This is a built I wanted to do as a tribute for my Dad. I found out on his death bed that he had served with this unit for a short while during his time in the Korean War. I'm fairly certain Dad was wounded and sent to what he called a "Repo depot" where replacements were drawn from once they recovered sufficiently from their injuries. This is why he did not serve in this Medium Tank unit for too long. He ended up going to another outfit instead of being returned to this one.
Once my Dad saw a photo of tanks crossing a river from the 6th Medium Tank Battalion unit in a book I have on Armor of the Korean War. He told me they were driving over sand bags which were submerged just below the surface of the water. He also said the water was COLD ! I don't doubt that either. I asked him if this was his unit... and he replied to me that it was, and his tank might actually have been in the photo. I'll dig it out and post it up soon. The photo I'm talking about shows a 105 MM Howitzer armed M-45 crossing the river.
Dad told me that his Company Commander would not allow any of the M-46 tanks in his Company to be painted with these "Cat" faces that we often see models built of. This "Cat Face" is even seen on the box art. It was done because the Chinese were supposed to be superstitious.
I have not decided if I will build this one up with the Cat face painted on it or not, because it looks really cool. Time will tell what exactly happens. I like this picture too, because it shows tanks from the 6th Medium Battalion. In fact, it could be the source for the box top art and markings.
I will be building this one up as time permits. I wanted to include it now before the cut off deadline came into effect. Updates will be posted as they happen.
As always, comments are encouraged.
"Tanks" for stopping by. Sorry for the poor joke... I couldn't help myself.
