The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

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Dirkpitt289
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The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

This is a build I've wanted to do for some time now. Growing up as a kid my first venture into comics was the old war comics. The Unknown Soldier, Sgt Fury and the Howling Commandos, Sgt Rock, The Losers, and my favorite G.I. Combat and the Haunted Tank.

Haunted Tank was created by writer and editor Robert Kanigher and artist Russ Heath in G.I. Combat #87 (May 1961). The feature centers on the ghost of 19th-century Confederate general J.E.B. Stuart, who is sent by the spirit of Alexander the Great to act as a guardian over his two namesakes, Lieutenant Jeb Stuart (named in the early stories as Jeb Stuart Smith, but eventually just shortened to Jeb Stuart) and the M3 Stuart that Jeb commands.

"The Haunted Tank" was often the cover feature of G.I. Combat and was second only to Sgt. Rock as DC Comics' longest-running war series.

For this build I decided to use the 1/35th scale Academy M3A1 Stuart Light Tank. I also picked up the Verlinden detail kit. The Haunted tank wouldn't be right without Jeb Stuart and his crew, Arch, Rick and Slim. To do this I picked up a US tank crew from Mini art

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I started things off with the road wheels. Each wheel assembly took 7 parts each to complete

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These parts will be put aside until after the painting is started

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Some rollers and the main drive gears are in place

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The wall of the rear hull is in place. I like the detail on this kit. I've always heard good things about the Academy kits and so far they appear to be true.

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Till next time

"Lets Make Tracks"
.... Dirk

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Saxon
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Saxon »

I loved this comic book series growing up and still have a few copies. Will be good to see how the build ends up.
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by JamesPerrin »

Am I being dumb but that isn't a Stuart on the cover?
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Purplethistle »

From the fact that 2 of the crew are outside, I'd deduce they're hitching a ride on another tank.

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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

Saxon wrote:I loved this comic book series growing up and still have a few copies. Will be good to see how the build ends up.
Thanks Saxon, for the most part its a straight forward Stuart build with the confederate flag. If this works the Jigsaw tank will eventually be the goal
.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

JamesPerrin wrote:Am I being dumb but that isn't a Stuart on the cover?
Sorry about that, over the last 40 odd years I haven't done well at keeping track of the original books and only have a select few left. Those I have left are the later books after they lost their Stuart. The idea of having one of the original books was for dramatic affect. I hope this is better, I grabbed this from the web

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.... Dirk

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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Purplethistle »

Excellent stuff. Looking forward to seeing this one.
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by JamesPerrin »

Hmm, aerial combat seems to be a little known feature of the Stuart :grin:
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

Now that construction has begun we should take a look at the Verlinden aftermarket set I purchased for this build

The box art

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Overview of the parts, the kit includes Resin, Photoetch, wire and thread

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We'll dive deeper into the parts as they come into play for the build.

Till next time....


Lets make tracks
.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

My Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingGu ... rid&view=0
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Dirkpitt289
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

Here are a few images of the Haunted Tank from the old G.I. Combat comic

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Till next time...

Lets make tracks
.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

My Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingGu ... rid&view=0
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Dirkpitt289
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

Its doubtful any of the interior will ever be seen but since I want to display this with as much as the crew as possible I figure I would roughly lay out the interior. I started with what I believe are the ammo racks

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White primer will provide the interior color.

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I will need to start building and thinking about the crew (Slim, Rick and Arch) before I go to much farther. Here the crew kit

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The parts

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While i'm deciding on the figure and waiting for some paint to dry I turned my attention to the top of the take. I decided to up some of the detail a bit by adding wiring for the headlamps and the siren. Yea, siren or so thats what I've read.

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Using my circuit board drill bits I drilled out the back of the head lamps and glued some wire in place. Once this is dried I will place the rest of the wire into the tank

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.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

My Youtube Channel
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by splash »

This will be fun to watch, keep up the excellent work

Regards Splash
My work bench is starting to look like Portsmouth Naval Dockyard.
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Dirkpitt289
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Dirkpitt289 »

splash wrote:This will be fun to watch, keep up the excellent work

Regards Splash
Thanks Splash
.... Dirk

Beware of the DOG's of WAR

My Youtube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/ModelingGu ... rid&view=0
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Purplethistle »

That is a sweet interior. Do the Verlinden add-ons allow for open driver and gunner hatches on the front hull?
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Re: The Haunted Tank - From DCs Comic G.I. Combat

Post by Saxon »

JamesPerrin wrote:Am I being dumb but that isn't a Stuart on the cover?
Is it a Sherman tank? I'm not an expert but in the comics at some point they boys get upgraded to a Sherman tank which causes a ruckus because the ghost of General Stuart is challenged by the ghost of General Sherman who does not like seeing that Confederate flag flying on a tank named after him!
Dirkpitt289 wrote:
Saxon wrote:I loved this comic book series growing up and still have a few copies. Will be good to see how the build ends up.
Thanks Saxon, for the most part its a straight forward Stuart build with the confederate flag. If this works the Jigsaw tank will eventually be the goal
The jigsaw tank would be cool, I had a number of issues, it rings a bell. Do you have any pics of that?
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