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M14 ARVN "Walker Bulldog"


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Hi everyone

Here is Tamiya’s M14 “Walker Bulldog”, which I have built to represent a vehicle operated by the IV Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Armour School, Thu Duc, South Vietnam 1971.

The kit was reasonably well detailed and went together fairly well. My only real disappointment was the lack of detail on the inside of the tracks (although a bit of heavy weathering has disguised this to some extent).

In 1964 the M41 light tank was selected to replace the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) M24 Chaffe light tank, which they had inherited from the French (who originally got them from the U.S.)

The first M41A3s arrived in January 1965, equipping five ARVN squadrons by the end of the year. Apparently the M41 was an instant success with South Vietnamese armour crewmen, who found its interior to be just perfect for their stature, which had been a principal criticism by US crewmen who had been assigned to the vehicle.

Scratch built items included:

- Mantlet cover made from a piece of cloth - soaked in pva glue / water mix.

- Ancillary generator exhaust system (brass tubing & card board)

- Kit’s plastic grab handles replaced with wire

- Tow cable made from string

- Aerials made from round styrene rod

- Jerry’s, water bottle and Ammo liners were from my spares box.

It was painted with Italeri acrylics (O.D & Medium Green II) and weathered with chalk pastels and MIG pigment (‘Vietnam Red Earth’) mixed with a little bit of turps, allowed to dry and then the excess brushed off with the wife’s......erm, I mean an ‘old’ toothbrush.

Vehicle decals were from ‘Decalcomaniacs’ and .30 cal liner markings from ‘Arms Corps Models’

References

Dunstan, Simon. Vietnam Tracks-Armor In Battle 1945–75. 1982 edition, Osprey Publications

Various info I stumbled across on the net

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Edited by Mossy
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Looks like you did a pretty good job on it. One thing though, your tracks are on backwards. The "Y"-shaped pad should point down in the front, like a Y. Also, AFV Club has a great set of replacement vinyl tracks that have details on both sides and are pretty cheap. AFV Club also has a very nice replacement roadwheel and running gear set that is nice as well. The muffler for the APU usually exited and pointed to the rear over the right rear fender, not the front. You could also add the stamped "X"'s on the outsides of the fender storage boxes to add a bit more to it as well.

Edited by HeavyArty
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Thanks Gino

I can't believe I put the tracks on back to front! I've seen AFV's 'workable' tracks but not the vinyl ones - will look to get hold of a set.

Also, here's a couple of photos I used for reference and forgot to post earlier. In regards to the APU muffler, I did find it a bit odd that it exited at the front of the vehicle - at least on the few vehicle photos that I found anyway...do you think this could have been a modification?

Cheers

Greg

M-41_Walker_Bulldog_3.jpg

Home0012.jpg

Edited by Mossy
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  • 1 month later...

According to my references, the APU muffler moved during production. Originally, it was on top of the right rear main engine muffler, but it was moved on later production tanks to the front fender as it was getting damaged from the heat of the main muffler.

Interesting. Thanks for that Dave :thumbsup:

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