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tamiya m551 sheridan


ken90-94
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i picked up the tamiya m551 sheridan model, and the book m551 sheridan in action by david doyle the other day at the hobby shop. plan on building a vietnam era m551 sheridan, but after reading the book had a few questions.

on page 14 it shows an (early) m551 w/ open breech scavenger gun tube (the same gun tube the tamiya model has), and a (vietnam) m551 closed breech scavenger gun tube. most of the pictures in the book showing m551 in vietnam is of the closed breech gun. my question is are the the same gun tube w/ one opean, and the other closed, or is it two different gun tubes? if it's two different gun tubes does any one make a closed gun tube, or will i need to scratch build one, and if have to scratch build any ideals how to build it.

another question on the armor shields for the 50cal, i know tamiya has some thing similar on their m113 acav, but does anyone know if some one sell's an aftermarket kit of just the armor shield, or will they need to be scratch built also?

any other hints on building the m551 sheridan would be helpful.

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i picked up the tamiya m551 sheridan model, and the book m551 sheridan in action by david doyle the other day at the hobby shop. plan on building a vietnam era m551 sheridan, but after reading the book had a few questions.

on page 14 it shows an (early) m551 w/ open breech scavenger gun tube (the same gun tube the tamiya model has), and a (vietnam) m551 closed breech scavenger gun tube. most of the pictures in the book showing m551 in vietnam is of the closed breech gun. my question is are the the same gun tube w/ one opean, and the other closed, or is it two different gun tubes? if it's two different gun tubes does any one make a closed gun tube, or will i need to scratch build one, and if have to scratch build any ideals how to build it.

another question on the armor shields for the 50cal, i know tamiya has some thing similar on their m113 acav, but does anyone know if some one sell's an aftermarket kit of just the armor shield, or will they need to be scratch built also?

any other hints on building the m551 sheridan would be helpful.

 

Go to one of the modelling sites like Squadron or Greatmodels.com and search for a replacement gun tube. Jordi Rubio has a line of replacement tubes in turned aluminum or stainless steel. They might have one out. I did a search on Greatmodels.com and it showed no return... however you might want to try it a few different ways... using keywords like Sheridan, M551, M-551, or 152mm.

 

The other option I would suggest is to kitbash... Granted, its a more expensive option, but... from all the reviews I have seen, the Tamiya kit isn't the best out there, the upper hull alone is gossly oversized... I've seen comparisons showing that a properly scaled upper hull can fit INSIDE the tamiya upper hull. I would suggest obtaining the Academy Sheridans... they make two... a vietnam one and a gulf war version. Both versions come with the closed breech scavenger system gun tube. You could obtain two of the vietnam versions and utilize the Tamiya gun tube on the Academy kit to model one of each type.

 

Hope this helps you...

 

Wayne

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mpguy 80/08 i see what you mean about the academy m551 sheridan it does look alot better then the tamiya one pluse it has most of the mod's done for vietnam era.

as far as the close breech gun tube it doesn't look like jordi rubio makes one.

on a side note while searching for m551 sheridan's, youtube had a training video that showed how to use all the weapons systems on the sheridan that is worth watching.

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mpguy 80/08 i see what you mean about the academy m551 sheridan it does look alot better then the tamiya one pluse it has most of the mod's done for vietnam era.

as far as the close breech gun tube it doesn't look like jordi rubio makes one.

on a side note while searching for m551 sheridan's, youtube had a training video that showed how to use all the weapons systems on the sheridan that is worth watching.

 

You must bare in mind that the Tamyia kit is from the early 1970s and unless they redid it lacks a great deal of detail, for instance the Anit aircraft sites, here they are solid unpierced discs also the Vietnam versions had one of the attenna mounts modifified, you'll see what I mean when you look at period photos, plus the front driver and radiomans hatches are molded and are not the normal hatch covers that are seperate, so here you cant put any crewman there, Is the Academy one a new mold ? Its been awhile since I made models but while Academy has within the last 10 years or so made new molded kits of their own, they had in large part use old Tamiya kit molds that are as you will know the exact same kit as Tamiya. If your into it Eduard makes etched brass stuff for every Vehical under the sun to include the sheridan.

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You must bare in mind that the Tamyia kit is from the early 1970s and unless they redid it lacks a great deal of detail, for instance the Anit aircraft sites, here they are solid unpierced discs also the Vietnam versions had one of the attenna mounts modifified, you'll see what I mean when you look at period photos, plus the front driver and radiomans hatches are molded and are not the normal hatch covers that are seperate, so here you cant put any crewman there, Is the Academy one a new mold ? Its been awhile since I made models but while Academy has within the last 10 years or so made new molded kits of their own, they had in large part use old Tamiya kit molds that are as you will know the exact same kit as Tamiya. If your into it Eduard makes etched brass stuff for every Vehical under the sun to include the sheridan.

 

Yes, the kits I'm referring to are new kits by Academy... Try and get the most up to date kit though... back in the early 90s Academy got into the bad habit of copying Tamiya kits almost exactly... and the Sheridan was one of them they copied. While both the Tamiya and Academy kits both suffer from faults, the Academy kits are closer to being more to scale and have the gun tube the Ken was looking for. The Tamiya Hull was made more to 1:32nd scale to fit the motorization packs Tamiya was known for back then... My first two army kits ever were the M41 Walker bulldog and M42 duster... both motorized. I ran wires out of the hull to a 6 volt battery to run them... The rest of the kit was scaled more to 1:35th scale which is what made the Tam Sheridan look so off. Yes, there are certain angles and shapes off in the Academy kits, but they are reportedly much more fixable with the proper references, plus you have the added plus of the accessories and bustle racks with the academy kits as well.

 

Wayne

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I also built that M-42 Duster waaay back when and thought it was the coolest model ever! Tamiya sure had a thing for motorizing tank kits.

 

Ken - good luck with that Sheridan. Make sure you post some pix back here when you get it finished.

Terry

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I also built that M-42 Duster waaay back when and thought it was the coolest model ever! Tamiya sure had a thing for motorizing tank kits.

 

Ken - good luck with that Sheridan. Make sure you post some pix back here when you get it finished.

Terry

 

THATS RIGHT ! it was one their Motorized one, I got their motorized M36 Jackson for Christmas 1973 and their Sturmgeschütz III for Christmas 1978, on the Stug III, did'nt mess with the motor like I did with the Jackson, just threw it away. When I got that Sheridan kit in the early 1990s by that time the old Motorized kits as you might know where still made, just that those motors where no longer in the box, which was slightly reworded to not include MOTORIZED.

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Yes, the kits I'm referring to are new kits by Academy... Try and get the most up to date kit though... back in the early 90s Academy got into the bad habit of copying Tamiya kits almost exactly... and the Sheridan was one of them they copied. While both the Tamiya and Academy kits both suffer from faults, the Academy kits are closer to being more to scale and have the gun tube the Ken was looking for. The Tamiya Hull was made more to 1:32nd scale to fit the motorization packs Tamiya was known for back then... My first two army kits ever were the M41 Walker bulldog and M42 duster... both motorized. I ran wires out of the hull to a 6 volt battery to run them... The rest of the kit was scaled more to 1:35th scale which is what made the Tam Sheridan look so off. Yes, there are certain angles and shapes off in the Academy kits, but they are reportedly much more fixable with the proper references, plus you have the added plus of the accessories and bustle racks with the academy kits as well.

 

Wayne

 

Right Around 1999 I got from Squadron, a Acadamy PZKW VI, it was a little chearper in price than the new Tamiya Mark IVs great kits that they are i did;nt have enough money for one so I opted for the Academy one which i thought was a new brand new make Mark IV, when received and opened, KFC I said, it was pure old school early 70s, real early 70s Tamiya. It amazing you know, that they still make those little figure kits from 1968-70, plus others if not most of all their catalog from those days, you know the German Tank crew, German Infantry and both the U.S. Tank and Infantry kits, I really loved those kits way back when, I loved the illustrations on all the sides of the boxes the insignias etc, I still have one or two newly made or should I say curently marketed ones that I bought just for old time sake 4 years ago.

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post-6975-1324507218.jpgBuilt this in 1973 after returning from RVN and stationed at Ft.Bragg. Our unit supported the 82nd's 551's. Having worked on them in Vietnam I kind of liked them compared to other "armored" vehicles. The tube may not be right but it was built with what came in the kit.
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post-6975-1324507585.jpg
post-6975-1324507218.jpgBuilt this in 1973 after returning from RVN and stationed at Ft.Bragg. Our unit supported the 82nd's 551's. Having worked on them in Vietnam I kind of liked them compared to other "armored" vehicles. The tube may not be right but it was built with what came in the kit.
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Just a note on Academy kits... Some can be real stinkers, like the EARLY Sheridan knockoff, but they have been releasing some real gems as well... such as the Panzerkampfwagen Mk VI Tiger with interior. Another of their early gems was the direct copy of the M2 Bradley with interior. What's the difference? Well, when I was stationed in Tongdeucheon Korea (1991-1992) at Camp Casey, I was assigned to a Bradley unit there. I had a Tamiya Brad that I'd built and had on my shelf. The unit just reveived the bradleys and everyone wanted to know where I got my kit. That Tamiya kit cost me $28 bucks back in the states at the time. Academy was selling a direct copy in Korea for $6... $10 if you wanted the motorized one. During that year in Korea I lost track of how many times I built that kit... at $50 a pop.

 

I currently have Academy's M18 hellcat tank destroyer. This is one of the Gems... and while it doesn't have some details, it is more than adequate, good fit and great detailling. I look at their kits this way... If the subject matter on the box top is in a painting, its good. A box top showing a photograph of the model is usually one of the copied kits. Correllate them with the comparative Tamiya kit and if it was released after say 1990 or so, you should get a fairly decent kit. Anything released by Tamiya prior to that is questionable.

 

Wayne

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Just a note on Academy kits... Some can be real stinkers, like the EARLY Sheridan knockoff, but they have been releasing some real gems as well... such as the Panzerkampfwagen Mk VI Tiger with interior. Another of their early gems was the direct copy of the M2 Bradley with interior. What's the difference? Well, when I was stationed in Tongdeucheon Korea (1991-1992) at Camp Casey, I was assigned to a Bradley unit there. I had a Tamiya Brad that I'd built and had on my shelf. The unit just reveived the bradleys and everyone wanted to know where I got my kit. That Tamiya kit cost me $28 bucks back in the states at the time. Academy was selling a direct copy in Korea for $6... $10 if you wanted the motorized one. During that year in Korea I lost track of how many times I built that kit... at $50 a pop.

 

I currently have Academy's M18 hellcat tank destroyer. This is one of the Gems... and while it doesn't have some details, it is more than adequate, good fit and great detailling. I look at their kits this way... If the subject matter on the box top is in a painting, its good. A box top showing a photograph of the model is usually one of the copied kits. Correllate them with the comparative Tamiya kit and if it was released after say 1990 or so, you should get a fairly decent kit. Anything released by Tamiya prior to that is questionable.

 

Wayne

 

You know wayne, I just now realised I was thinking about that old Tamiya duster kit in my quote's, .........DOOOOOOO......... but everything else we talked about holds true, as mention Academy has got some old Tamiya stuff as well as coming out with their own specificaly designed/sculpted kits, but for the over 45 year old crowd it was back in the old days for those who will remember, that the only kits that where out there, were the Tamiya ones as well as Italieri and if you wanted larger ones, Monogram. On the subject of the Sheridan and by extension my erroneously mentioned M42 Duster, I'm greatly suprised that AFV CLUB has not made either of these, the have had in the past done some kits that where seen only from tamiya, the Walker Bulldog, M3 Stuart, the Centorian for instance, them as well as Dragon.

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USARV72 - that's a pretty good-looking build of that kit. I can't believe you STILL had the finished model 30 years or so later! :lol:

Mine all went up in glue-flames, firecracker explosions, or fell prey to the BB gun.

Terry

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Meatcan,

Yea its lucky to be around. Lots of junk on the turret and antennas are long gone. Had lots of kits that I built while at APG. Buy the kit, go to the tank park and see the real tank. IIRC had 2 M-4s, M-36?, German Mk 3, 4 , Panther, Half track pulling the 88 and ??? The Panther was motorized. 1st Sgt had a good laugh one day as I "drove it" into his office. After RVN I built the 551, 577 and a M-42 Duster. Only kept 3, all are extreemly fragile.I'll post the 577 and Duster one of these days.

Merry Christmas to all.

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