We are continuing to move forward in our build of the M3 halftrack. We have found that it represents some great opportunities to improvise and add details or features that were not part of the original kit. There are so many variants of the M2/M3 that we have a number of choices in terms of how our project is ultimately going to take.shape. As a personnel carrier, we will be adding at least two 30 cal machine guns and possibly a 50 cal as well. On this page, we are going to add a few details to the driver's cockpit since the kit does not include much in the way of gauges, dashboard details etc. We will also scratch build a few gun mounts as well.
The M3 kit does not include any rear tail light units which means that you basically have two empty holes in the rear of the halftrack. We grabbed a pair of resin tail lights from an M5 project which had the proper configuration.
Before we could install them, we have to enlarge the opening on each side of the rear hull. The tail lights should be slightly recessed within the opening so we used some epoxy sculpt to mold a somewhat crude but effective mount for the tail light. It seemed to work pretty well.
The tail light will be painted to match the base coat and then we will add a red lens once the paint has dried.
We are finally back to work on the M3 Halftrack after a prolonged job related layover. One of the "mini-projects" that we have been working on are decals for the M3 Gauges and dash details. Here is a sample of the decals that we will soon be offering for M3 halftrack owners. We hope to have the finished prototype by the end of the week.
