Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

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Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

Post by Tomcat64 »

As mentioned in the chat & guidelines thread I originally didn't think I had anything that qualified for this group build but digging in the stash revealed AFV Club's 1/35 M-16 with 2 Korean War decal schemes, so this will be my entry.
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Intro
Here's a quick intro based on info from Tanks Encyclopeadia with some of my own photos taken at Bovington over the years

Multiple Gun Motor Carriage – M16 3,505 Built
The M16 MGMC (multiple gun motor carriage) was an American anti-aircraft half-track developed during World War II to counter the perceived increasing threat of enemy aircraft. The vehicle was based on an existing half-track chassis, with the M16 MGMC built on the M3 Half-Track’s chassis. The primary armament of these vehicles was the M45 Quadmount, equipped with four .50 caliber M2 machine guns, which earned the M16 MGMC the nickname ‘meat-chopper’ for its devastating effectiveness against ground targets. The M16 MGMC and M17 MGMC were produced in large numbers and saw extensive use in both World War II and the Korean War. They were valued for their versatility, providing anti-aircraft support and direct fire against infantry and light vehicles. The M16 MGMC, in particular, became a key asset in the European theater, especially during the later stages of the war, when the Luftwaffe’s presence had diminished, and the vehicle was repurposed for ground support roles.
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In May 1943, the White Motor Company’s contract was modified to replace the M13, which was in production at the time, with the M16 MGMC, continuing to use the M3 Half-Track as a base. Production began in May 1943 under contracts W-303-ORD-1860 (production order T-4031), W-303-019-ORD-4672 (production order T6648), and W-303-019-ORD-5334 (production order T-7944).
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The White Motor Company was contracted to convert 586 unissued M13 MGMCs into M16 MGMCs. This was performed in August 1943 as a supplement to contract W-303-ORD-1860. In addition, 109 T10E1s were converted to M16 MGMCs under contract W-303-019-ORD-2897 (production order T-16577) in November 1944, after which they retained their registration and serial numbers. Diebold, Inc. (Ohio) converted the final group of 60 M16 MGMCs from M13 MGMCs in December 1944 under contract W-33-019-ORD-2982. The final number that was contracted was for 3,505 M16 MGMCs.
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In November 1943, the Headquarters of the Armed Service Forces requested a platform be added to the mount to allow two cannoneers to stand behind it without having to move; this was designated the M16D. On 7 September 1944, the Ordnance Committee recommended that all M45 mounts on M16 MGMCs be modified using platforms as on the M16D.
Kit
I've had this kit in the stash for a while alongside the old Tamiya equivalent
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Inside the box
An instruction booklet with some shiny pages and some matte pages
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And a load of sprue frames
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There's an amount of very fine flash and a lot of unsympathetic sprue gates & ejector stubs that'll need a lot of care on the plethora of small parts.

There are also some clear parts, and a bag of assorted bits such as PE, string, springs etc that'll be revealed as I get to them in the build

The four decal options
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And finally a panel on the box side displaying the all important note that the "Ammunition box carrying handle can behave dangling"
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It looks like there might be some small fiddly stuff involved here and I think I'm going to have to plan the build/paint stages especially for the chassis & engine.
Cheers, Neil

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Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

Post by aur0ra145 »

It's actually called 'Meat Chopper' I thought that was just your own joke! :cheers2:
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Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

Post by RangerNeil »

The (in) famous Maxon turret - depending on whether you were on the giving or receiving end. :) I knew a guy who restored a free standing one here in the UK, he had the .50 cals firing on gas as our laws don't let us own fun stuff like live fire .50's......
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by digger303 »

    I've been trying to find the PE update set for the quad kit, but they are as rare as hen's teeth in these parts.
    :cheers2:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Stokesy44 »

    AFV are known for their detail. Looks like quite a kit.
    Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    aur0ra145 wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 5:08 pm It's actually called 'Meat Chopper' I thought that was just your own joke! :cheers2:
    Yep - I can't take credit for this one :D
    RangerNeil wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 8:13 pm The (in) famous Maxon turret - depending on whether you were on the giving or receiving end. :) I knew a guy who restored a free standing one here in the UK, he had the .50 cals firing on gas as our laws don't let us own fun stuff like live fire .50's......
    I know which end I'd rather be!
    digger303 wrote: Mon Jan 20, 2025 11:34 pm I've been trying to find the PE update set for the quad kit, but they are as rare as hen's teeth in these parts.
    :cheers2:
    I've had a look and they're just as rare up here - the Eduard set is going for £60+ on fleabay
    Stokesy44 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 8:33 am AFV are known for their detail. Looks like quite a kit.
    Ain't that the truth - more on this later :crazy:

    Thanks for checking in lads :cheers2:
    Cheers, Neil

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    Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper - Build Part I

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    I made a start on this one in the evenings after work this week and it was very enjoyable to be back building a styrene kit again.

    Quality-wise it's been a bit hit & miss with some parts fitting really nicely, but others just being butt-joints and fairly vague.

    Anyways here's page 1 of the instructions
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    Aside from some fiddly stuff cutting attachment points & ejection stubs from teeny parts there was no real challenge. Although the carpet monster made a grab for a couple of small parts they were recovered safely

    Oh - just one thing on parts C46 & C47 - the number tabs on the frame are indicated by the red arrows in this pic, and I had a few panicky moments thinking the whole section was undershot until I noticed the actual parts lurking down by the green arrow...
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    Here's what I ended up with after a couple of sessions - a gearbox and the start of the chassis
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    Flip onto the second page
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    I can just imagine the conversation in the AFV Club canteen on a Friday afternoon... "Hey - you know that 1/35 M16 we're doing - how about if we make them stick on a separate dipstick?" "Great idea - but what about six teeny tiny spark plugs too???" "Awesome - they'll never find them!!!"

    Well... AFV Club team
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    Here is the engine complete with the aforementioned dip-stick & plugs all accounted for
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    I've left off the components arrowed in red on the instruction image to ease painting and later construction - I hope.

    Finally here is the engine & gearbox assembly all dry fitted
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    I will probably end up deviating from the instructions a little as I want to try to build and paint up as much of the chassis and separate subsections as possible before bringing it together.

    That's all for now - thanks for looking :cheers2:
    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by digger303 »

    Not a bad engine I think once cleaned up a little and painted.
    :th: :th: :th:
    :cheers2:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Stokesy44 »

    Looks like its going to be a challenge. Engine and transmission looks good. AFV living up to their reputation :crazy:
    Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by DRUMS01 »

    Looks good so far and the detail isn't bad either. I'm curious exactly how much of it will be seen once its all built up.

    I was looking at the 1:16 version but the price is a little too steep...

    Were you planning on adding a crew?.... or a small dio.?
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    digger303 wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 6:02 am Not a bad engine I think once cleaned up a little and painted.
    :th: :th: :th:
    :cheers2:
    Yep the nature of the dark, glossy styrene means that any trimming/sanding marks really show up but I just noticed there are a couple of seams I missed... :scratch::
    Stokesy44 wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 8:11 am Looks like its going to be a challenge. Engine and transmission looks good. AFV living up to their reputation :crazy:
    Thanks mate - I think it's definitely one to take my time over for sure
    DRUMS01 wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 4:00 pm Looks good so far and the detail isn't bad either. I'm curious exactly how much of it will be seen once its all built up.

    I was looking at the 1:16 version but the price is a little too steep...

    Were you planning on adding a crew?.... or a small dio.?
    Thanks Ben, I'm planning on posing it with the hood folded up on at least one side so some of the engine will be on show.

    I've not been able to find a decent "in action" crew for it but am debating adding a couple of characters from this set to give it a sense of scale
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    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    Well... it's been a while hasn't it... Apologies for the general lack of posting but since the end of January and in no particular order my wife, mum, brother & boiler have all been in the wars to one degree or another. I'm happy to say that they're all on the mend now and while me and the cat seem to have come through relatively unscathed bench time has been understandably curtailed.

    I have picked away at this project from time to time grabbing the odd half-hour in the evenings after work so rather than go through step by step (because I can't remember most of it) here's a quick recap based on the following instruction pages
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    I do recall some issue with section 5 whereby some parts aren't exactly symmetrical and I didn't spot this until after I'd put things together so beware in there if you do build this kit.

    Section 9 would have you install the engine & gearbox so I skipped that as I wanted to paint them up separately and tackled this bit instead
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    And here's how it looked about a fortnight ago
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    We've just had a couple of weeks off work to try & recharge the batteries and as a result I finally got back in the den for a few sessions; the engine and gearbox were painted up and installed - here's section 9. Just a quick note here in that the drive shaft between the gearbox and the transmission for the track drive sprockets didn't line up and had to be clipped & reinstalled
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    And the front wheel assemblies - the sections in yellow are highlighted because there is absolutely no way of getting C33 & C34 through C35 & C36 respectively without surgery. The resulting front axle/drive assembly is really flimsy as well. Oh and then the component indicated by the red arrow magically appeared in the instructions - I went back through & checked... nope hadn't missed anything... found it later in section 40!
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    Here's how it looked all painted up and assembled
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    At this point I've not added the winch or road wheels - so here are the wheels painted up & assembled. The instructions have various notes in there to be aware of directions etc but there's no clear indication as to what to be aware of and how to identify it...
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    These were then installed and the tracks added - these are rubber band tracks. I found out fairly recently that the actual tracks are also effectively big rubber bands and not made of separate links. Well... the process of adding the tracks resulted in the left hand drive sprocket breaking off, and the right hand idler breaking :bash: Once these were rectified with copious amounts of CA the tracks didn't sit properly so I added more CA & weight and left it like this overnight
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    It's still a little "springy" around the drive sprocket but this'll do for now
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    Time to make a start on the cab then...
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    Nothing too challenging but the seat backs and firewall had noticeable ejector pin marks that I chose to fill as I suspected they'd be visible
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    The seats are just dry fitted here - they'll drop in fairly easily later on (I hope)
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    I've also added the dashboard in the hope that I can get in through the open top/back of the cab to add decals once it's all been painted up
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    Dry fitted onto the chassis & it's starting to take shape at long last
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    Next up was the radiator protective louvre (which was fiddly but ok) and the windscreen/cab frame assembly which was really vague on how/where to fit and has taken a couple of attempts to try and get it where I think it should be
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    There are still a couple of gaps that I'm going to have to either fill with shims or live with (still undecided)
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    And then the doors & hood assembly
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    I decided on having the right hood covers partially opened as I've seen in walkaround vids mainly because this is probably the more interesting side of the engine
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    It's still a bit scruffy in places but think it'll be ok under paint - and there's that awful gap between the upper part of the door and the window frame
    Image

    Popped it onto the chassis again to make sure everything still fitted and here's how it looks now
    Image

    Hopefully things will continue to settle down and I'll be able to get back to posting more regularly.

    Thanks as always for looking :cheers2:
    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Stokesy44 »

    Cracking work and great to see you back with us :th:

    Adding the body parts really brings the kit to life, I really like the boxy structure of the cab and engine nacelles.

    As for AFV instructions, you can usually find them in the 'Fiction' section at your local library. I have 2 AFV kits in the stash and I'll admit it. I fear them :crazy:

    Fun fact, I may have mentioned this previously but the .50 cal had an adjustable rate of fire. I didnt know MGs could do this but when fitted to aircraft (fighters and bombers) they dialed the rate right up as you wanted to put the maximum amount of good news out there in a short burst. Fascinating (to me, anyway).

    Excellent progress and good to hear things are going better with family and the boiler :th:
    Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by digger303 »

    Stokesy44 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 7:46 pm Cracking work and great to see you back with us :th:

    Adding the body parts really brings the kit to life, I really like the boxy structure of the cab and engine nacelles.

    As for AFV instructions, you can usually find them in the 'Fiction' section at your local library. I have 2 AFV kits in the stash and I'll admit it. I fear them :crazy:

    Fun fact, I may have mentioned this previously but the .50 cal had an adjustable rate of fire. I didnt know MGs could do this but when fitted to aircraft (fighters and bombers) they dialed the rate right up as you wanted to put the maximum amount of good news out there in a short burst. Fascinating (to me, anyway).

    Excellent progress and good to hear things are going better with family and the boiler :th:
    What he said

    That is interesting fact about the 50cal. I guess on the ground cooling is a issue and keeping accuracy reasonable.

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    Stokesy44 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 7:46 pm Cracking work and great to see you back with us :th:

    Adding the body parts really brings the kit to life, I really like the boxy structure of the cab and engine nacelles.

    As for AFV instructions, you can usually find them in the 'Fiction' section at your local library. I have 2 AFV kits in the stash and I'll admit it. I fear them :crazy:

    Fun fact, I may have mentioned this previously but the .50 cal had an adjustable rate of fire. I didnt know MGs could do this but when fitted to aircraft (fighters and bombers) they dialed the rate right up as you wanted to put the maximum amount of good news out there in a short burst. Fascinating (to me, anyway).

    Excellent progress and good to hear things are going better with family and the boiler :th:
    digger303 wrote: Mon Apr 28, 2025 12:51 am What he said

    That is interesting fact about the 50cal. I guess on the ground cooling is a issue and keeping accuracy reasonable.

    :cheers2:
    Thanks guys - I didn't know that about the variable rate of fire but I guess it makes sense to have that available :think:
    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    Stokesy44 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 7:46 pm As for AFV instructions, you can usually find them in the 'Fiction' section at your local library. I have 2 AFV kits in the stash and I'll admit it. I fear them :crazy:
    I'm guessing they're in "fiction" because there's no space in "horror" or "fantasy"!!

    I'll be honest and say I've been a bit disappointed with this kit given it's a recentish release from 2020.

    Aside from the instructions needing Mystic Meg to interpret the overall fit & moulding has been pretty hit & miss. Some of the smaller parts have had moulding tags bigger than the part!
    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by Tomcat64 »

    Right... enough whinging coz there's been more progress :)

    I added some filler & a sliver of thin plastic card to sort out the nasty gap between the door & windscreen frame... I now have a good idea why this actually happened but more of that in the next episode
    Image

    Skipping ahead in the instructions I found a whole page devoted to adding a pair of headlamps...
    Image

    So decided to add them in now - I should be able to get the lenses in after painting
    Image

    Next up was the main deck/fighting compartment (not sure what to call it to be honest)... be aware that the section of instructions at the top right is ONLY for the WW2 version and is ignored for the Korean war variants
    Image

    Nothing too taxing... but alignment was still ropey in places
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    Oh - see where it says "Font" with an arrow in Section 33? I thought they might mean "Front" ...but no... that's the back... :scratch::
    Image

    This is how it turned out at this stage
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    Most of the ejector marks are hidden away nicely but AFV couldn't help themselves and left a handful on exposed surfaces...tidying in progress
    Image

    And there's a nasty join down the back, right side
    Image

    I also went back and built the windscreen visor thingy at this point
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    Starting to look the right shape :)
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    I added an extra strip of thin styrene to tidy up the back end
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    PE bits added down the front - the radio still needs to be painted up & added to the box
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    Everything was then primed in Ultimate black & given a coat of vallejo US Olive drab... I'm definitely out of practice with the airbrush as I had a couple of nasty runs to tidy up & respray
    Image

    Down the back I've assumed that the arrowed parts are spare gun barrels as there's no info supplied but I've painted them up anyways
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    All stacked up in Olive Drab
    Image

    I've made a bit more progress in the evenings this week and should be able to throw some decals at it this weekend along with building up the gun assembly

    Thanks as always for looking :cheers2:
    Cheers, Neil

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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by digger303 »

    Looking very nice and the decals will bring it alive.
    :th: :th: :th:
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    Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

    Post by RangerNeil »

    Tomcat64 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 5:27 pm <Snipped>
    These were then installed and the tracks added - these are rubber band tracks. I found out fairly recently that the actual tracks are also effectively big rubber bands and not made of separate links.
    </Snipped>
    "Fun" factoid - those tracks when driven on hard ground last 1500 miles - and as of 5 years ago cost £1500 a side so basically the track cost was £1/mile. Probably a lot more by now..... :)
    And towards the end of their life they tend to shed lumps of hard rubber which, as a friend found out, can do a nice number on police car windscreens..... :?
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      Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

      Post by Stokesy44 »

      All the perseverance is showing now the primer and paint has gone on.

      Looking forward to seeing the pew pew mount go on.
      Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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      Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

      Post by digger303 »

      RangerNeil wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 8:45 pm
      Tomcat64 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 5:27 pm <Snipped>
      These were then installed and the tracks added - these are rubber band tracks. I found out fairly recently that the actual tracks are also effectively big rubber bands and not made of separate links.
      </Snipped>
      "Fun" factoid - those tracks when driven on hard ground last 1500 miles - and as of 5 years ago cost £1500 a side so basically the track cost was £1/mile. Probably a lot more by now..... :)
      And towards the end of their life they tend to shed lumps of hard rubber which, as a friend found out, can do a nice number on police car windscreens..... :?
      Explains why pic's can be seen on tanks where the track had no rubber at all.

      I don't know how long the life is today on tractor rubber tracks or bobcats, but they haven't gotten any cheaper. A set for a 450hp tractor is around $35-40,000 aud.
      :cheers2:
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      Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

      Post by RangerNeil »

      digger303 wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 11:42 pm
      RangerNeil wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 8:45 pm
      Tomcat64 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 5:27 pm <Snipped>
      These were then installed and the tracks added - these are rubber band tracks. I found out fairly recently that the actual tracks are also effectively big rubber bands and not made of separate links.
      </Snipped>
      "Fun" factoid - those tracks when driven on hard ground last 1500 miles - and as of 5 years ago cost £1500 a side so basically the track cost was £1/mile. Probably a lot more by now..... :)
      And towards the end of their life they tend to shed lumps of hard rubber which, as a friend found out, can do a nice number on police car windscreens..... :?
      Explains why pic's can be seen on tanks where the track had no rubber at all.

      I don't know how long the life is today on tractor rubber tracks or bobcats, but they haven't gotten any cheaper. A set for a 450hp tractor is around $35-40,000 aud.
      :cheers2:
      Not all tracks either are rubber or have rubber pads. The UK's traffic laws specify 2 speed limits for "track laying vehicles steered by their tracks (Cat H on the driving licence):
      * Track laying vehicles with resilient material pads = 20 mph
      * Track laying vehicles with steel tracks = 12 mph

      Resilient pads don't last much longer than the Half Tracks "rubber bands".
        Neil (yet another one...)

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        Stokesy44 wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 11:33 pm All the perseverance is showing now the primer and paint has gone on.

        Looking forward to seeing the pew pew mount go on.
        digger303 wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 2:53 pm Looking very nice and the decals will bring it alive.
        :th: :th: :th:
        :cheers2:
        Thanks chaps :cheers2:
        RangerNeil wrote: Fri May 09, 2025 8:45 pm
        Tomcat64 wrote: Sun Apr 27, 2025 5:27 pm <Snipped>
        These were then installed and the tracks added - these are rubber band tracks. I found out fairly recently that the actual tracks are also effectively big rubber bands and not made of separate links.
        </Snipped>
        "Fun" factoid - those tracks when driven on hard ground last 1500 miles - and as of 5 years ago cost £1500 a side so basically the track cost was £1/mile. Probably a lot more by now..... :)
        And towards the end of their life they tend to shed lumps of hard rubber which, as a friend found out, can do a nice number on police car windscreens..... :?
        I didn't know that - for some reason I thought they'd last longer than that... but thinking about it 1500 miles was a decent distance to cover during WW2
        Cheers, Neil

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        Did someone mention decals - here's the cab; I built this up with the expectation that it might be tricky to get the decals in around the steering wheel but it wasn't too bad and the decals stood up to some abuse whilst getting them in place
        Image

        But during this process I spotted these two teeny little holes... what on earth could they be for...
        Image

        Ummmm... they'd be the locating holes for the windscreen wipers... you'd expect them to be on the outside right?? Looks like someone may have installed the windscreen frame inside out... the cat is denying everything so it was probably me :bash: This explains why the fit between the frame and the door was off... Oh well.. I drilled them through and went with it as it's too late to dismantle and try again

        Decals (all two of them) were added to the chassis and everything was given a coat or two of Ultra Matte
        Image

        Main body
        Image

        And cab - I did manage to wreck the one on the left hood cover but nicked the last two numerals from another set of decals in the kit which is why they're slightly out
        Image

        The interior of the fighting compartment was kitted out
        Image

        Light lenses were added and the subsections were stacked together
        Image

        Gun Turret instructions
        Image
        Image

        Most of the gun turret was built up
        Image

        And test fitted - and just for Stokesy a part assembled gun was added to see if the angle looked right (altho I think they're referred to as dakka-dakka's rather than pew-pews on one of these :) )
        Image

        So really just the guns to finish up and the radio to detail paint and we're just about there :)

        Thanks again for dropping by :cheers2:
        Cheers, Neil

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Quax »

        the sins of the wicked are often forgiven once paint and decals go on, it just goes to show what a superb job you've done with this so far!! :bow:: :bow::

        Paul
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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by digger303 »

        Pauls on the money

        :th: :th: :th:
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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Stokesy44 »

        Beautiful work.

        The decal on the radiator cover looks superb and the gun mount looks superb with the detail. :clap: :clap:
        Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Kevthemodeller »

        Late to the party here, some cracking work going on Neil :th: :pop:
        Kev

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        Quax wrote: Tue May 13, 2025 5:27 pm the sins of the wicked are often forgiven once paint and decals go on, it just goes to show what a superb job you've done with this so far!! :bow:: :bow::

        Paul
        digger303 wrote: Tue May 13, 2025 10:06 pm Pauls on the money

        :th: :th: :th:
        :cheers2:
        Stokesy44 wrote: Wed May 14, 2025 11:53 am Beautiful work.

        The decal on the radiator cover looks superb and the gun mount looks superb with the detail. :clap: :clap:
        Kevthemodeller wrote: Tue May 20, 2025 2:35 pm Late to the party here, some cracking work going on Neil :th: :pop:
        Thanks guys :cheers2:
        Cheers, Neil

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        Ok so another delay between posts for a variety of reasons but I managed to get this finished last weekend...

        First up you can see from the previous post that there was a bit of a gap between the back of the cab & the main bodyImage

        That shouldn't be there so I did some carefully calibrated realignment with CA and wheel weights...
        Image

        With that sorted seats were installed
        Image

        And a couple of PE parts that I'd missed earlier on were added to the windscreen armour shield
        Image

        Onto the guns... this was a couple of evenings faffing around due to the small PE bits, but I think they're all there
        Image

        Tombstone cartridges used up most of the rest of the PE
        Image

        I was a bit concerned that there were still a couple of parts left on the fret, but they're not mentioned in the instructions that I could see and actually there were a decent number of leftover styrene bits as well...
        Image

        So after priming and painting the turret & dry fitting the guns I spotted something everso slighty amiss... Each gun sits on a pintle (red) and a seat for the stock (orange)
        Image

        The upper guns lined up pretty well
        Image

        Image

        However the lower pair were very much out of kilter...
        Image

        With the right hand lower gun fouling on the fixtures for the upper one
        Image

        I'm prepared to accept some of the credit for this with sloppy work, but bascially the mounting points are less than optimal - as a result I cut off the rear arms of the lower guns & resited them
        Image

        This'll do
        Image

        Other final pieces were painted up with a hairy stick & installed
        Image

        And with that I'm calling this one done - getting the turret installed is a bit of a struggle as there is pretty much zero clearance between the turret and the side walls.
        Image

        I'll dig out the grown up camera this weekend with any luck for the reveal shots

        Thanks again to everyone that followed along yet another extended build! :cheers2:
        Cheers, Neil

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by digger303 »

        Bit disappointing that AFV couldn't get things into alignment and sized properly.Never the less you've created a good display piece.
        :clap: :clap: :clap:
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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Stokesy44 »

        Great finish on a less than friendly kit Sir :clap: :clap:
        Its been tried and tested, it works! So don't blame the system if you're no good. :doh:
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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        digger303 wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 12:30 am Bit disappointing that AFV couldn't get things into alignment and sized properly.Never the less you've created a good display piece.
        :clap: :clap: :clap:
        :cheers2:
        Stokesy44 wrote: Fri Jun 06, 2025 7:46 am Great finish on a less than friendly kit Sir :clap: :clap:
        Thanks chaps - in hindsight it's been a frustrating build because so much of the detail and engineering is great, but sections of it seem really sloppy; it's like they've been engineered in different places (or after a friday lunch down the pub)
        Cheers, Neil

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Kevthemodeller »

        Boy that was hard work, great saves there Neil :banana: :clap: :clap:
        Kev

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        Re: Tomcat's AFV Club 1/35 Meat Chopper

        Post by Tomcat64 »

        Kevthemodeller wrote: Mon Jul 21, 2025 3:23 pm Boy that was hard work, great saves there Neil :banana: :clap: :clap:
        Thanks Kev :cheers2:
        Cheers, Neil

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