US Light Tank M41 Walker Bulldog by Jack12477- Tamiya - 1:35 scale

[Jack12477]

Of the 3 or 4 armor kits in my stash I decided to start with the latest acquisition,  the Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog which I picked up in Hobby Lobby for a ridiculously low price of $13.  This is a remarkably simple kit to assemble. Painting it will be fun. It come with decals for 3 variants, 1 WWII US and 2 Japanese Defense Forces. I'm going to do the US markings.

 

The obligatory box art and contents

 

 

And the beginning assembly progress.

 

Edited April 29 by Jack12477

[Canute]

Nice bargain, Jack. I'll be following. 😄

[CDW]

The M41 was made by Cadillac. Wonder if it was as comfortable inside as a Cadillac? 😀

[Jack12477]

I wouldn't know  @CDW , was never a big fan of Cadillac cars! But then in my youth my buddies always told me a Cadillac drove like a tank. 😉😊😇

 

But I can say this is by far the simplest tank kit I've built. There are no interior details to mess with, everything is exterior. And true to Tamiya standards, no flash, no ill fitting part, superb detail in the exterior castings. A great kit for a beginner modeler. Other than painting it olive drab green when I finish assembling, I haven’t decide on how much, if any, weathering I want to do. It does have 3 figures which will be a challenge to paint. 

Edited March 25 by Jack12477

[Egilman]

Not a big seller for Tamiya, that's why it costs so little, but it's the only real game in town for that particular model.... It's pretty accurate and cleanly molded...

 

Would benefit from aftermarket tracks though, T91E3 Workable Track Links 1-35 AFV Club

 

It's had an undistinguished career as a tank, designed to be a light recon tank, but sized more like a medium tank, it never really fulfilled either role well... After the initial issue to US troops, (who didn't like it) the remainder of production was sent to foreign allies....

Aside from Vietnam where the bulk of it's combat history took place with the ARVN, (who loved it) it's only real combat capabilities were revealed in the CIA backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, 8 of the 16 tanks landed held off three companies of T-34-85's in the only successful incursion off the beach, they eventually ran out of ammo and were destroyed or forced to surrender, the other 8 were abandoned on the beach...

 

It was a good tank, but by the time it was being issued, the whole concept of heavy, medium & light tanks was passe'.... The Main Battle Tank concept was being developed along with the M-48 Patton....

 

I'm down brother...

 

 

[Egilman]

3 hours ago, CDW said:

The M41 was made by Cadillac. Wonder if it was as comfortable inside as a Cadillac? 😀

Nah according to the troops it was assigned to, it was too cramped inside, the crew had no room to be human....  {chuckle}

[CDW]

37 minutes ago, Jack12477 said:

I wouldn't know  @CDW , was never a big fan of Cadillac cars! But then in my youth my buddies always told me a Cadillac drove like a tank. 😉😊😇

 

But I can say this is by far the simplest tank kit I've built. There are no interior details to mess with, everything is exterior. And true to Tamiya standards, no flash, no ill fitting part, superb detail in the exterior castings. A great kit for a beginner modeler. Other than painting it olive drab green when I finish assembling, I haven’t decide on how much, if any, weathering I want to do. It does have 3 figures which will be a challenge to paint. 

The parents of one of my best friends from junior high school days used to drive new Cadillacs. They would drive us over to Daytona Beach for the weekends where we spent many hours on the boardwalk, riding the rides and playing the games of chance. I always thought riding in those Cadillacs was a big deal back then. They went down the road super smooth, quiet, and the air conditioning was superb. My oldest brother had several convertible Caddys down through time. They rode the best of them all because they weighed more. Super smooth rides.

 

I bought the same M-41 kit just to get the turret mounted .50 caliber machine gun from it, which I used on an Israeli Sherman tank. One day I should find another .50 cal to replace the one I stole then build my M-41, too. Looking forward to seeing how yours turns out.

[Jack12477]

3 hours ago, Egilman said:

Not a big seller for Tamiya, that's why it costs so little,

Actually Hobby Lobby was having a clearance sale, looked like they were rearranging merchandise aisle and were getting rid of some kits. According to the engravings on the sprues this kit was produced in 1973. 

[Jack12477]

Assembly complete.  Applied a coat of Tamiya Fine Scale grey primer.

 

[Haliburton]

Looking good!

[CDW]

Did you do your primer from a rattle can or from your airbrush? It laid down super smooth. Nice job, Jack.

[Jack12477]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Did you do your primer from a rattle can or from your airbrush? It laid down super smooth. Nice job, Jack.

Tamiya rattle can.  Yes, it dries to a semi smooth (gloss) finish.

 

Edited March 27 by Jack12477

[king derelict]

That looks very nice and neat Jack. Some lovely detail there. This is a new AFV to me so its great to learn about it.

Alan

[Jack12477]

10 hours ago, king derelict said:

That looks very nice and neat Jack. Some lovely detail there. This is a new AFV to me so its great to learn about it.

Alan

This is a 50 year old kit a cording to date engraved on sprues.  The detail is very sharp, and no flash to clean up. 

 

Edited March 27 by Jack12477

[Jack12477]

First coat of Vallejo Dark Green, airbrushed on.

 

⁸

 

Now to find where I stashed my Badger fine needles/tips from my previous years of modeling armor so I can do some shading, etc. I just hope I can remember how I used to do it  😉🤔🤫. Some parts will be hand painted and/or dry brushed. Still have the 3 figures that were included to do. 

[king derelict]

Looking very nice Jack

Alan

[popeye the sailor]

nice job so far Jack........I don't do enough armor.  am I rubbing off on you?...........see.....it's kinda fun to research the production dates of older models.  it can get interesting when you can trace the same kit from company to company.........the 1:72 Stuka kits I built has been produced by at least three different companies!  I've seen this kit on oldmodelkits..........Alan has quite a selection to choose from    I look on scale Hobbist to check out the time lines.  it shows how many time the molds changed hands  

 

look'in good !  

[Jack12477]

Stopped by the Hobby Lobby store today; the model kit area had a sign "All boxed kits 40% off". So I browsed the shelves, mostly cars, way down on the lowest shelf were 5 Tamiya Walker Bulldog kits. Sale price after discount was $13.19.  😲 Picked up another kit, was very tempted to buy 2 but resisted the temptation. So Walker #1 will have a companion tank. 🤔 

[Haliburton]

2 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Picked up another kit, was very tempted to buy 2 but resisted the temptation. So Walker #1 will have a companion tank.

Time for a diorama?

[CDW]

3 hours ago, Jack12477 said:

Stopped by the Hobby Lobby store today; the model kit area had a sign "All boxed kits 40% off". So I browsed the shelves, mostly cars, way down on the lowest shelf were 5 Tamiya Walker Bulldog kits. Sale price after discount was $13.19.  😲 Picked up another kit, was very tempted to buy 2 but resisted the temptation. So Walker #1 will have a companion tank. 🤔 

Do you have "Ollie" stores in NY? They bring in cases of random model kits from time to time and sell at a deep discount. Typically, model car kits that normally sell for $30 and up are selling for $12.99, sometimes less.

A couple of months ago, I bought a brand new 2 cycle string trimmer/edger for $69.99 at Ollies. That's less than half the cost of Home Depot or Lowes.

[CDW]

I robbed the .50 caliber machine gun from my Walker Bulldog kit to use on another tank project. I ordered this little kit to replace the machine gun. It's a shame to pay 1/3 the cost of the entire kit for one itty bitty machine gun but I did. SSMODEL SS835866 1/35 Model Upgrade US Browning M2 HB 0.50 Machine Gun 1pc | eBay

[Jack12477]

10 hours ago, Haliburton said:

Time for a diorama?

It's under consideration!  Big issue is where to display it. The ship models already take up all the display space. I have maybe 30 completed armor vehicles stored in plastic containers because I ran out of space. 

[Jack12477]

In anticipation of possibly doing a diorama I did pick up two cliff rock face rubber molds by Woodland Scenics. Incredible detail in these molds. 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

That will be sweet!  Definitely go for the diorama if you can.  

[Jack12477]

For now I'm calling Walker tank #1 complete.  I decided to hold off on weathering and/or camouflage until I decide on how I want to display it and the Walker tank #2 kit build is completed. But both will have to wait a while until after I deal with a medical issue that just cropped up unexpectedly. 

 

Note to Moderators: This build log is NOT FINISHED YET, only part 1 of 2 is finished.  And there is a possibility of a diorama to be added to this build thread.  

 

The Walker tank model #1:

 

Edited April 29 by Jack12477

[CDW]

It came out beautiful Jack. Take good care of yourself. Models can wait.

[Old Collingwood]

Yes  - Tace care  of yourself Jack.

 

OC.

[Egilman]

Hey brother, looks like you went aftermarket on the tracks? Excellent choice... (does a lot for the look)

 

Fine job, looks like it was just issued....

 

Take care of yourself my friend, we will still be here when you get back to it...

Edited April 29 by Egilman

[Jack12477]

3 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Hey brother, looks like you went aftermarket on the tracks? Excellent choice... (does a lot for the look)

 

Nope ! Those the out of box Tamiya tracks, which unlike other kit model tracks don't disintegrate after 5-10 years. 

[king derelict]

Very neat build Jack. It looks great. I hope the medical stuff gets sorted out soon and well.

Alan