Buzzbomb · « **Reply #54 on:** January 04, 2025, 06:29:54 AM »

Much better than the kit offerings.

The Etch frames are an underutilized resource, I have a drawer full for just for this reason

Kerick · « **Reply #55 on:** January 04, 2025, 07:33:54 AM »

What little PE I use still provides some left over parts and the framing. Just like sprues that are straight without too many nubs on them.

Kerick · « **Reply #56 on:** January 06, 2025, 03:44:29 AM »

I was just browsing Prime Portal and found a bunch of photos of M41s in Brazilian service. This would make a great conversion in itself. The paint scheme of Forest Green and brown looks simple and effective. I just need to make decals of the insignia. That shouldn’t be too hard.

Kerick · « **Reply #57 on:** January 06, 2025, 11:33:55 AM »

Looking for some 1/35th scale smoke grenade launchers. Either American or German style. I’m in the US so if we keep it in the US the postage will be reasonable for such a small couple of things. Or if anyone knows where to get aftermarket ones I’d appreciate that. PM me if you like.

LemonJello · « **Reply #58 on:** January 07, 2025, 12:40:05 AM »

Quote from: Kerick on January 06, 2025, 11:33:55 AM

Looking for some 1/35th scale smoke grenade launchers. Either American or German style. I’m in the US so if we keep it in the US the postage will be reasonable for such a small couple of things. Or if anyone knows where to get aftermarket ones I’d appreciate that. PM me if you like.

What style of smoke grenade launchers? I may have some Army M1 Abrams types in the parts box.

Kerick · « **Reply #59 on:** January 07, 2025, 02:12:11 AM »

Those would work just fine. I’ll pm my address if you like.

Kerick · « **Reply #60 on:** January 08, 2025, 01:20:56 PM »

I built some fender supports from left over brass. Also some brackets to keep the drivers hatch from swinging around and bashing his face in. I cut the corners off the fenders to look like most of the M41 pics I've seen.

I found this pic of the Brazilian M41 which had a nice camo scheme which didn't look too difficult. Looks like there is some black between the brown and green in a few spots. That's hard to see in most other photos.

I decided to stock up on brass. One sheet is 0.016" and the other is 0.010". I could build a whole tank from the first sheet. The second sheet is closer in thickness to the etched brass bits I have. I'm sure both will come in handy.

I'm still debating on whether to drill out the headlights or not. Probably not. I'll just paint them and cover with a little UV resin to give it that glass look. Same thing with the cupola riser vision blocks. In the few photos I have found the riser vision blocks just look black. The cupola vision blocks are drilled out. I'll paint them violet later and fill with UV resin.

Kerick · « **Reply #61 on:** January 10, 2025, 10:42:26 AM »

Adding more fiddly bits.
I’m going to go with Badger for the assault gun and Weasel for the short TOW version as suggested by robunos. Then the individual names will be Moose and Squirrel as suggested by Jeff Fontaine.

I started hacking on the short Squirrel. I'm going to build an entire new front but I'm saving the drivers hatch in case I decide to use it on top. Trimming and reattaching the fenders turned out to be pretty easy. Fortunately it also removed most of the holes in the fenders meant to position the tools and spare tracks so bonus. I trimmed the fender corners and removed the mount for the gun barrel clamp too.

I also ordered a set of new one piece tracks from AFV club. We'll see if they look better than the Tamiya tracks. Can't be any worse.
We are going away for the weekend so not much building going on until next week.

Kerick · « **Reply #62 on:** January 15, 2025, 10:49:10 AM »

The tracks arrived from AFV club and they are pretty darn sweet for rubber band tracks. Far better than the Tamiya ones. They are for the shorty version so there should be a few links left for spares.
I’m working on building the casement to house the TOW system and some spare rounds. I wish I had another box from a Bradley so that would give me four ready rounds. I bought some paint over the weekend so no excuses there. The assault gun is ready for paint but I’ll wait until the shorty is done so I can do both at the same time.

Kerick · « **Reply #63 on:** January 23, 2025, 09:47:52 AM »

Well the Badger is ready for paint and the Weasel is still a work in progress. I notched out a space in the top of the casemate and installed the drivers hatch there. I'm just finishing the installation of armor panels. I think I have enough of a different style of bolt heads that might be close enough to not be noticeably different. Hatches are done and I need to invent a way of installing the TOW box. I'm thinking of installing a set of TOW sights from a Bradley. Not sure if that's realistic considering the time frame but it beats having the gunner sitting on the roof with the jeep sights.
Just a couple of photos.

The Sherman style lifting loops have been removed and will be reinstalled on the glasis plate.

Lots of fiddly bits to go yet. Then paint. Maybe OD green and black stars.

Mig Eater · « **Reply #64 on:** January 23, 2025, 10:26:42 AM »

The Spanish modified some of there M41 tanks with TOW launchers called the M41E TUA Cazador. Could be a source of inspiration for some of the parts.

Kerick · « **Reply #65 on:** January 23, 2025, 01:17:38 PM »

Wow, I have that pic but I thought it was the German Kanonenjagdpanzer that was converted to missiles. Thanks for pointing that out for me. I know there was the HOT version and I thought some got converted to TOW. The pic looks like the TUA that was mounted on M113s and other vehicles. I was just thinking about mounting a .50 cal on the TOW set up so it could be fired using the TOW sights. The Weasel is going to be very cramped inside. I might switch to .30 cal just to carry more ammo.
The ammo can holders on .50 and .30 cal guns are just basically sheet metal I believe. I might try making some out of brass. It’ll be a personal challenge.

Frank3k · « **Reply #66 on:** January 23, 2025, 02:32:06 PM »

The Weasel looks great! It makes the M41 look shorter, but in a good way. I love what you’ve done with these old kits.

Is the driver standing up? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of room for his knees.

finsrin · « **Reply #67 on:** January 23, 2025, 05:25:29 PM »

Remember and liked M41 from 50s-60s, never thought of something like this.
Impressive plastic surgery

Look forward to seeing progress.

Claymore · « **Reply #68 on:** January 26, 2025, 12:25:50 AM »

So many M41s, my head is spinning!

Kerick · « **Reply #69 on:** January 26, 2025, 10:52:22 AM »

I’ve been working on the TOW launcher system. I wanted it to rotate but I couldn’t figure out how to do it without complications. That’s until I remembered the refrigerator magnet that has been attached to my tool box for years. A couple of washers fit into the lower part and the magnet in the upper. Works great so far. And if it gets bumped it won’t break off. So far so good. Now I need to work out some arms to raise and lower the launcher. I found a spring perfect to raise it but no promises to make it work.

Kerick · « **Reply #70 on:** January 29, 2025, 12:06:31 PM »

No spring involved! Just friction fit. Here's the lowered traveling position.

The reloading position.

Firing position.

Now I have to build the sights, which will be a basic box, on the right side and a .50 cal mount on the left. It's a little too easy to move right now. I'm thinking the paint will stiffen that up a bit. I was really worried that gluing that green part over the ends of the lower pivots might leak glue and then harden the whole thing but I got away with it. This might be getting away from the "thrown together from spare parts in a war emergency" theory behind my backstory but oh well.
The static dispersing idea behind the aluminum plate on the desk is having mixed results. Of course it doesn't actually get rid of the dust but because of the cold here lately and running a space heater its so dry I don't think anything will get rid of the level of static.

Buzzbomb · « **Reply #71 on:** January 29, 2025, 01:23:08 PM »

Nice work, the launcher look great.

I like to get things to move as well, helps tell the story

Kerick · « **Reply #72 on:** January 29, 2025, 01:27:28 PM »

This way if I ever take it to a contest I can come back to it every half hour and move it and mess with people.

ChalkLine · « **Reply #73 on:** January 29, 2025, 02:19:31 PM »

That's awesome. What did you use for the launcher base?

Kerick · « **Reply #74 on:** January 29, 2025, 10:19:57 PM »

I’ve no idea what that part came from. It was in the giant box o’ stuff from Mr. Fontaine. Part of a hatch from something German I suspect.


Fabulous '50s GB

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Author Topic: M41 Assault Gun (Read 63625 times)