HOUSTON Posted January 16, 2017 Share Posted January 16, 2017 John.. enjoying builds like this are the of the BEST kind. keep it coming.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 (edited) On 1/2/2017 at 0:47 PM, Bullbasket said: 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. Loving the build! You cannot get ever get enough Shermans. Actually not so much "rare" as limited use. This wheel was one of the high load capacity wheels with a heavy duty central bearing. It was designed for the Sherman Jumbo after the initial introduction of the type and mostly used for that particular vehicle during WWII. It was always in the supply chain however and as such could have been found on any Sherman VVSS system.I still have no information on the seemingly random pattern of holes. G Edited January 17, 2017 by AgentG 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Thanks G. You're right, and this makes number 17 for me. Thanks for the info on the wheels. Over on ML, Kurt Laughlin thought that the holes may have had something to do with fitting them, but wasn't sure. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AgentG Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 That was my first thought, but not all the panels have the holes. Never say never with a Sherman. G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 19, 2017 Share Posted January 19, 2017 Fascinating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 19, 2017 Author Share Posted January 19, 2017 21 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Fascinating. Ta very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 There were just a few jobs to do on the rear of the hull before moving on, and most of that involved the pioneer tools. I didn't have any etched brass for this apart from some buckles which in the end was all that I needed. I made the tie downs after reading about how Steve Zaloga did it in his book on modelling 75mm Shermans (very useful book). It's basically four small discs punched out of 10thou card with a Waldron Punch and Die set and glued in place, with a small piece of 10thou rod glued on top of them. The straps are made by threading thin strips of pewter foil through brass etched buckles (in this case they came from two sources, Aber and ET Models), and then slipping these under the tie downs, folding them over and fixing them in place with a small drop of super glue. In the next photo, a couple of items have been left off as that is the way it appears in the photo of the tank that I'm modelling, namely the axe and the crow bar, but I still included the empty tie downs. Also, I have made brackets for the axe head, the pick axe head and the pick axe handle from pewter foil (it's great stuff), and the empty brackets for the crow bar from thin card. On the rear of the hull, I've added the large ratchet spanner and sledge hammer. Again, the bracket for the head of the hammer is made from pewter foil and the one that the spanner head sits on was cut off (it's just a stub) and a new one made from plastic tube with the end drilled to accept a piece of 10thou rod as a securing pin. I attached the shovel in the same way but I didn't bother to change the bracket because it would be covered by camouflage net. The final job was the rear lights. I bent a couple of pieces of 40thou rod through 90 degrees and glued them onto the backs of the rear lights. The brush guards were made from strips of 10thou card bent into shape and then glued in place. Next stop, hull front. John. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Righteous! Check your starter crank.....Looks like the mould seam has survived on the upper part in the pictures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 Quote Check your starter crank.....Looks like the mould seam has survived on the upper part in the pictures Doesn't miss much does he Great details BTW beefy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 I love washes.....QED I hate mould seams. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindicareassassin Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 ................... ATB sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longshanks Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 Impressive detail work............. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 21, 2017 Author Share Posted January 21, 2017 Thanks one and all for the comments. With regards to the mould seam, I'll try scraping with the tip of a blade and if that doesn't work, then no doubt some cam net or tarp will fall down over it. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrancisGL Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Stunning details....and what patience...lol, , cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Your patience for making some of those tiny fittings is amazing. Awesome modelling! Kind regards, Stix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 1 hour ago, FrancisGL said: Stunning details....and what patience...lol, , cheers John Thanks Francis. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 59 minutes ago, PlaStix said: Your patience for making some of those tiny fittings is amazing. Awesome modelling! Kind regards, Stix Thanks Stix. My wife gets hysterics when ever somebody says that I've got patience. I have to admit, some of those parts come very close to flying at an acute angle towards the wall! John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 I got some work done over the weekend, which I'll post here hopefully tomorrow. Meantime, just for you Sgt., No mould line!!! It might look as though it's still there, but it's just a tonal difference between the plastic that has been scraped with a blade, and the rest that hasn't. John. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robgizlu Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 That is some very nice detailing. Looking really good. Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Lewis Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Loving this build, cracking detail work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 10 hours ago, robgizlu said: That is some very nice detailing. Looking really good. Rob 9 hours ago, Phil Lewis said: Loving this build, cracking detail work. Thanks both. Even though I've built many Shermans in the past, I'm still enjoying it. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Good job sir.....TBH there's nothing worse than discovering a seam at the weathering stage! Ask me how I know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 My least favourite job regarding Shermans, is fitting the etched brass headlamp and periscope brush guards, The kit supplied plastic ones are usually too thick, so it has to be etched brass for me. But looking at the ones in the Dragon M4 (105), they seemed to be a lot thinner (they were certainly a lot weaker...a PITA to remove from the sprue). So, I thought I'd try them. Before fixing them in place, I removed the moulded on grab handles and small securing brackets and replaced them with brass wire and card respectively. The vent cover is also in place here. Something that Tamiya left off of the front of this tank is the sprung locking bracket for the main gun support. The way they would have you assemble this is to just lay it flat against the glacis plate which looks wrong. So I made one from three pieces of card and rod and then glued it in place and fixed the support how it should be. Trouble was, every time that I looked at those periscope guards, they looked too big to me, and when I measured them they actually came out 1.5mm longer than plans. I had some of the excellent guards from Shapeways, but they are complete periscopes and necessitate removing a lot of plastic from the hatch covers (not a problem with Dragon's ones as they come ready to accept the complete periscope). So, without any more faffing around, I removed the plastic guards and then drilled out the periscope housing in the hatch covers, using gradually larger drill bits and finishing off with a round file. I removed too much from the left one and had to pad it out with a circle of card. The Shapeways items then just dropped into place and were secured with a drop of super glue. In this final photo can be seen that last items to be added, namely the brush guards for the headlights and the horn, the replacement bow machine gun (RB Models), the lifting eyes, the horn which came from an AFV Club M5A1 Stuart because the one in the Tamiya kit was the wrong type and right in the middle at the bottom of the hull is one of Archers decals for the hull casting which I think is General Steel (if I'm wrong someone can correct me). Also, I've hollowed out the headlamps ready for lenses after painting. The only job left to do will be to attach a couple of tubes to the headlight brush guards along with some thin chain and a cap. This is the holder for the blanking caps for when the lights were not fitted. Next stop, the turret. John. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted January 24, 2017 Author Share Posted January 24, 2017 20 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Good job sir.....TBH there's nothing worse than discovering a seam at the weathering stage! Been there and got a wardrobe of T shirts!! Appreciate the heads up Sgt. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etienne Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 Very nice details ... makes me want to build a Sherman E Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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