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#1
04-27-2008, 06:19 AM
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GPM TK 3 Tankette
If there truely is no such thing as too many tankettes - here's another one....
The Polish TK 3 tankette model is bundled with a model of the Ursus A truck. However I'll build the tankette only. The TK 3 was a development of the Carden-Loyd tankettes acquired by the Polish army in 1929. It was produced from 1931 and some 300 were produced. Although the remaining vehicles were worn out in 1939 they were used against the invading Wehrmacht. The GPM model of the TK 3 consists of 2 pages of parts with some frame parts on another page. The original colours of the GPM model are quite saturated - unreasonably so IMHO. The uncorrected scan of the model looks more reasonable so I'll build from that. Regards, Charlie 
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#2
04-27-2008, 10:34 AM
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Charlie,
Looking forward to this build too!
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#4
04-28-2008, 06:04 AM
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The GPM model has separate frames for the upper and lower parts of the hull. The lower frame is too wide by about 1mm the upper frame only approximately fits the skin - lots of trimming to get it to fit. The frames needed reinforcing to get them stable enough to put the skins on.
The mudguards are too narrow by about 2mm - I had to widen these on the scan and reprint. At this point I found that the mudguards should have been glued to the lower frame before the skin was glued on. I guess this might have been in the Polish instructions.... There are a host of hatches and hinges to add as can be seen in the second image. Perhaps I should have waited for the recently announced WAK TK 3. Regards, Charlie
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#5
04-28-2008, 10:48 AM
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It looks good even with (or maybe because of) the vivid colors. In Robert Crisp's book about his armored combat experience in North Africa, "The Brazen Chariots," he describes the colors of his squadron's cruiser tanks as "red and yellow." Presumably, they were actually some shades of tan and brown, but looked red and yellow in the desert light.
You manage to put an enormous amount of detail into these "little" tankettes. In your hands, they are small wonders. Don
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#6
04-28-2008, 04:34 PM
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This is the toned down version of the printed colours - the original is much brighter. I think the colours WAK uses on their TK 3 may be more realistic - tan, buff and green.
The "red and yellow" description is probably pretty close to actuality - one of the WW2 British desert schemes was light stone with terra cotta as a dispruptive colour. (http://www.afvnews.ca/camouflage/brnafr.html). The British army had long experience operating armour in deserts in North Africa and India so I guess they'd figured out what worked as camouflage in those environments. I'm starting to think that 1/25 tankette models are a good way to get into AFV modelling - they aren't extremely difficult to build but have all the skill elements needed for larger models. If the model does go bad then there isn't a huge time investment to write off. Regards, Charlie Last edited by CharlieC; 04-28-2008 at 05:11 PM.
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