PlaStix Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 (edited) This is the first tank I'm intending to build for this GB and it represents a number of firsts for me:It will be my first 1/48 AFV build (having made two 1/72 and two 1/76 tanks), my first Hobby Boss kit and my first American tank.With regards the tank itself:1,400 M4A3s with Ford GAA V-8 engines and fitted with 76mm M1 guns, were manufactured by Fisher Tank Arsenal and Detroit Tank Arsenal between March 1944 and April 1945. I haven't decided yet which version I shall make mine as but cannot wait to get started.Kind regards,Stix Edited June 2, 2015 by PlaStix 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Looking forward to watching you work your magic with the bristle approach on this Stix 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 Stix,, If your Spitfire is anything to go by, then this Armor build will also be truly SUPERB in your hands.. I look forward to your weathering et al techniques on the armor... Look forward to this very much.. GOOD Luck MY friend. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 Thank you wimbledon and Houston. I'm really looking forward to getting this one underway. I thought I'd better include some photos of the contents of the box: As I mentioned before; this is going to be my first 1/48 tank and I have to say there does seem to be a lot more parts. I don't know anything about Hobby Boss kits, apart from what I have read, but the detail on this one seems pretty good: The tracks: The decals: The kit even comes with some PE: and some stowage: The instructions: I'm not intending to use any after market items with this so it's going to be pretty much OOB. I got it fairly cheap online so I reckon that, looking at the contents, it's pretty good value. I am think of doing this one as part of a bit of a diorama so I'm going to make some of these figures to go with it: Kind regards, Stix 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Podmore Posted January 26, 2015 Share Posted January 26, 2015 I have the same figure set, and be careful as some of the guys come up a little 'short' compared to other 1/48 figures! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 26, 2015 Author Share Posted January 26, 2015 I have the same figure set, and be careful as some of the guys come up a little 'short' compared to other 1/48 figures! Thank you for the tip Phil - I'll watch out for that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Sounds like this should be one to watch Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolwe82 Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 cant wait to see the progress Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Sounds like this should be one to watch Cliff Thank you for your interest Cliff! cant wait to see the progress Stix Hi Wolwe. Good to see you on here - hope you are well. Any chance we can tempt you to join in with a tank? I hope to be starting mine this weekend. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just found this Stix,and I was just bemoaning the lack of Sherman,s too! looks a superb kit too,I had not seen any 1/48 armour "in the flesh" until my eldest bought a Tamiya Tiger a month or so ago and was very impressed by the detail and size,this kit looks equally as good looking forward to this build.Off to my LMS this morning for a pot of paint it,ll be hard not to grab something to build maybe in a smaller scale I know he has Revell,s boxing of the old Matchbox Firefly in,wonder If it has the half bridge diorama base still in the box? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just found this Stix,and I was just bemoaning the lack of Sherman,s too! looks a superb kit too,I had not seen any 1/48 armour "in the flesh" until my eldest bought a Tamiya Tiger a month or so ago and was very impressed by the detail and size,this kit looks equally as good looking forward to this build.Off to my LMS this morning for a pot of paint it,ll be hard not to grab something to build maybe in a smaller scale I know he has Revell,s boxing of the old Matchbox Firefly in,wonder If it has the half bridge diorama base still in the box? Hi Steve. Yes it is a rather nice kit which I'm looking forward to getting underway when I've done a little more research. Did you manage to pick up anything else at your LMS? A Firefly with a diorama base would make a great addition to this GB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 There's a lot of plastic in there Stix,looks like you're in for a treat.I've seen some of the Tamiya 1/48th kits and they look very appetising,this one looks more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Hi Steve. Yes it is a rather nice kit which I'm looking forward to getting underway when I've done a little more research. Did you manage to pick up anything else at your LMS? A Firefly with a diorama base would make a great addition to this GB! Yea,Stix,my LMS had one so got it and will join the GB,he re-opened last year after a couple of years abroad and he is really going to town on what he stocks,since last Friday when I last popped in he has added a large range of Hasegawa kits including all the old 1/72 or 76 armour which I have,nt seen in this area since the eighties was very tempted by a Panther or Grant so may do another later on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 That sounds excellent Steve! Looking forward to seeing it/them in progress. It's great you've got a good local modelshop. In Leicester we haven't got anything anymore. Dominoes Toys, who used to have a good model section (back in the good old days), closed a while back. It is due to reopen soon but it may not have a similar section. Your LMS sounds like it's going to be good. These days I have to go to Derby, Birmingham, Nottingham or Rugby to find proper model shops. Loughborough has a toy shop which sells Airfix kits and Humbrol paints but that's about it really. Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 That sounds excellent Steve! Looking forward to seeing it/them in progress. It's great you've got a good local modelshop. In Leicester we haven't got anything anymore. Dominoes Toys, who used to have a good model section (back in the good old days), closed a while back. It is due to reopen soon but it may not have a similar section. Your LMS sounds like it's going to be good. These days I have to go to Derby, Birmingham, Nottingham or Rugby to find proper model shops. Loughborough has a toy shop which sells Airfix kits and Humbrol paints but that's about it really. Kind regards, Stix Thanks,Stix,yea,very fortunate on a nice day it,s only a fifteen minute walk,and he has just reduced his 20% off opening offers which to be fair he,s kept on for over a year and still offers 10% and does,nt inflate the price either.just posted WIP on the Sherman. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kallisti Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Blimey thats a lot of parts for a 1:48 tank! Look forward to seeing this progress! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris @ Above & Beyond Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) This is a very impressive kit, cant wait to see the progress Stix. Chris Edited February 5, 2015 by karr1981 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 (edited) Blimey thats a lot of parts for a 1:48 tank! Look forward to seeing this progress!Yeah, it does seem like you get a lot of stuff to play with in this 1/48 kit. Can't wait to get it started! This is a very impressive kit, cant wait to see the progress Chris It does look good. Cheers Chris.Kind regards, Stix Edited February 5, 2015 by PlaStix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 I think you'll find this a nice model to build. I hope you enjoy it. There are accuracy 'issues' with it but it looks and quacks like a Duck so... Good to see several 48th models in this GB as well! I don't like popcorn but there's no emoticon for Viennese Whirls! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 5, 2015 Author Share Posted February 5, 2015 Hi SleeperService, thank you. Yeah it is good to see these 1/48 kits - the two I've got seem really good in terms of detail. ..........and Viennese Whirls! Excellent! Haven't had any for years - can feel a trip to the supermarket being required! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted March 3, 2015 Share Posted March 3, 2015 So, if i am correct, i have counted three tanks you are building. The german general and "father" of the german tank corps, Heinz Guderian used to say : "Nicht kleckern, sondern klotzen !" that means: do it in the big way, you are modelling this :-) The HB Sherman looks really nice, you can have for cheap a lot of plastic in the box.While Hobby Boss and Trumpeter are one company, my experiences with this rubber tracks are relative positive, you best glue them with super glue, if you use them. Good luck and Happy Modelling Bernd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 3, 2015 Author Share Posted March 3, 2015 So, if i am correct, i have counted three tanks you are building. The german general and "father" of the german tank corps, Heinz Guderian used to say : "Nicht kleckern, sondern klotzen !" that means: do it in the big way, you are modelling this :-) The HB Sherman looks really nice, you can have for cheap a lot of plastic in the box.While Hobby Boss and Trumpeter are one company, my experiences with this rubber tracks are relative positive, you best glue them with super glue, if you use them. Good luck and Happy Modelling Bernd Hi Bernd. I must admit I may have got a bit carried away having three builds (probably 4!!!! - you'll see later!) on the go for this GB. I love building planes, especially Spitfires, but since building two Dragon 1/72 tanks for the D-Day GB, I have found I really enjoy building tanks too! Thanks for the tip about using super glue - I shall definitely use some. Happy modelling to you too! I must actually get this one underway at some point - maybe this weekend. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Building small scale tanks is pure fun, all these petite details its some sort of magic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Very true!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 (edited) Seeing as how my Skybow Tiger 1 is almost finished I thought I'd better get this one underway or I'm not going to have enough time to finish it. It was a bit of a slow start; locating which bits on the spues are used for the running gear - it seems like there's going to be a lot of parts for the spares box with this kit! Then more time was taken cleaning up a lot of seams! I was hoping that I'd get onto some painting this morning but the tidying up and the bit of assembling I did took longer than anticipated. I wasn't awfully impressed with some of the fit of parts either and I've already had to do some filling. I only had time for one photo of all the parts I'm currently working with: Next update on this will be at the weekend. Comments and suggestions welcome. Kind regards, Stix Edited April 7, 2015 by PlaStix 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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