Virtual Museum of the Vietnam War

M42A1 Duster

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Tamiya 35161

I started the construction of my model of the M42A1 in 1/35 scale with the old Tamiya model kit, number 35161. At that time (summer 2007) this was the only available kit, allowing to build this vehicle in this scale. It has been around for decades, and this starts to show, quality-wise, regrettably. Details in need of rework or correction, are in my opinion:

In addition, while analysing the plans, I also discovered, that the Tamiya kit has a serious dimensional issue with the angles of the front armor plates - this distorts the shape of the model and causes wrong dimensions of the hatches and doors.

M42 Hull parts out of the box

To correct some of the above mentioned details, I used the Eduard photoetched parts kit number 35449. Additionally I used two kits from AFV Club, number 35046 (T91E3 Track for M41 family of vehicles) and 35045 (M41 Light Tank Wheels & Suspension) which radically improve the accuracy and looks of the vehicle's suspension:

AFV Club 35046

AFV Club 35045

I divided the construction report into three parts:

Part 1 - Suspension and hull

Part 2 - Main armament and its mount

Part 3 - Scale plans

In the first half of the year 2012 AFV Club released a new kit of the M42A1 number 35042, that has been announced for more than 10 years.

1:35 AFV Club 35042 M42A1 Duster

1:35 M42A1 hull comparison

Comparison of the hulls from Tamiya (top, after my rework) and AFV Club (bottom)

Because the new kit allowed to build a far better model in a shorter time than the old Tamiya kit, I decided to start over, usind whatever I could from my previous, unfinished model:

Part 4 - New suspension and hull

Part 5 - New main armament and its mount

Part 6 - The crew

Part 7 - Final assembly and painting

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