Work on the Stuart appears to be heading in the right direction. My next move is to cut out the plastic screening on the upper deck and replace it with the real thing. Here is what happened....
A Dremel armed with a cutting tool did short work of the grill opening. I tried to retain the mounting tabs which provide support for the screening installation. Once again, be careful since the Dremel can remove a great deal of material in short order.
Here the openings have been sanded and new screening installed. The screening can be hard to find but we relay upon Precision Scale Model Supply for our needs. Lots of choices for the average modeler. I then used thin strips of styrene glued along the borders for a finished look.
Pictured on the left is a shot of both screens. The one on the left has been painted using Krylon flat olive drab and the one on the right is unpainted. What a difference.
One of the details omitted from the 21st Century M5 are the periscope guards. Until recently, those of us who wanted an extra degree of detail would be forced to use brass or aluminum rod and painstakingly weld these items for that added realism.
The M5 owner now has two manufacturers of periscope guards from which to choose- Armorpax and Schumo Kits. The Armorpax set are nicely cast, easy to install and reasonably priced. The Schumo Kits set are also well made (not cast), come come with mounting hardware but a bit more expensive. Steel Dragons AFV carries both sets and encourages customers to choose for themselves.
Update: Regrettably, the Schumo Kits units are no longer available.
The set of guards from Schumo-Kits arrived promptly and right away I was impressed with the quality of construction. One set includes four (4) periscope guards along with M1 nuts and bolts. Since I would be drilling into the Armorpax hatches, I needed to use a # 59 drill bit. The only problem I encountered was that the M1 bolts were not quite long enough whereby a spot of CA glue was used instead of the supplied nuts. This was not a big issue.
Installation takes about ten minutes and the results are really worth it.
This page was last updated on: November 11, 2010
The Hatches...
The Schumo Kits set is pictured above while the Armorpax guard is shown installed on one of their white metal hatches. Both are nice units.
Other Accessories
We are frequently adding new products and upgrades for the M5 Stuart. We will feature a few of them and they can also be found in our catalog.
This M5 Roller and Hub set is now crafted by our own Steel Dragon machine shop. They are made from aircraft aluminum and a dense, aluminum impregnated plastic that is impossible to distinguish from its metal counterpart.
The addition of these Tarp Sets will really cause your M5 to stand out. These are not currently available as our supplier has discontinued them. However, we do have plans to manufacture them in house in the near future.
We also offer replacement Mantlets for the M5 along with the turned aluminum barrels as a terrific upgrade.
We offer Allied Tool Sets for the M5 as well as other vehicles. These are white metal cast and beautifully detailed. This is one of our most popular Allied upgrades.
There is more to come in the upcoming weeks. We will be featuring our upgrade M5 Track Link sets which are hot out of the molds along with replacement tail lights and gear sets. Stay tuned....
