Recently I had a craving for building some models again.
Luckily I found an old kit in my bitsbox: A 1:72 scale model of the US M3A1Halftrack, made by Hasegawa. (Kit nr. MB-006) The kit was probably bought once with the intention of using it in some diorama with a downed aircraft. 1:72 is the staple scale for aircraft kits after all.
I have never had any experience with Hasegawa earlier, but the kit was clean, with little flash, molded in medium-grey. Except for the model soldiers which were to cartoony, the kit had a good level of detail. And luckily the kit included an optional canvas top, so I opted to scrap the soldiers and model the kit with the top up and all hatches closed.
A M3 Halftrack of a later variety, today on display in Belgium
The Carrier, Personnel Half-track M3 was an armoured vehicle used by the United States and its allies during World War II and the Cold War. The design, using as many commercial components as possible to improve reliability and speed production, was standardized in 1940 and built by the Autocar Company, Diamond T Motor Company, and the White Company.
The M3 was the larger counterpart to the M2 Half Track Car. The M3 had a longer body than the M2 with a single access door in the rear and seating for a 13-man rifle squad. Ten seats were arranged down either side of the vehicle, with three in the cab. Racks under the seats were used for ammunition and rations; additional racks behind the seat backs held the squad’s rifles and other stowage. A small rack for mines was added on the outside of the hull just above the tracks. In combat, most units found it necessary to stow additional food, rucksacks and other crew stowage on the outside of the vehicle, and very late vehicles had rear-mounted racks for this crew stowage.
The M3A1 adopted a raised, armored ‘pulpit mount’ for the .50 caliber (12.7 mm), and .30 caliber (7.62 mm) machine guns could be used from mounts along the sides of the passenger compartment. The body was armoured all around with an adjustable armoured shutter for the engine’s radiator and a bullet proof windscreen. Total production of the M3 ran to nearly 41,000 vehicles.
The model
I had no plastic cement, but crazy glue (ethyl cyanoacrylate) works as well at this scale, somewhat better on smaller parts. As for paint I used acrylics from the Citadel range. For olive drab a 50/50 mix of goblin green and snakebite leather, with a bit of chaos black to darken the shade, the khaki canvas: 2 parts snakebite leather to 1 part skull white. In hindsight this was perhaps a bit to dark, ut lets just say the vehicle is fresh from he assembly line, and the canvas has not been bleached by the sun yet. The decals were good, even if the kit must be at least 10 years old, I have no idea if the serial number is historically correct, and if it is, where the orginial vehicle saw service, but it hardly matters much for a fun little model like this.
Size comparison with a Norwegian 1 kroner coin
As can be seen in the photos, the decal of the star on the hood was a bit off center. I later removed this, and reapplied it.
All in all I think the model came out okay, and the scale is quite nice for armoured vehicles as the finished models don’t take up to much space, and at the same time a fair level of details can be achieved. Incidentally, I have a 1:35 scale Tamiya kit of the same vehicle stashed away unassembled at my parents house, so when I have the time I will make this models big brother.
Front view
Polar Coordinate 