Academy 1/35 M3 Stuart "Honey"

 There's lot written about this model on the interweb. It's been around a few years now and boxed by a variety of different manufacturers. It's criticised by the serious modellers due to it's mixture of M3 & M3A1 details (namely the inclusion of a turret basket). However I fancied giving it a go to try out another idea for displaying the interior details for not very much money - the model can be found for £20-25 if you search around.

Firstly, I have to say that the model is an absolute dream to build. Everything goes together positively and quickly. There's cord included to make your tow cable and a choice of single link or rubber band tracks.

I drilled through the ends of the drive shaft shroud to allow the wire to be fed through

Sub-assemblies completed ready for painting

I intended to build the model with an LED light inside to illuminate the interior, and remove two small panels from one side so you could see in.

Viewing from this side, the model appears complete

Turn it around, and you can view the interior

The model lent itself to this due to the shrouded drive shaft running through the cabin - perfect to mount a single LED from a £2 set of battery powered Christmas lights. The wire would go in through the floor escape hatch and through the drive shaft shroud, the LED bulb coming to rest around where the crew's feet would be.

The side panels from the hull & turret were carefully cut out with my trusty 1cm circular saw blade and the model was assembled into sub-assemblies ready for painting.

This was done in stages before final assembly. A first for me was to try out spraying Caunter camouflage using masking tape. To accommodate the battery box I designed and 3D printed a deeper than normal mounting base.

Note the "Glowing Glacis"😂

I really enjoyed building this kit and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone from beginner upwards. The only thing I need to do is beef up the paint thickness on the glacis plate to stop the light from shining through😂