M41 Walker ''Bulldog'' Light Tank

[Old Wombat]

At my preferred Australian online shops;

Tamiya's 1/35 M41 Walker Bulldog is going for about AU$27.50 at the moment.

Hobby Boss' 1/35 LAV-150 Commando AFV w/Cockerill 90mm Gun is priced at about AU$40.50 (which is stupidly high, imo) but is out of stock.

If you're willing to accept the alternate, then the Hobby Boss 1/35 LAV-150 APC 90mm Mecar Gun is a couple of dollars cheaper at AU$38.50 (again, over-priced, imo) & is also out of stock.

This would leave you with a M41 turret to put on a LAV-150.


I would assume that in the US prices would be both lower in raw number & real value.

[ChalkLine]

Yeah, I just got another M41 for $24AUS which is like 20c in real country money. They're like eating macadamias, it's impossible to stop at one.

Slat Armour is piquing my interest at the moment. I'm wondering what a good basic vehicle to look at over on Prime Portal would be to crib slat armour mounts off.

I also found some Dragon Viet Cong (National Liberation Front of South Vietnam) Sappers in the stash and I thought the M41 knocked out might make a good setting for them, I know Star Decals does a nice set of decals for an ARVN M41 but that would mean yet another of the bulldogs

[Kerick]

I was digging around in the stash the other day and came across a bag of tank parts that I received from Mr Fontaine some time ago. Now I知 obsessed with building some kind of fictitious or SF apc out of it. No turret so maybe something like the Achzarit or Nagmachon. I figured out it痴 the Brazilian EE-T2 tank. It appears all the hull parts are there just no turret. I知 sure it went to a greater cause.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I was digging around in the stash the other day and came across a bag of tank parts that I received from Mr Fontaine some time ago. Now I知 obsessed with building some kind of fictitious or SF apc out of it. No turret so maybe something like the Achzarit or Nagmachon. I figured out it痴 the Brazilian EE-T2 tank. It appears all the hull parts are there just no turret. I知 sure it went to a greater cause.

The EE-T2 turret is dedicated to an M41 Walker Bulldog hull and is still sitting here in the stash waiting to be dealt with. 

Glad to see my discarded bits and pieces are getting a second look and possible purpose. 

[Kerick]

I was digging around in the stash the other day and came across a bag of tank parts that I received from Mr Fontaine some time ago. Now I知 obsessed with building some kind of fictitious or SF apc out of it. No turret so maybe something like the Achzarit or Nagmachon. I figured out it痴 the Brazilian EE-T2 tank. It appears all the hull parts are there just no turret. I知 sure it went to a greater cause.

The EE-T2 turret is dedicated to an M41 Walker Bulldog hull and is still sitting here in the stash waiting to be dealt with. 

Glad to see my discarded bits and pieces are getting a second look and possible purpose. 

Will it be as a regular tank turret or solidly mounted assault gun sort of thing? Curious to know the plan!

I知 still thinking about putting it on eight wheels. That would be very different.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

I was digging around in the stash the other day and came across a bag of tank parts that I received from Mr Fontaine some time ago. Now I知 obsessed with building some kind of fictitious or SF apc out of it. No turret so maybe something like the Achzarit or Nagmachon. I figured out it痴 the Brazilian EE-T2 tank. It appears all the hull parts are there just no turret. I知 sure it went to a greater cause.

The EE-T2 turret is dedicated to an M41 Walker Bulldog hull and is still sitting here in the stash waiting to be dealt with. 

Glad to see my discarded bits and pieces are getting a second look and possible purpose. 

Will it be as a regular tank turret or solidly mounted assault gun sort of thing? Curious to know the plan!

I知 still thinking about putting it on eight wheels. That would be very different.

The EE-T2 turret fits the M41 turret ring with little to no modification required.  I think that may have been from the IRL development program since Brazil owned and operated a lot of M41 light tanks and had a decent industrial base to support upgrades of the M41 fleet.  That said, as much as I like the M41 the turret was never high on my list of things I liked about the M41.  Always felt it could be improved upon to provide better features and crew comfort, etc.  While it is a light tank and cramped inside it still has promise. 

[Kerick]

Interesting thoughts on the M41. The turret could have been a little wider to allow more room inside.

Question for the group. Does anyone know if I could buy ERA blocks aftermarket? I知 trying to cast my own from the Italeri M60 Blazer kit but I may need a back up plan. The casting rubber I知 using is old but the rubber I poured last night seems to be setting up ok. I値l see what happens later today when I pull it out of the master. The casting resin was really bad so I知 going to use UV resin to make the parts. I just need a sunny day to cure the UV resin. That痴 one nice part about it, finished part in about 60 seconds.

If I do my own research I find there is several companies producing ERA but it seems it痴 all Russian Kontakt type. I was really hoping there was a US or NATO type but this can be the second string back up plan.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Attached images showing M41 turret with modifications to make it compatible with the M551 Sheridan hull. 

The M41 turret ring was removed in its entirety from the turret.  The M551 Sheridan turret ring was cut away from the rest of the Sheridan turret and attached to the M41 turret.  This in turn allows the M41 turret to fit comfortably on the Sheridan hull and it will rotate freely and is not held in place with the small retaining tabs which I removed from the ring before mating the parts together. 





***Edit to add additional information on the modifications made to the turret. -- jjf

[ChalkLine]

Interesting thoughts on the M41. The turret could have been a little wider to allow more room inside.

Question for the group. Does anyone know if I could buy ERA blocks aftermarket? I知 trying to cast my own from the Italeri M60 Blazer kit but I may need a back up plan. The casting rubber I知 using is old but the rubber I poured last night seems to be setting up ok. I値l see what happens later today when I pull it out of the master. The casting resin was really bad so I知 going to use UV resin to make the parts. I just need a sunny day to cure the UV resin. That痴 one nice part about it, finished part in about 60 seconds.

IDF and NATO 'Blazer' ERA are the same thing

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=All&q=blazer&fkSCALENORMALISED[]=%221:00035%22

[raafif]

Interesting thoughts on the M41. The turret could have been a little wider to allow more room inside.

Question for the group. Does anyone know if I could buy ERA blocks aftermarket? I知 trying to cast my own from the Italeri M60 Blazer kit but I may need a back up plan. The casting rubber I知 using is old but the rubber I poured last night seems to be setting up ok. I値l see what happens later today when I pull it out of the master. The casting resin was really bad so I知 going to use UV resin to make the parts. I just need a sunny day to cure the UV resin. That痴 one nice part about it, finished part in about 60 seconds.

IDF and NATO 'Blazer' ERA are the same thing

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?fkSECTION[]=All&q=blazer&fkSCALENORMALISED[]=%221:00035%22

But they look different.

[ChalkLine]

Weird.
All the sources I can find indicate that the M60 RISE armour package was the Israeli 'Blazer; ERA. I say 'indicate' because I can't find the procurement data on it.
But yeah, that's different stuff.
I have an old Verlinden set of it but it's long out of production

[Jeffry Fontaine]

The second image is not depicting an ERA package on that M60A1.  If I remember correctly, the USMC acquired a type of ceramic and metal armor to fit their M60A1 fleet to offer a slight improvement against certain types of munitions.  Not sure if it was intended to defeat or nullify the HEAT type chemical energy warheads or to assist in defeating kinetic energy projectiles.  It was at most just a quick fix for the M60A1 fleet then in service with the Marine Corps. 

[ChalkLine]

Took a lot of looking! yep, it's the RISE 'NERA' add-on armour.

Verlinden 1/35 Vp575 Tank Armor M60 A1 Rise Add On

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/verlinden-productions-575-m60-a1-rise--209341

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Took a lot of looking! yep, it's the RISE 'NERA' add-on armour.

Verlinden 1/35 Vp575 Tank Armor M60 A1 Rise Add On

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/verlinden-productions-575-m60-a1-rise--209341

Thanks for digging that name up, it was bugging me as I recognized what it was but had long ago forgotten the official description for the stuff.  I could only recall that it was a combination of metal plates with something inert sandwiched between.  Link to more details and a bit of history on the NERA type add-on armour at WikipediaNon-Explosive Reactive Armor 




***Edit to create something coherent from my reply -- jjf

[ChalkLine]

I have already destroyed one Tamiya M41 turret while trying to improve the commander's position.  My focus was on removing that odd looking feature entirely to replace it with something more fitting such as the cupola from an M113 or the "Urdan" style cupola adoped for use on the M48A5 and reminiscent of the cupola seen on early production M48 and M103 tanks. 

Will try to do the same modifications again with another turret but this time making sure of what I remove before going all out and cocking up another one. 

One of the AFV Club M41 kits included a metal barrel but the muzzle brake was plastic.  Can not recall if it is the M41 that originated with Skybow or the AFV Club kit but all in all, the AFV Club/Skybow kits are a much nicer kit as it should be considering what the price is for the damned things.  Tamiya is the path of least expense and easy to come by in comparison.

So I have bought myself this to change over cupolas, do you have any recommendations?

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/defmodel-dm35115-us-m113-okinawa-shield-cupola-set-m113-1-35--1370652

[Kerick]

I like that M113 cupola.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

So I have bought myself this to change over cupolas, do you have any recommendations?

Hard to narrow it down to just one.  Specifically for the Tamiya M41 kit; If you are up for the challenge and can successfully remove the commander's cupola and fill in the large not circular void that is left and get it converted to a round hole that can fit an M113 cupola then you are off to a good start.  The "Urdan" cupola (also available from that same company) is your other option or something similar from the spare parts bin.  Another option might be the late model M4 Sherman all-around vision cupola that was fitted toward the end of the Sherman production run.  That style or type cupola was used on many other armored vehicles in the 50s and 60s. 

One of our other members here created a very nice looking M41 with modifications to the hull that included adding an air-cleaner box from an M48/M60 to one side and leaving just one exhaust muffler on the other to represent an engine upgrade to something with better fuel consumption and power output (fuel injected diesel with turbo-super charger).  There were other modification made but the air-cleaner box was the most memorable on that build for me. 

Additional inspiration for a T2K themed M41: M41-DK1 built by Marcel Jussen at Modellversium.de (German language but you can use a translator on your browser if necessary). 

[ChalkLine]

For anyone thinking of chopping off that cupola I found the weld image of the turret showing what it would look like with it gone.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Nice find! 

My own attempt to remove that portion of the Tamiya M41 turret ended with an egg-shaped hole thanks to the shape of the cupola. 

[ChalkLine]

Nice find! 

My own attempt to remove that portion of the Tamiya M41 turret ended with an egg-shaped hole thanks to the shape of the cupola.

I'm thinking mine will end up the same. Then I'll try and blank it out with a sheet of stock and put the cupola on that.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Really glad that the Tamiya M41 kit is so cheap.  No regrets when I mutilate the kit while experimenting with an idea   this latest attempt resulted in me cracking the upper hull while enlarging the turret ring hole to allow fitting the turret from an Italian Leopard 1A4.

[ChalkLine]

As you've cut of the APU's exhaust exit you'll have to fund another place for it :)
That exhaust gave them no end of problems, it had four official locations for the muffler including one where they ran a pipe out of the exhaust, along the stowage beside the turret and onto the front mudguard. You could literally have it coming out the cannon muzzle and it wouldn't be any less ludicrous than the official one.

Everything's on the back-burner for me as I move yet again. A couple of week's couch surfing to recoup the money I had to pay when my flatmate took off and stopped paying rent is in the cards.
I wonder if they'll let me set the resin printer up in the loungeroom? :)

[Jeffry Fontaine]

As you've cut of the APU's exhaust exit you'll have to fund another place for it :)
That exhaust gave them no end of problems, it had four official locations for the muffler including one where they ran a pipe out of the exhaust, along the stowage beside the turret and onto the front mudguard. You could literally have it coming out the cannon muzzle and it wouldn't be any less ludicrous than the official one.

Everything's on the back-burner for me as I move yet again. A couple of week's couch surfing to recoup the money I had to pay when my flatmate took off and stopped paying rent is in the cards.
I wonder if they'll let me set the resin printer up in the loungeroom? :)

Good eye catching the APU feature removal.  For the Tamiya kit there is not much there to begin with beyond a raised feature that is of irregular dimensions.  The AFV Club kits (both AFV Club and the original Skybow) have that APU exhaust feature going in both directions as you described.  Not that will stop me from removing the damned thing from those kits too as I am not fond of that feature even if it is a necessary bit of kit.  I like the idea of perhaps installing the APU in a different location in the hull where it is not in the way. 

A shame you are going to be living out of a suitcase for the near future.  Hope you find a new place soon. 

[ChalkLine]

The APU sits just in front of the engine on the right lower side of the hull. I can't see why an exhaust pipe can't run along the bottom of the engine pay, the engine by definition will be off so it won't overheat it. That's bring it out near the infantry telephone on the rear hull?

Evidently the first 2,000 just vented straight out that little triangular vent, no muffler at all. It must have been deafening.

I agree, dumb spot for it and it sort of shrieks 'after thought'. I bet the fumes went straight up the side of the turret and in the ventilator.
go but no fume hood for the printer, maybe I can just put it outside at night?

[Story]

Caption as presented
" Vietnam War. Two Us Marine Tanks Stuck In Deep Mud In Northeastern Thailand During Operation Bold Mariner.
It's Objective Was To Find Viet Cong "
That'd be https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Bold_Mariner

Other captions are "1962 Stuck M41 Walker Bulldog Tank 3rd Recon Squadron [ARVN] Thailand"

Note the Regimental shield on the turret and the IR spotlight