M3 Honey Finished

The M3 Honey conversion has had the last few splashes of paint aimed at it. My photography skills do no favours to the details: Brigade flashes, Recognition flashes, graphite and rust on the tracks etc. In the end, the mantle was carved from the cork at the front of the turret. Here it is.

 

M3 Honey converted from PSC M5 Stuart. Photos copyright Chris Kemp

M3 Honey Conversion - Losing the Fat Head

 

Photo copyright Phil Steele. Old Glory M3 with the PSC conversion

After letting the paint dry on my M3 and staring at it on the workbench, I came to the conclusion that the turret was too big, wide and just generally fat. Finding an old 20mm turret confirmed that it was also too chubby at the front. The deal breaker for me was that the turret angles were not sharp enough making "the look" unconvincing. I trimmed it and although it is still too long in the front (The commander's hatch should cover the roof when open, just about), it looks about right now. I could have just measured it, but hey?

After trimming  the turret, the model was airlifted  round to Trebian's Shedquarters, as  he has one tricked out for Burma (Skinner's Horse?). Cripes, I thought, the whole thing is massive compared to the Old Glory offering! A quick impromptu meet of the Greek Philosopher's scale debating club convened over tea and cake after the game, before Phil and I separately went off to count the camel's teeth!

It turns out that the PSC is accurate, and that by skill or luck, my M3 is bang on the nail for height and width, but short at the back. The OG model is undernourished, although it looks fine on it's own. I love 1:100 as a scale. Even I can do the sums!

A quick paint to get it "table ready", then it's into the box to await a game or bulk weathering session. As ever, I fudged the Caunter scheme - My M3 doesn't have sand sheilds, so I went with Tamiya Mid Blue on the turret roof, Olive Drab lightened and desaturated with Light Blue, and Desert yellow, all over a khaki undercoat. It's not as garish as my first attempt with the Massive Moritz.

M5 Stuart to M3 Honey 15mm PSC Kit Conversion

Phil Steele coined the "Pointless Conversion" phrase during one of his exemplary builds of an SU-122, observing that sometimes an apparently pointless project made sense. This conversion is one such as I already own a couple of perfectly servicable metal M3s with the later round cast turret. Phil brought a box of PSC M5s back with him from a show at my request. At the time of purchasing, I thought the spare hulls  would do nicely for the Western Desert and for Eastern Front Lend-lease. I knew that M3s were used, but didn't realise that M5s were not, or that more importantly all three hull variations in the PSC kit were M5s. Bobbins!

Undaunted, I set about a pointless conversion. First of all the rear deck was cut off and reversed. Saw away the fuel tanks and save them, they will be needed later. I used a block of wood as the lower hull with the upper hull shimmed to get it level, and the tracks glued straight to the block.

Next, the front glacis plate was chopped away. Card (plasti- or paper) was used to deck in the holes, and was trimmed level once it had set. I do most of this with scissors and a fresh sharp scalpel, obviating the need for much filler, although when this technique goes wrong, the bodges are more obvious.

The hull was reasonably straightforward to build up and a spare PSC T-34 fuel tank made the vertical exhaust chambers. The suitably chopped fuel tanks went back on in a reversed position, although looking at some of the desert pictures, square stowage boxes occupied these spots.

A cork core sheathed in card formed the frame for the turret. I ran the angles by eye, filing and slicing away until it 'looked about right' although it is probably a tad over scale. The PSC commander in beret deflected attention away from any deficiencies in this area. Wire from the bits bin made a gun and some Milliput will provide a mantlet.

The conversion appears slightly too short in the hull, but I wanted it to fit in with my existing two metal M3s. Job done. I suppose I should paint it now instead of sending it Soviet-style into its first game wearing nothing but an undercoat. Mantlet, paint and more faffing about to follow ...

http://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2012/10/01/gazala-tank-strengths-cross-referenced/