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M26 Armored Tank Recovery Vehicle

by stephen sutcliffe (F4sooty)

Scale :- 1/35
Manufacturer :- Tamiya
Type :- Injection molded plastic

Here is the kit:





I will be using various accessories and detailing parts on this build. On the M26 itself I will be using the Eduard interior PE set, which consists of two frets and the exterior set which consists of three frets. as well as the PE I will be using bits from tamiya's general accessory set.
i will also be making a diorama to go with the M26 using a "Great North Roads" base, more on that later.

Here is the eduard PE.



To start, Tamiya have you building the radiator. Eduard provide the radiator grills. The first picture shows the parts that make up the radiator and then the built up item.





Next i moved onto to the engine cover, which is on the inside of the Cab. first i had to remove some plastic off the side panels. below is the side panel next to the driver, the areas to be removed are highlighted in red.



Once removed I added the PE parts, some of which were rather small!!! It was worth the time and effort as the PE adds so much detail.



With the other side panel and the top also getting some PE added it was time to assemble the cover itself. The radiator goes at the front and the three panels are attached to that. I then gave it a quick coat of paint and started to weather the cover, however i will have to wait till more of the Cab is in place before i can weather it fully.



with the engine cover complete I turned my attention to the underside of the chasis.



The first thing to add to the chasis is the front winch. this was rather straight forward to construct. For the cable, tamiya provide some nylon string, which after a coat of Citadel boltgun metal looks really good.



 Also to the front of the chasis, I added the power steering unit and the air cleaner. The front suspension was added at this stage too



The front axle was next.





At the rear of the Chasis the main part to assemble is the "Tandem axle unit". This will be constructed in several stages. I am not mechanically minded so I don't know the correct name for some of the parts. From what i have worked out, the rear axle drives chains on either side of the chasis, whcih in turn drives the rear wheels. Stage one.....construction of the chain drives.



The kit chain gaurds were replace with superior ones from Eduard.



A quick update, the next stage of the Tandem axle unit was to build the axle and then place it between the two chain drives. The axle went together with no problems. Here is a picture of the three components of the axle unit:



It was slightly tricky to join the parts together and on my first attempt I got the axle the wrong way round.



With the Axle unit complete I fixed it to the underside of the chasis, along with the front axle. To make things easier the "hard to reach areas" were given a coat of Lifecolour olive drab UA222 (FS34088). After a quick coat of klear I gave the underside a quick wash of Promodeller MUD mixed with a dab of Dark Dirt. I will be going over the easier to reach areas again and adding more weathering. finally bsome of the edges were rubbed with a 4B pencil to give a worn appearance. The 4B pencil is ideal as graphite is very soft and goes on a treat.


My attention has now turned to finishing the interior which will take a bit of time as there is well over 50 PE parts yet to fit. I started at the driver's position. The moulded on pedals are pretty awful and were replaced.

Before



After



Behind the drivers seat there is storage space for a jerry can. The can itself is held in position with two straps made from PE. As the jerry can goes right behind the driver's seat it doesn't have a back. Unfortunatley the back of the Jerry can will still be seen when its in place. therefore I added a small piece of plastic card to the back of the jerry can.



As well as the Jerry can, I also added a canvas bucket.



I also added a small piece of PE under the drivers seat.



After adding another Jerry can to the commanders side of the cab and the rest of the seats, the base of the cab is ready for paint. Again this will be Lifecolour olive drab.



Work on the inside is gathering pace, the engine cover is now fixed in place and all the parts to the drivers area and commanders area have been added. I also weathered these areas too.

Along the edges i used 4B pencil to simulate where the paint had worn off. Next I added a wash of Promodellers Mud mixed with dark dirt, followed by a wash I made by using Mig pigments old rust (p230) and their wash thinners. This wash was then applied in random places along the edges, around bolt heads and in some of the recessed areas. Next I applied some Europe dust (P028) to the surfaces and especially to the floor.





The Cab is now finished on the M26. The main cab body was straight forward to put together though it was time consuming with all the PE detail parts that had to be fitted. However it was well worth the effort.
The rear wall of the cab is seperate from the main body. Onto this i added items to add a little interest.





as for the main body of the cab various items were added to both the walls and ceilings. the cab itself was painted with Lifecolour Olive green then weathered. This is the weathering process I used:

1. I drybrushed the edges and some patches on the wall with citadel Boltgun metal

2. I then went over some of the edges with a 4B pencil which added a bit of contrast to the boltgun metal.

3. a light wash of promodeller Mud and Dark dirt which i mixed together prioir to applying.

4. I then added a wash of Mig pigements old rust and there thinners to random areas of the cab walls.

5. i then gave the whole cab a wash of of SIN industries "the filter" P245 brown for dark green. This blended everything together.

6. finally i added some Mig pigments Europe dust.

see what you think


After joining the rear wall to the cab body i then placed it into position on the chasis. I also added a driver and commander figures. Also to add another bit of interest I added a ration pack.









My attention has now turned to the exterior. first job was to begin removing all the moulded on hinges from around the edges, these would be replaced by eduard parts.



The kit radiator doors are to be replaced by Eduard PE ones. The PE ones not only look better but are nearer to the correct scale thickness. The picture shows the PE doors alongside the kit one



Next up were the front window armour plated covers. As with all the window covers on the M26 the kit ones will be replaced by Eduard ones. here is another comparison



Also included in the Tamiya kit is a small fret of PE



The Tamiya PE is excellent and a perfect fit.


I carried on with the construction of the outside which involved adding alot of PE. The first challenge was to modify the tool rack by swaping plastic for PE, this was quite a challenge to get right but was definitley worth the time and effort.



The racks were then placed on either side of the truck



the exhaust was easier as the PE parts were direct replacements for the kit parts. Some PE brackets were also added to the chasis were the exhaust would be fitted.





here are a couple more pictures showing were some of the PE was added





The lights that came with the kit were rather nice, Tamiya provided both clear lenses and chrome effect plastic too



The tyres were the vinyl rubber type. To make them look a little better I first sanded the seam from the centre of the tread then gave the sidewalls a sand. i don't intend on painting the tyres as the paint tends to come off, instead i will use weathering pigments and washes to give them that used look. as you will see later on i achieved the look i was looking for.



With the majority of construction complete I moved on to the paint and wetahering stage. After a coat of grey primer I then applied a base coat Of Lifecolour Olive drab UA222, this was taken from their excellent US olive drab paint set. The centre of the panels then recived a thin coat of UA223 Olive drab fadede type1. When this was dry I went over some of the panel lines and shaded areas with UA220 Olive Brab 319.
This method gave the M26 a worn effect.









Next I gave the whole thing a coat of "The Filter" P246 Grey for bright Green. The filter gave the whole thing a nice sun bleached effect and brought the paintwork to life.





The weathering process I used was rather straight forward. first up I applied a wash of Promodeller's Dark wash mixed with some mud wash. I don't know the exact amounts of each as i just added a drop of each into a jar. The edges were dry brushed with Lifecolour UA223 Faded olive drab then in places with Citadel boltgun metal mixed with black.

After allowing the wash to dry the excess was wiped off. Then I made  up a wash of Mig productions Old rust P230 pigment mixed with their thinners. I also made a wash using Mig Europe Dust P028. I only applied the wash to certain areas on the truck, I think the correct term is a Pin Wash. I also applied the Europe dust piment direct to the truck.





The exhaust was first given a coat of Lifecolour LC38 Matt rust2, then a wash of the Mig old rust wash i made earlier. Then I gave the whole thing a coat of Lifecolour Tensochrom Smoke. This is a cross between a wash and a filter. Finally i rub on some of Tamiya's smoke weathering powder on.



I now turned my attention to the tandem winch that goes on the flatbed area.
All the parts are on a seperate sprue, Tamiya also provide a small fret of PE.



Nylon string which is provided was cut to length and attached to the cable drums.



The drums were then attached to the winch framework. A nice liitle touch from Tamiya is the moulded on manufacturers name on the winch motors. It reads " Detriot Industries" along with a part number.



the framework was painted with Lifecolour UA220 Olive drab319, then dry brushed with Boltgun metal, It then had a wash of The Mig old rust wash I had made up. The tandem winch slotted in perfectly onto the rear chasis.





Thought i would post a few pics of the finished M26 before I start on the base and figures. also I have just noticed i haven't put the wing mirrors on !!!





















Steve.