"Airfix M3 Half Track" Topic

Hi Folks

Just a quick review. Enjoy

myplasticwarriors.blogspot.com

Dave

A nice reminder Dave of that classic kit.
It is a number 1 kit in terms of longevity and quality for its time.
It came out in 1970(??). no one else did one at that time .
Fond memories.

martin

Oh yes. I remember the kit very fondly. This was the second kit I bought as a young teenager and I have loved half tracks ever since.

Ah yes I remember having a couple of those in my youth I also remember the disappointment of getting a 1/76 matchbox M16 half-track to go with them and finding out it was much smaller. As a young lad it was a useful lesson in scale.

Me too Prince Rupert! I guess it was a common lesson to us all at one time!

Thanks Gents! Funny… of all the kits I have built in decades of model building I have not built the Matchbox kit. One of my friend's had it and it was very small.

Well my first thought is that, in your hands, it is a far better model than I recalled. On mine, 50 years ago, I chopped the doors in half and that allowed me to drop the side armour. I did the same by raising the front screen on three little plastic rods. The end result was far too thick and totally ignored the frames that should have remained in place, but I thought I was so clever. My first ever conversion and I soon learnt how much I was not so clever!

This is an A1 whatever type it is, showing the 50 on the raised mount. The mudguards (fenders) are the simpler type made by International Harvester and I would have maybe thought this was an M5A1, but it has the square welded rear corners, not the curve seen on most Lend Lease. The hinged side panels are more like an M14, the AA version, but that usually had a front winch and did not have the rear door. None of this matters, it looks right!

Does it still come with the ambulance markings?
I do have one Half Track from Academy in Free French markings, but suddenly have huge respect for the Airfix model. Must have!

A great posting. Thanks

I agree. I think it is an M3A1. But for the life of me I can't figure out the crew compartment. Years ago, I put Matchbox M7 Priest 105mm guns in to make the T19. I think I still have those in a box in the garage. \o/

Also, the decals are different. They still have the Red Cross, but added are Military Police and lots of little stars.

Does anyone remember the kit coming with a canvas top across the crew compartment or was that another kit? I know I see it on very old kits like Normandy.

Regarding scale, the Airfix kit has been variously packaged as a 1/76 and 1/72 scale model. TBH it doesn't look too bad along side some 1/72 scale models from other manufacturers (Academy, Italeri, Forces of Valor) but not the larger PSC US and Commonwealth halftracks nor the massively overscale Hasegawa kit. The problem with the Matchbox (now Revell re-pop) M16 MGMC is that it is dimensionally correct in length but far too narrow for 1/76 (this can be most easily be seen by comparing the rear piece of its fighting compartment with the Airfix kit).

The Airfix kit has many problems. As has already been mentioned, it has the flat pattern IHC mudguards but not the rounded rear hull corners. It also has hinge detail for the fold-down flaps of an AA (MGMC) variant and in fact the strange interior with the two single seats most closely resembles an MGMC, though these did not have an exposed floor/foot well and when they were converted to APCs in Commonwealth service those seats were ripped out anyway and replaced with benches. The panel lines are incorrect for an M3/M3A1 and the sides of the crew compartment should be the same height as the rest of the fighting compartment. The full height bulkhead behind the crew compartment is also problematic. The automotive style headlamps would seldom be seen after 1942 but are not strictly speaking incorrect. The M49 MG pulpit is a fairly crude representation and is actually the wrong shape. It also hangs in mid air without its rear support. Quite a few of these "sins" could be hidden using the full tilt that used to come with the model but unfortunately Airfix discontinued this item (sometime in the 80s I think…). The mine racks are also far too wide and slightly the wrong shape (and would not be able to accommodate a jerry can btw).

Excellent photos of what correct M3/M3A1 details should look like can be found here:
link

P.S. For those disappointed with the diminutive Matchbox kit, the easiest way to create an M16 MGMC that is roughly compatible with some of these other models is to cross-kit the Matchbox M16 with the OOP Nitto/Fujimi M3A1 which, although it gives absolutely no indication on the box, contains alternative parts to build an M13 MGMC (twin AA). Replacing the twin MG mount with the Maxson quad mount from the Matchbox kit, along with some other minor surgery, can produce a very passable M16.

Very cool! I might have to give that conversion a try.

If you don't have the Fujimi kit, they turn up fairly regularly on eBay – I recently picked up a pair only slightly incomplete for just $AUD 9.95.

And you might find this thread on M-L useful – it has some rather scratchy old photos of one of my builds that show two different approaches to that conversion:
link

One of my favorite Airfix kits…so many cool bits!

very cool link…Hornswoggler. I hope everyone checks it out.

I knew I had seen an analysis of the origins of the Airfix half track, a true "hybrid"

Here is the original.

TMP link

But I do like the model shown above, faults and all.