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'FACE OFF' CONTINUED....


Badder

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Yep, I'm going for: 

TAMIYA'S 1/35th SHERMAN M4A3E8

with my first serious attempt at Photo-Etch.

And why not go for a diorama while I'm at it?

EASY PEASY!!!!

 

EDIT:

Now that work has started, I have decided to model my Easy 8 on a photo supplied by @Sgt.Squarehead.

That photo shows a Sherman with additional armour plate added to the front of the tank. I thought that was something my limited skills could handle. Subsequent closer inspections shows that the uppermost armour 'plate' is actually an entire glacis, cut from another (presumably destroyed) Sherman and 'plonked' on top to give this one a new 'face'.

Hence the title change, with reference and a special thanks to Mssrs John Travolta and Nicholas Cage.

 

 

 

Don't worry, it won't be a Sherman shooting rounds up the rear end of a Tiger I, nor a Sherman sat disabled at a crossroads with 200 crack SS troops failing to overcome it for many, many, hours.

What it will be is a winter camo Sherman, in a winter setting, somewhere near Bastogne, January 1945.

 

910490DSC09922.jpg

 

 

 

Although there is no reference to 'winter camouflage' in the painting diagrams, there MUST have been some Shermans wearing it.CXMO1HM.jpg

 

 

 

 

I received the Eduard PE set for this Sherman today, and have bought a soldering iron. My previous attempt at PE was a complete disaster. ME+PE+CA = brass-plated fingers.

 

For the diorama I am going to use the building I started making for my 'Ever Evolving Diorama' - the one made from the MiniArt Ruined Village House kit and the plaster casts which I took from it.

 

TFL

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited by Badder
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Excellent choice and idea Badder! Looking forward to your diorama too - try and make any evolving happen early on! ;)

I’ve never attempted soldering the PE I have used before and, although there's a lot of PE included with the kit I'm building for this STGB, not all of the larger pieces are included in the version I'm building. I'm hoping to get away with just using CA and epoxy resin as usual. Looking forward to following your progress. :popcorn:

Kind regards,

Stix

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16 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Yes there were shermans wearing white wash, and white bed sheets. 

I've been scouring the internet for whitewashed Bastogne Shermans and haven't found any yet. All I've found is OD Shermans with snow on them.

 

8 hours ago, Robert Stuart said:

Sounds good,

The only time I tried to use a soldering iron with PE, the heat of the iron to distortorted my etch ... that was with a lattice structure, so over ambitious 

Hi Robert,

I can see that would be an issue. The last time I did any soldering was back in my apprenticeship days at Rover. That was soldering sheets of mild steel though. I wonder if a heat-sink might help?

 

5 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Excellent choice and idea Badder! Looking forward to your diorama too - try and make any evolving happen early on! ;)

I’ve never attempted soldering the PE I have used before and, although there's a lot of PE included with the kit I'm building for this STGB, not all of the larger pieces are included in the version I'm building. I'm hoping to get away with just using CA and epoxy resin as usual. Looking forward to following your progress. :popcorn:

Kind regards,

Stix

Heheh,

I'm hoping the diorama won't involve any evolution at all!

I am a bit scared of the PE to be honest. Those smallest bits are beyond the limits of my fingers, so it'll be tweezers or toothpicks and even then my fingers will struggle. It's not like 'plonking' ivy leaves on a wall. If I have to 'give up' on the PE then I've just wasted 50 quid on 6 sets of the stuff for other models! :o

Still, the larger bits should be okay...... famous last words.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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23 minutes ago, Badder said:

Hi Robert,

I can see that would be an issue. The last time I did any soldering was back in my apprenticeship days at Rover. That was soldering sheets of mild steel though. I wonder if a heat-sink might help?

I guess you'll experiment - good luck ;)

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Here's the PE. It's actually for the older Tamiya 'Easy Eight' kit number 25175. This kit is 35346. Having had a look at the PE 'instruction' sheet and cross-referencing with the Tamiya instruction sheet I can see that this PE is compatible with the newer kit. There are a few tiny 'mechanisms' included in the PE that were never modelled by Tamiya in their older kit and I am assuming that the newer kit is also supposed to have these 'mechanisms' on them.

 

Dunno why, but this single 'sprue' cost 14 quid. Yet I've purchased PE for different models with 3 sprues for 7 quid. Hey ho.

tVCZmE3.jpg

 

Some tiny PE here, which is daunting. And some parts which the 'instruction' sheet is very vague about. I guess I'm going to have to search for some relevant WIPs

lmYV3c8.jpg

Badder

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

@Badder ... I googled using this “white washed sherman tanks” and  found multiple photo’s. They all caption out to belgium/ardennes, and have some very interesting variations. Hope that helps.

 

Dennis

I've found plenty of whitewashed Shermans, but none are Easy Eights used in the relief of Bastogne. The only Easy Eight photos from that region were Olive Drab with coatings of snow. These Shermans came in to 'rescue' the 101st and I'm wondering if they bothered whitewashing them since the weather lifted and the allies had air superiority again?

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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I think i did find one and i mean only one M4a3e8 in what looks like white wash. I am having issues uploading it to show though. If it were me id hedge my bets and white wash. There are multiple other versions of shermans in WW. So why not easy 8’s ?  

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1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I think i did find one and i mean only one M4a3e8 in what looks like white wash. I am having issues uploading it to show though. If it were me id hedge my bets and white wash. There are multiple other versions of shermans in WW. So why not easy 8’s ?  

Heheh....

I've seen one Easy 8 from the Bastogne area which had snow on it. It also had what appears to be other white areas... but they might just be 'wet' and reflecting the glare of the sun. It's a very high contrast black and white photo, so almost impossible to be certain either way. The safest option is to go for an OD Sherman, but hey. I'm going for a winter scene, so.....

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BTW, I've searched for info on the PE I have. It is the PE for the older Tamiya Easy Eight, but it's also the PE that Eduard produces for the new Easy Eight. Except that their PE for the newer kit has an extended 'sprue' containing extra PE parts, like the struts for the side fenders, an ammo box, some grill details etc. Oh well. I will make do with what I've got.

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7 hours ago, Badder said:

Perhaps I'm being too fussy.... who can say there were definitely NO Easy Eights in winter camo?

 

I have one for you and it's a beauty:

 

EasyEightWinter-1

12th Armored Division, February 1945

 

EasyEightWinter-2

Detail of improvised armour upgrade.

 

I'm sure I can find more, but that's about as unique an Easy-Eight as I've ever seen.  B)

 

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A possible (I think I see traces of whitewash in both images) from Patton's Third army:

 

EasyEightWinter-4

 

EasyEightWinter-5

Uparmoured Easy Eight of 11th armored Division (Patton had discouraged the use of sandbags as improvised armour, so Shermans in his force often took an 'alternative route').

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19 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Detail of improvised armour upgrade.

 

I'm sure I can find more, but that's about as unique an Easy-Eight as I've ever seen.  B)

 

Thanks Sarge,

I've seen this type of 'applique' armour a couple of times while searching the web. One was a model based on an actual vehicle... I think the vehicle was named 'thunderbolt' or 'firecracker' or something like that. It's certainly within my capabilities to add that armour to mine. I will definitely attempt it!

18 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

14th Armored Division, february 1945

And that's a beauty too! Again, the 'sandbag cage' and two tone camo are something I think I could pull off. (metaphorically speaking... er... typing.)

18 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Uparmoured Easy Eight of 11th armored Division (Patton had discouraged the use of sandbags as improvised armour, so Shermans in his force often took an 'alternative route').

My kit comes with the single star and no circle surround, so I may have to look for some appropriate decals....

 

 

I was going to do this Sherman OOB with just some PE that my fingers and eyes can manage, but I'm defo going to try the armour upgrade, and possibly the side 'cages'.

 

THANK YOU VERY MUCH SARGE, MOST APPRECIATED

 

Rearguards,

Badder

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18 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

EasyEightWinter-5

BTW, can you tell me what the 'mechanisms' tucked under the left and right lifting lugs above the headlamp and horn are? I have them in the PE set but the instructions don't show how they are fitted, just that they go somewhere near there! :lol:

 

Cheers,

Badder

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This is only my second GB. My first, I left far too late to be able to complete to my satisfaction, so it was with great anticipation that I looked forward to Monday. In the meantime, I've  been killing time doing tiny bits of work on my Ever Evolving Diorama...... completely ignorant of the fact that I could have cracked on with this GB!

 

SILLY ARSENAL

 

 

 AND I'M OFF!

 

So the diorama has been put away and I've opened up the Easy 8 box!

 

This is Tamiya's 2015 new tooling, not a rebox of any other kit and I'm impressed with the lack of nasty pin marks, flash and seam lines.  The barrel was slide-moulded - always a bonus. Also a bonus are the clear plastic parts for the lights and commander's periscopes. The 'casting marks' are also nicely detailed on the relevant parts. 

 

So, the customary 'what's in the box' photos. I say 'customary', it's customary for some. I don't usually bother.

gzccBCe.jpg

The PE didn't come with the kit, it's Eduard's.

 

 

p8JEBVr.jpg

Instruction booklet. I like the fact this Sherman had the wider tracks. They make it look much more intimidating than those silly narrow ones.

 

No 'star in a circle' markings on this tank, and no serial numbers or other markings of any kind. I may get the 'star in a circle' decals.

CXMO1HM.jpg

 

My  brother in law  got me the MiniArt American Tank Crew kit for Christmas. They'll be used here.

 

Edited by Badder
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Nice representation of the casting marks

TIgMMP1.jpg

 

6XSnmFd.jpg

 

oZtIDxY.jpg

 

Clear parts.

NtYE1zK.jpg

 

Rubber band tracks. Looking at photographs supplied by Sgt.Squarehead, these are plenty accurate enough.

ZWsFNda.jpg

 

TFL

Badder

 

Edited by Badder
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