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IDF Sherman M1.


Bullbasket

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4 hours ago, Etienne said:

 

Hi John, don't worry, that's exactly why we are here waiting for your updates B)

 

Nice job around the suspension !

 

E

 

Thanks Etienne. Very nice of you to say.

 

John.

 

1 hour ago, FrancisGL said:

A very meticulous improvement...:popcorn:, cheers mate

 

Thanks Francis. Appreciate it.

 

John.

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  • 2 weeks later...

M1's were usually fitted with T54E1 tracks, but as is usual when I want to build a specific tank, it had different tracks, in this case T49 double bar, so I ordered a set from Panda Tracks. These are fairly easy to assemble, but as I'd built two sets previously, I'd made a couple of jigs to make the job simpler. The first one allows me to make a run of about ten links with the connectors on one side. This is then removed and put into the second jig and the rest of the connectors added. The end plug is then removed so that the assembled track can then be slid out.

 

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Panda include enough links and connectors to do both runs with quite a few spare.

 

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The first jig with a short run of track.

 

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The second jig with the plug removed allowing the track to be slid out.

 

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At this stage, the end connectors have not been glued, allowing the tracks to be semi workable. Once the lower hull and the tracks have been painted, the tracks will be installed, and a dab of glue applied to the connectors.

 

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Most of the road wheels on M1's were the pressed, six spoke variety, but here again, the tank that I was modelling had a couple of replacement wheels, one each side. According to books that I've read, this type of wheel was rare. I asked a question on another site, as to why the wheels had holes in the plates and apparently their purpose is unknown, but the ratio was 2-0-1-1-0.

I cut triangular plates, drilled the holes and then glued them in place.

Time to move onto the upper hull.

Happy New year.

 

John.

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Nice going on the tracks, I've used them a few years ago. I got stung with import tax, which made them a tad expensive.

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12 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice going on the tracks, I've used them a few years ago. I got stung with import tax, which made them a tad expensive.

 

Hi Ozzy. They cost me about $30 including p&p which is a lot cheaper than Fruilmodel.

 

John.

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13 hours ago, Ripaman said:

Hi John, tracks look good, how do they rate against the supplied tracks?

 

:popcorn::popcorn:

 

Regards

Richard

 

Thanks Richard. With regards to the tracks. This was an amalgamation of Tamiya's M1 upper hull and Dragon's M4(105) lower, and both supply the glueable rubber band variety, which are fine, but I prefer link and length or individual links, like Panda's. I find then very easy to work with and if you have a jig (either home made like mine, or purchase Panda's own version), it makes the job even more simple. They can be glued or left as they are so that you can manipulate them around the sprockets/idlers etc.

 

John.

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21 hours ago, FrancisGL said:

Very good scratch, I am very interested in the tool to do the tracks, how have you done it? :popcorn:

Cheers and HNY John :santa:

 

Thanks Francis. The jig is very simple but I can't claim the credit for it. I got the idea from Steve Zaloga in his Osprey book on building 75mm Shermans. The construction is as follows;

Two pieces of Plastruct square tubing are cut to length, depending how many links you want to assemble at one time. These are then glued to a backing piece of card about .5mm thick, leaving enough space between them for the track links to be slid in. Another piece of card is then glued to one end to act as a stop. I made up a small T shape card to use to push the links together.

For the second jig, two more pieces of square tubing were cut and a blanking piece of card glued to one end. A plug was made for the other end. This was made up of a piece of card with some scrap plastic glued to it that would fit into the open ends of the square tubes.

HTH's. If that's not clear enough, I can get the book out and quote what Steve Zaloga wrote.

 

John.

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59 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

 

Thanks Francis. The jig is very simple but I can't claim the credit for it. I got the idea from Steve Zaloga in his Osprey book on building 75mm Shermans. The construction is as follows;

Two pieces of Plastruct square tubing are cut to length, depending how many links you want to assemble at one time. These are then glued to a backing piece of card about .5mm thick, leaving enough space between them for the track links to be slid in. Another piece of card is then glued to one end to act as a stop. I made up a small T shape card to use to push the links together.

For the second jig, two more pieces of square tubing were cut and a blanking piece of card glued to one end. A plug was made for the other end. This was made up of a piece of card with some scrap plastic glued to it that would fit into the open ends of the square tubes.

HTH's. If that's not clear enough, I can get the book out and quote what Steve Zaloga wrote.

 

John.

 

Many thanks for the answer and the trouble of explaining it so thoroughly, I myself have Zaloga / Osprey books, although not that ... sigh.
If it were not too much to ask, if it were possible to see the process in photos, as they say "An image, worth a thousand words".
And if not, do not worry, I'll try to prove with your explanation to make one ... :)

Cheers John.

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I will send you a message tomorrow Francis. I will photo copy the pages from the book and attach them to a message. I don't want to post them on WIP because the moderators might not like it because of copyright.

 

John.

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13 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

I will send you a message tomorrow Francis. I will photo copy the pages from the book and attach them to a message. I don't want to post them on WIP because the moderators might not like it because of copyright.

 

John.

 

I understand, do not worry, and again thanks for the attention.
If I can help you with anything, let me know.

Cheers John :)

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So, now I've moved on to the upper hull to get some work done here. First up are the two grouser vents. They are attached to the tank by a long bolt. The kit has the hexagonal bolt head moulded on top of the cover, but no bolt. I removed the bolt head and drilled straight down through the base,  inserted a piece of stretched sprue, and then replaced the bolt head. I didn't have any suitable etched brass mesh covers for the grousers, so I cut new ones from a sheet of etched diamond mesh from Accurate Armour.

 

                024a93eb-7c2c-41c8-a7ff-e46e6ec1ea6c.JPG                    77ec3e43-9ddf-47a2-85a1-383c66bb6dd4.JPG

 

 

 

And this is the grouser vents in place. Also in this photo are the replacement brass wire grab rails on the engine deck.

 

 

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Not easy to see (but I know they are there), are the two emergency engine stops inside the small shield circled in yellow. These were made from some scrap card and rod.

 

 

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In he book that I used for reference for this build, Lioness and Lion of the Line, Vol.12. M1 Sherman, Pt.1 by Robert Manasherob, most of the photos of the M1's show them without the strip down the side of the hull that was originally used to attach the sand shields. Again, my one had to be different. Many of the etched brass sets for Shermans have these strips, but I find it easier to produce them from 10thou card and drill the attachment holes with a .5mm drill bit. It also makes it easier to attach to the hull with MEK rather than brass and super glue.

The two grab handles on the engine deck can better be seen in this shot.

 

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The final works I did in this stage were to the rear of the hull. Most kit manufacturers of M4's and M4A1's, omit the hole in the rear of the hull where the cranking handle went to manually turn the Continental R975 radial engine. A 1mm drill took care of this (ringed in red). The cranking handle has been added below it along with an etched brass strap.

Most of the M1's at some time were equipped with the folding stowage tray. This one had been as well, but it had been removed and the three hinges cut off. I filled the indentations for the hinges with Squadron Green Stuff and then sanded it smooth before gluing six small pieces of 10thou card to represent what was left (circled in yellow). 

Final job on the rear at this time were the two spare track holders. I had the Aber set for the Sherman with includes these, but when I made on up and offered it up to a drawing, it was much too big, so one of my Dragon kits of the M4 (105mm) got raided again. I made them up along with six spare track links from the Panda set (it's handy when they give you spares) and glued them in place. They looked a bit sparse so I detailed them with some thin card and rod to represent the hinges (the fronts fall forward giving access to the links) and four brass butterfly screws.

 

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And that's it for now.

 

John.

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54 minutes ago, PlaStix said:

Hi John. Very impressive attention to detail - as always! :thumbsup:

Kind regards,

Stix

 

Thanks Stix, much appreciated.

John.

 

14 minutes ago, longshanks said:

Love the attention to detail

 

Kev

 

Many thanks Kev.

John.

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