M32B1 TRV with T1E1 Mine Roller
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/6/6/8/1229668-66321-74-720.jpg)
Lower hull with basic interior parts (plus square plastic rod to support the floor that will be added later), and turret parts with ejector pin marks filled with putty.
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/6/6/9/1229669-66321-82-720.jpg)
Turret parts glued together, roof held on with tape so everything will set square. Fit of the turret walls to the base ring is very tight.
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/6/7/0/1229670-66321-90-720.jpg)
Turret seams puttied and sanded, and some interior parts added.
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/6/7/1/1229671-66321-57-720.jpg)
.50-calibre ammo boxes detailed.
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/6/7/2/1229672-66321-73-720.jpg)
Hull with driver’s compartment from AFV Club 17-pounder M10 kit, as the basics of it can be seen through the opening in the turret. Jerrycans in left rear sponson, from Italeri with RFM lids to make them water cans, and Tamiya M1 Thompson SMG under turret roof.
![Album image #6 Album image #6](/albums/img/2/9/7/1230297-66321-30-720.jpg)
Mortar ammo tubes made from sprue H of this kit, as it has the right diameter; Tasca’s tubes are too long (18 mm instead of 16 mm). The hull rack in the right sponson holds 19 rounds.
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/2/9/8/1230298-66321-89-720.jpg)
Drive shaft and cover for power take-off chain added. These aren’t meant to be entirely accurate but to give a good enough impression when seen through the open roof of the turret.
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/3/3/0/1233330-66321-20-720.jpg)
Winch transmission added, not very detailed nor exactly to scale, because it will mostly be out of sight. What counts is that it gives the right impression.
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/3/3/1/1233331-66321-87-720.jpg)
Winch drive added under the floor, again mostly to give the right impression of the actual thing rather than being fully accurate.
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/3/2/9/1233329-66321-82-720.jpg)
View through the open top to show what will be visible on the finished model.
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/1/1/1/1234111-66321-36-720.jpg)
Details added to the firewall.
![Album image #12 Album image #12](/albums/img/9/4/2/1244942-66321-78-720.jpg)
Fire extinguisher bottles from an old Tamiya M60A1 kit, with pipework from copper wire.
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/9/4/3/1244943-66321-65-720.jpg)
Winch control handles scratchbuilt from plastic strip and rod.
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/9/4/4/1244944-66321-44-720.jpg)
What you can see of the levers etc. through the open top, when the floor plates and winch drum are in place. (Drum has been bulked up with some leftover bits, so not as much cable needs to go on it later on.)
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/9/4/5/1244945-66321-76-720.jpg)
Driver figure, legs and torso from two different MiniArt sets, arms from the figure from an Asuka Sherman, head from Royal Models.
![Album image #16 Album image #16](/albums/img/3/0/5/1247305-66321-47-720.jpg)
Turret interior now finished too.
![Album image #17 Album image #17](/albums/img/3/0/6/1247306-66321-94-720.jpg)
Whole interior painted olive drab using Mr. Aqueous Hobby Color.
![Album image #18 Album image #18](/albums/img/1/5/2/1248152-66321-69-720.jpg)
Interior had a wash of black and a drybrush of light olive to bring out the detail. Seats and mortar ammo tubes painted black, and fire extinguishers undercoated in dark yellow so that red can go over them later without becoming dark and muddy.
![Album image #19 Album image #19](/albums/img/9/0/7/1251907-66321-27-720.jpg)
Hull floor and winch put in. Winch cable is far too long and rolled up so it can be cut to length later on.
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/9/0/6/1251906-66321-29-720.jpg)
Interior mostly complete, though hull top and turret are both still loose.
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/9/0/5/1251905-66321-55-720.jpg)
Left side of mostly finished interior.
![Album image #22 Album image #22](/albums/img/9/0/5/1253905-66321-41-720.jpg)
Driver figure painted.
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/9/0/4/1253904-66321-39-720.jpg)
Driver in his seat, and a helmet and pack added to the rear floor to add some interest and make the vehicle seem more “in use”.
![Album image #24 Album image #24](/albums/img/9/0/3/1253903-66321-83-720.jpg)
Driver masked off with a piece cut from a plastic bag intended for storing sandwiches 🙂 This can be pulled up through the hatch after painting, and is impervious to model cement (as proved by a quick test).
![Album image #25 Album image #25](/albums/img/9/0/6/1253906-66321-74-720.jpg)
Covers made for grouser compartments to replace the kit’s air scoops, which were often removed and replaced when M4A1s were converted to M32B1s.
![Album image #26 Album image #26](/albums/img/7/2/0/1254720-66321-60-720.jpg)
With the hull, turret and some stowage together, it starts to look like a tank.
![Album image #27 Album image #27](/albums/img/8/2/6/1256826-66321-82-720.jpg)
Some of the recovery equipment installed in the left and front sides.
![Album image #28 Album image #28](/albums/img/8/2/5/1256825-66321-28-720.jpg)
More recovery equipment on the right and rear. Two of the spare track links have been replaced by ones from a Dragon Sherman kit, for variety.
![Album image #29 Album image #29](/albums/img/1/2/2/1260122-66321-52-720.jpg)
Replacements for the hubs of the mine roller discs, 3D-printed by a friend from a CAD drawing I made based on an illustration from the technical manual for the T1E1 mine roller.
![Album image #30 Album image #30](/albums/img/1/2/1/1260121-66321-60-720.jpg)
Bold Division hub on the left, replacement on the right. Because of the BD hub’s thickness, the set only includes 21 (so you have to alternate one hub and one disc) when there should be 36 (two hubs to each disc).
![Album image #31 Album image #31](/albums/img/1/2/3/1260123-66321-88-720.jpg)
Roller discs with hubs: Bold Division parts on the left, replacement hub on the right. The discs on the right also had their centre holes drilled out to 9 mm diameter instead of 5 mm as per the set’s parts.
![Album image #32 Album image #32](/albums/img/9/3/6/1264936-66321-79-720.jpg)
All eighteen roller discs with a hub on both sides,
![Album image #33 Album image #33](/albums/img/9/3/8/1264938-66321-92-720.jpg)
As I made the hubs slightly too wide so a set of discs is 4 mm too wide for the Bold Division parts, but those are about 2 mm too narrow compared to drawings of the real thing, I widened the parts by 2 mm on each side by superglueing a piece of plastic card to it.
![Album image #34 Album image #34](/albums/img/9/3/7/1264937-66321-24-720.jpg)
After the glue dried, I cut the plastic roughly to shape. It still needs to be filed down to match the resin parts.
Comentarios
12 22 May 2022, 14:03
![](/profiles/img/33587-335-s.png)
Watching this 👍 I find those recovery vehicles to be rather interesting subjects, indeed.
20 June 2022, 10:48
Album info
The T1E1 "Earthworm" mine roller was used by the US Army from late 1944 on, mounted on the front of M32 tank recovery vehicles.