Hehe! Well I figured with the great ersatz m-10s going on right now I could contribute a little bit to this conversation...
While I wait for some items to arrive for my
panther ausf A diorama I felt the urge to do a build. After working with Tamiya's ancient panther I wanted something a bit more up to date and realistic...
so without further ado here it is:
I chose 1/48 because I figured it would make the build go a bit quicker, and also for the cost, this way I can afford some nice aftermarket goodies...
which include a full PE detail kit, interior and out by Hauler (very nice, but wish it had the .50 cal in there!), an Aber barrel, and stowage and soft armor by Black Dog:
I was a bit disappointed by the blackdog kit, the sandbag portion is warped and the two halves of the cast don't line up properly. Also there are some strange additions to the stowage...a box of cabbages? However, the detail is very crisp and most of the items are very nicely sculpted so I will pick and choose what I want to use and make my own sandbag armor.
The inspiration for this build is this photo:
M10s of the 634 TD Bn entering Aachen in October 1944. I have seen a couple of other photos of these vehicles as well but unfortunately I can't remember where!! And this is the largest photo I have found online...
However it is easy to see that these vehicles are the later duckbill version...so some scratch building will ensue.
So onto the build....
I got stuck right into the hauler instructions removing things to be replaced by photo etch like the engine grills, tie-down handles and armor bosses...wait oh crap, those bosses weren't supposed to come off! just the molded on washer and bolt details...
So I had to improvise. I read that some later m-10s didn't have all the bosses, just the ones on the hull front, so I thought great I can use the extra kit ones (intended for the hull sides)...but no, after a day's worth of research no go, I couldn't find any pics of m-10s without them during this time period, even though I read that they were being produced in july of 44 (go figure!)
So there goes the rest of my afternoon cutting tiny little (damn 1/48th!!) bolts to use as armor bosses...
I'm happy to say I'm very happy with the results though and may have even been worth the effort!!
I put one of the Hauler nuts and bolts on to see how they sit. Compared to the kit parts it may seem a bit 'proud' but that was something that always irked me about this kit, that the armor bosses look so flat and not dimensional enough. And after seeing this picture I was satisfied that this was work-able:
As you can see, especially on the turret the bosses protrude quite a bit. So I'm moving forward!!
Next is the turret interior with hundreds of tiny little P.E. pieces...wish me luck!!
Then onto building the duckbill counterweights...I'm not looking forward to that :_|
So finally some questions for you guys
1. Does anyone have or know of a full size version of the photo of the m-10s in Aachen?
2. Does anyone have or know of any blueprints that show the duckbill counterweight?
Also, please feel free to speak up and let me know if there is anything else i need to change to get this vehicle from mid to late!!
Cheers guys
A 'real' M-10!!
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