My 1st Tank... The Tamiya M41 Walker Bulldog.

[ahmed malik]

Let me make a quick introduction of myself, i am 12 years old and live in the UK. My previous model was a ferrari f40 which i hated doing, it took me months because i hate building cars. But, now i have a tank, which i finished assembling in one day so i thought i would do a little build log. THis post will be about the assembly, the painting will be a few days and weathering, about a week later. (Because i have to get weathering and painting supplies from my local hobby store).

This kit is very old, but is surprisingly easy to build compared to how old it is, no fit issues whatsoever!
This kit comes with 3 figures, vinyl tracks, and the tank parts.

I am sorry for the blurry images,my camera is old and cant focus. I'll see if my camera on my phone will fare better

Picture of the actual thing;

what i noticed is, NO SAG! WTH!

cover of box​

sprues​

alright vinyl tracks







sorry about the blur



Step 1 and 2 , wheels and miscellaneous details on lower hull



turret. The main gun i svery detailed, but some putty is needed, but not necessary.




Done tank, No fit problems whatsoever. But, being a n00b, i accidentally broke the headlight covers at the front. If anyone knows where i can get spares, please tell me.



overall, its a very easy build, perfect for beginners, like me. Although, there are some very small and fiddly parts, so some experience would be good.

M would like to have seen;
1. Some interior
2. PE parts
3. More detail on the figures

Painting will come in a few days.

 

[Biskup]

Looking really good Ahmed. I will be watching for the next post as I want to see it in paint badly
I always liked this tank and I wanted to get one for a long time
Cheers
Lukasz

 

[ahmed malik]

Looking really good Ahmed. I will be watching for the next post as I want to see it in paint badly
I always liked this tank and I wanted to get one for a long time
Cheers
Lukasz

Thanks,
The paint won't be for a few days, i can't afford an airbrush so i use a spray can and i tried with my phone camera, and it focused , more pics will be up tomorrow. This time, focused.
Also, i just thought i'd share this,
blutacked it to wall beside desk 8). So i can make the model and look at the box, without wasting space on my table( i like my space :)

 

[J14]

Nice work there! This is a perfect kit for a beginner to start out with. In fact I just picked up one from the other day at the LHS for 12 bucks. I plan to build it with my 6 year old son.

I built one a few years ago and the only thing I replaced was the .50 cal. The one in the kit is just awful.

Yes it is old. One of Tamiyas early offerings...long before multiple parts counts and PE etc. It still has the motorization/battery holes on the bottom hull.

what i noticed is, NO SAG! WTH!

I am assuming you are talking about the tracks.

You will not see US tanks with sag in the track. They use a live track system which keeps it pretty tight with little to no sag.

More detail on the figures

Tamiya have never been known for their figures. They make great kits but even today their figs are pretty weak.

AFV Club makes a Bulldog kit thats light years ahead of this old relic. But its more parts, challenging to build and of course more expensive.

Thanks for sharing with us. You picked a great kit to start with.

Jeff

 

[geegad]

this was one of my first tanks to nice and easy build just have fun with it

geegad

 

[Jim Lewis]

Very nice job! The Walker Bull Dog is my all-time favorite tank. Tamiya's is an oldie, but can certainly be worked into a goodie with a little extra effort. I had a lot of fun with the one I built.

Excellent choice in picking this one for your first tank model.

 

[panzerace007]

AHMED ,

Great start into Armor ! Th Bulldog has a cool silhouette ! Keep rockin' it !!

\m/

 

[ahmed malik]

Ok i went to my LHS, bought tamiya olive drab 2 ( they run out of 1) btw, whats the difference between 1 and 2. And humbrol primer. The primer turned out to be rough, but it suited the tank as most tanks are rough. they're fighting in wars, not winning beauty contests. this was the end result, weathering will be a few days.
decals are applied, but really badly, don't have micro sol.



one of the handles fell of when painting. :'(


hope you like it.
i don't think weathering will be done for a long while, i have to buy mig pigments, and my mom hesitated to buy me £10 of paint... from my own money. Well, that's airbrush ruled out .
is it possible to use pva glue, water, and actual dirt. :-\ if so how. i saved up £70, im just not allowed to spend it... so unfair

 

[Biskup]

Hey man,
It's really hard to say anything as the pictures are blur.
As for weathering you might want to checkout art supple store and have a look at dry pastels (not oil pastels) you should be able to by few for a price of single pigment. Minus of that is that you need to grind them in to powder. For that I use steel mesh that original is used for making tea.
Cheers
Lukasz

 

[spud]

ya really hard to see the tank, all we are seeing is whats around it, are you useing a camera phone or a camera ?

 

[ahmed malik]

a really old 4 megapixel digital camera, we've bought a nikon d5100 because i might start photography, but it will come in about 10 days. I will repost when i get it. And also, i bought mig pigments.

 

[Biskup]

Even thou its old I think you should be able to make good photos with it. Do you have you macro option on? The one for making photos of really small things like flowers insects etc. It allows to get focus close to the camera.
Regards
Lukasz

 

[spud]

Get your self a tripod or a few books set the camera on timer to avoid camera shake, Use some where between f/18 to f/25 this will have everything in focus and focus on the tank,

 

[ahmed malik]

to biskup
Its about 3-4 years old and it was really bad so no macro photography. I am researching how to use the d3100 (yeah i forgot the name of the camera its not a d5100 its a d3100 :) camera better on the internet.

 

[spud]

The D3100 is Nikon, i believe its new and not out long, and should be a good enough camera to get you started and into photography.

 

[ahmed malik]

I meant the camera i used to take the picture snow was old. The d3100 hasn't came yet, and (i've never done photography, but does f/18 mean the size of the focal lens is small, so it lets less light in, so the shutter speed has to be longer. any pics will be up soon, finished weathering.

 

[spud]

The higher the f/stop the more in focus your subject I'll be and for models we need high f/stop so Ivy's all in focus,

The lower numbers like f/2.8 and down makes the background blurry and some of the subject,

So lower f/stop number let's in more light and more out of focus background and a higher f/stop number let's in less light and has more in focus.

 

[TBadger]

When I was just getting back into photography with my D3100 I just purchased this year, I found this site VERY helpful in setting up and taking pictures. Investing in a small light tent, building your own, or even a small deicated space with some KILLER lighting is crucial. Daylight style bulbs really help the pictures in the post production. I also have a copy of Photoshop 7.0 from a ways back in college that has unlimited licensing for "educational" use. I can email that in a .zip

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/guide/display/photography-1/

 

[ahmed malik]

When I was just getting back into photography with my D3100 I just purchased this year, I found this site VERY helpful in setting up and taking pictures. Investing in a small light tent, building your own, or even a small deicated space with some KILLER lighting is crucial. Daylight style bulbs really help the pictures in the post production. I also have a copy of Photoshop 7.0 from a ways back in college that has unlimited licensing for "educational" use. I can email that in a .zip

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/guide/display/photography-1/

i have a mac, so will it work on that, and i've read the article, but i don't really know what to do exactly on the editing stage. 8) thanks for the help

 

[ahmed malik]

When I was just getting back into photography with my D3100 I just purchased this year, I found this site VERY helpful in setting up and taking pictures. Investing in a small light tent, building your own, or even a small deicated space with some KILLER lighting is crucial. Daylight style bulbs really help the pictures in the post production. I also have a copy of Photoshop 7.0 from a ways back in college that has unlimited licensing for "educational" use. I can email that in a .zip

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/guide/display/photography-1/

oh sorry, i didn't know about all the other parts :