Dragon 1/35 M4 Mortar Carrier

[Dave Ward]

As an odd note - I've been assembling the cab - gear levers, brake lever, steering wheel - but NO pedals? Surely it had pedals?
Dave

[Jim R]

NO pedals? Surely it had pedals?

Strange that. If the omission shows then scratching them would be no problem.
Jim

[Dave Ward]

Once you've worked out the placement of the parts, the fit is exquisite!, it's just not obvious at first..............
I spent ages hunting for a part S3, the S3 I found didn't remotely look like the instructions.................until I noticed that there is another sprue called 'S'! ( It's only small is my excuse )

Aside from the fact that there aren't any pedals - there aren't any decals for the dashboard instruments, and not even a paint reference. I'll have to look in the decal box & find some suitable dials. There is a driver, who would conceal the lack of pedals & I'll paint him up, to see if he looks the part. You have the option of having two panels open ( one either side ) showing more ammo stowage, but I'm not doing that. The back of the bonnet is scored, so you can have one leaf open to show the nifty little engine, but that isn't mentioned in the instructions..............
Dave

[Guest]

Surely it had pedals?

Of course it did

(source)

This is an M3, but all these M2, M3, M4, M13, M15, M16, M21 etc. halftracks had the exact same cab, aside from minor things like the number of seats.

[Dave Ward]

Of course it did :smiling3:

(source)

This is an M3, but all these M2, M3, M4, M13, M15, M16, M21 etc. halftracks had the exact same cab, aside from minor things like the number of seats.

Jakko,
The dials on the dashboard all seem to be white, & knobs black, which simplifies things. The driver will obscure the lack of pedals, so that's sorted!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

The body is ready to be primed & topcoated, I've left off the seats, radio, the mortar & the ammo stowage, as they'll need a bit of detail painting.

Driver assembled roughly ( arms are blutacked on! ) ..............................and the front radiator shutters. Each photo etched shutter fits into a slot on either side of the surround. Or it would, if the shutters weren't too long, or the aperture too narrow. Widening the aperture was the easiest, but in the process, the locating slots vanished. Adding four PE shutters by eye was aggravating! I've done the best I could, but if after priming & topcoating, it looks rubbish, then I'll go to plan 'B' - which is using the supplied shut version!
One of those jobs that looked simple on the face of it, but ended up taking half an hour - so I didn't quite get as far as I expected today!
Dave

[stillp]

I quite like the slightly 'wobbly' appearance of the louvres Dave. I bet the real ones weren't neat and straight for long.
Pete

[Dave Ward]

I quite like the slightly 'wobbly' appearance of the louvres Dave. I bet the real ones weren't neat and straight for long.
Pete

Pete,
what I'm hoping to do, after painting, is use the tweezers to try and even the spacing out, but it's nice to have a fallback. The shutters were the same armour as the bodywork, so you'd have to hit something pretty hard to bend them!
Dave

[Guest]

I bet the real ones weren't neat and straight for long.

I suspect they were, as they were made of 6.4 mm armour plate

[CarolsHusband]

6.4 mm armour plate :smiling3:

" Is that quarter inch armour plate, Booker ? "

[Guest]

That’s what the Americans, lacking as they are in the sensible measurements department, call it, yes :tongue-out:

[Dave Ward]

That’s what the Americans, lacking as they are in the sensible measurements department, call it, yes :tongue-out:

What do the United States, Liberia and Myanmar have in common?
They are the only countries not to have adopted the Metric System!
Dave

[Dave Ward]

After a bit of tweaking - the radiator shutters, with plan'B'

I can leave this for a while & wait until the final assembly to see which looks best....................
The two body pieces were primed & then topcoated ( I nearly forgot the PE mudflaps ). Its going well, but there are a few tricky parts left - PE brushguards for the lights & the armoured visor for the windscreen

Dave

[adt70hk]

Looking good Dave!

ATB.

Andrew

[stillp]

What do the United States, Liberia and Myanmar have in common?
They are the only countries not to have adopted the Metric System!
Dave

Didn't Jimmy Carter once promise that the USA would go metric before the end of his presidency?
Pete