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Time to ditch the wingy things and armour up! First AFV WIP - Academy M3 Grant 1:35


clive_t

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1 hour ago, 44years said:

Hi love your attention, to detail,😀 I can't find the kit on the net for  sale,

Thanks, yes I've been searching for the Academy kit online with not a great deal of success. Unless you want to pay £100+ on Amazon! Crazy money!

 

Actually, I've just found a site called 1001modelkits.co.uk doing it for £47.99 - still a bit on the expensive side. Or £38.99 if you forego the MiniArt crew set.

 

I can't vouch for the site as I've never even heard of it until about 30 minutes ago!

 

 

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More progress over the past couple of evenings, with the stowage items. I managed to get some Tamiya 'Jerrycans', two of which I visualise as being lashed to the rear fenders. Not sure if that's actual practice, but I think it will look ok to me:

 

37208128581_cc5bee93b3_b.jpg

 

You can also make out another of the Brodie helmets and a coil of rope - which is actually a length of synthetic thread, wound round a paint brush handle and coated with PVA to help it retain its coiled appearance.

 

I also painted up the 'flimsies' - the majority of which are actually biscuit tins, with a few petrol cans thrown in. Two of these are for the tank's stowage basket on the front fender, and a couple are ear-marked for the dio:

 

37351339935_b316df5dc2_b.jpg

 

I also made up some tarp bundles from some terra-cotta flavoured Milliput (brown when fully mixed) after watching a demo on You-Tube. The securing ropes are yet more thread as used to make the rope coil:

 

36953906030_424ca5caff_b.jpg

 

A quick air-brushing with some Tamiya khaki, and they don't look too bad:

 

37351328765_f3f111d30b_b.jpg

 

I just need to add some securing straps, which I will make from strips of masking tape, and I think it will start to look suitably 'busy' on the tank.

 

Thanks as ever for watching :)

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On ‎02‎/‎09‎/‎2017 at 11:16 PM, clive_t said:

I am not an expert in Shermans by any means; there are people who have regularly contributed to this thread who I would certainly consider to be experts. They might enlighten you - and indeed me - further; my take on the relative merits of both is that, for all its superiority in terms of armour and firepower, the Tiger was a victim of its own advanced technology. As I understand it, they needed regular servicing and in the field that was not always practical. As a natural consequence they often broke down. Their relative complexity also meant they couldn't be made in numbers sufficient to keep pace with losses - a situation exacerbated by having the ball-bearing factories, steel-works etc bombed night and day. Shermans, and indeed the Russian T34s, on the other hand, were much faster off the production line, which meant that they were more readily replaced, and further they could overwhelm with sheer weight of numbers. That's just my uneducated, inexpert view of course, and I stand to be corrected in any and/or all of that! :)

As you say, Shermans and T34's whizzed off the production lines... being far less complicated than their opponents. Of course it helped that the factories that built them, and the suppliers, were not being bombed. (at least not in the USA) So when it came to facing Tigers on the battlefield the Tigers were overcome by sheer weight of numbers.

 

For example, it was 'accepted' that it would take 4 'early' shermans to take out a Tiger if that Tiger's position wasn't at first known. If a column of 4 shermans was ambushed, the Tiger usually took out the lead tank first... this gave the following shermans warning and they'd start to scatter, but the Tiger would already be targeting the rearmost tank, and would usually have time to knock that one out and set about targeting the 3rd.... but if they were lucky, the 3rd and 4th shermans would be on the move, having pinpointed the Tiger, and would head in opposite directions and try to outflank the Tiger. While the Tiger may have been able to take out one of them, it couldn't take out 2 and the remaining Sherman with its higher speed and mobility would be able to get around the Tiger and attack from the rear... or from very close up. The T34's with their sloping armour were not as vulnerable as Shermans and their crews were more committed to the fight, (they were defending their homeland and seeking revenge for the atrocities committed by the Germans) They might be said to have been more willing to mount a head on assault, which they certainly did. But if I remember correctly, 8 T34's would charge a Tiger from front and sides. I stand to be corrected on the exact ratio.

 

EDIT,

 

Oh, I forgot to explain that the T34 : Tiger ratio was as it stood during the battle of Kursk, where of course the battlefield was very much open and nothing like the situation that faced by Shermans

 

 

 

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited by Badder
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Stowage done. Front:

 

36536898644_119de81811_b.jpg

 

36536904964_b01e401b36_b.jpg

 

And at the back:

 

37246821021_707408d161_b.jpg

 

36991358110_b6ed6e7b7e_b.jpg

 

I think this is about as far as it goes for the tank. Next stop: incorporation into the dio.

 

Thanks for your company on this journey; very much a departure from my normal field, but a greatly enjoyable one nonetheless.

 

Thanks too for all your expertise and advice etc, it was very much appreciated, and I think a better result was achieved than had I attempted it in isolation.

 

:worthy:

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5 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

And you've made a great job of it Clive. I hope we'll be seeing more armour pieces from you.

 

John.

Thanks John, very kind of you. Thanks also for all your advice and guidance, not to mention the tons of inspiration I got from  following your own builds!

 

I now have a Tamiya Sherman 'Easy-8' nestling nicely into my pile of kits, so it's entirely feasible! I also have every intention of cornering a Takom M31 when they finally reach our shores :thumbsup2:

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Fantastic result. That really does look like it's been in the desert. I hope you are going to take some more photos in 'clean' light and post them in the RFI section?

 

Rearguards

Badder

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1 hour ago, Badder said:

Fantastic result. That really does look like it's been in the desert. I hope you are going to take some more photos in 'clean' light and post them in the RFI section?

 

Rearguards

Badder

Thanks Badder, much appreciated. I was intending to do an RFI of sorts for the completed dio, however I do need to get some decent shots with a decent camera for the tank on its own so maybe an interim 'RFI' is in order.

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30 minutes ago, FrancisGL said:

I really like the dusty and subdued aspect of the model. As Badder says, and I am very supportive, the perfect complement to a job well done, is a selection of photos with enough quality to show it.

Cheers Clive :yes:

Thanks Francis, for your most kind comments. Hopefully some RFI pics will be done soon when time permits.

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7 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Stunning build Clive, you've definitely got a talent for non wingy things. Looking forward to seeing all elements come together. :yahoo:

Thanks Ozzy, most kind of you to say so.

 

The RFI thread is now up, and can be found here. Thanks for watching! :)

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