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IDF M1 Super Sherman (HVSS).


Bullbasket

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Along with the original VVSS M1 Shermans, the Israelis also received a lot of HVSS Shermans, mainly from the French, which when they put them into service were dubbed “Super Sherman”. About year ago, I built an M1 using the Tamiya kit. This time, I am going to use the Tamiya M51 and substitute some of the parts with parts from the M1 kit such as the turret and engine deck. I'll also be using an AM main gun from RB Models along with their 12.7mm M2 Browning. The only set of decals that I know of for this tank are those made by Star decals, and I'm waiting on a set being delivered at the moment.

Hopefully, this build will be more successful than my M60 build.

So this is the tank, although, not exactly the same. Different markings and different track guard supports.

 

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Tamiya M1 Sherman.                                                                                                                   Tamiya M51.

 

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RB Models 76mm main gun and 12.7mm M2 Browning.

 

 

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As I said, the decals should (hopefully) be on their way from Sweden. I'll put some photos up later of where I am at now.

 

John.

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First job was to assemble the lower hull. Unlike a lot of kits, it doesn't come as a complete tub, more of an Ikea flatpack, consisting of floor, two sides, engine fire wall and rear hull plate. It's not unlike the hulls that Tasca/Asuka supply and is very easy to assemble and get square.

 

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I didn't want to use the rear hull plate from the Tamiya M1 kit as it would have meant a lot of surgery to swap the bases of the axle stubs/track tensioners, so to use the one from the M51 kit would also mean some surgery, but less so. The engine door extensions would need removing along with the exhaust port and then filling all the holes in.

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There is some work to do on the upper hull starting with the removal of the rear hull plate extension which the Israelis added for the M51. Either side of the forward part of the engine deck opening are some bullet splash guards, which had to be removed. A fixed piece of the engine deck which again was removed when they were converted to M51, was to be replaced with some 20thou card.

 

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At the front, the strengthening strakes between the hull front and the track guard were removed, to be replaced with thinner card. On both sides, on the track guards, are some small triangular wedges that need to be removed. These were for mounting jerry cans on the M51. Mid way down the left track guard are two holes that have to be filled. These were for the APU fitted to M51's. And finally (I think), two U shaped indentations on the left, rear hull side needed filling. These were where spare wheels were mounted on M51's.

 

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Now I've just got to go and do all of those jobs! Thanks for looking.

 

John.

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Got your work cut out again john, you're a glutton for punishment, I'm beginning to think you shermaholics should  just empty every kit of a sherman you buy into a big box and then build whichever variant takes your fancy,:D,  anyway look forward to it please carry on

Glynn 

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Afternoon Glynn. Funnily enough, that's almost what I do. I have several boxes filled up and marked VVSS, HVSS, Turrets, Hull fittings, etc. I try not to do that though with the more expensive kits, as the hole in my pocket just burns larger and larger!!

Actually, I don't mind the work involved, in fact I love it. But when I come up against a brick wall, I have to call it a day. I'm afraid that photos/drawings of Chilean M60 engine decks (I'm talking short hull Shermans here), are about as common as rocking horse droppings. I should be on safer ground with the M1 S.Sherman.

 

John. 

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2 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

Afternoon Glynn. Funnily enough, that's almost what I do. I have several boxes filled up and marked VVSS, HVSS, Turrets, Hull fittings, etc. I try not to do that though with the more expensive kits, as the hole in my pocket just burns larger and larger!!

Actually, I don't mind the work involved, in fact I love it. But when I come up against a brick wall, I have to call it a day. I'm afraid that photos/drawings of Chilean M60 engine decks (I'm talking short hull Shermans here), are about as common as rocking horse droppings. I should be on safer ground with the M1 S.Sherman.

 

John. 

I'm sure a m3/4 gb wouldn't be the same without something in the gallery from you come the end, i knew you lot had big boxes all mixed up with kit parts and unfinished shermans, i bet theres at least 3 full shermans in there and that's being Conservative, now you've got to catch up! 

Glynn 

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Great presentation John,

Very much unlike my WIPs in that respect!

 

I wonder how many aircraft bods come in here and think 'Do any of these AFV people EVER build anything OOB?'

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

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15 hours ago, Badder said:

I wonder how many aircraft bods come in here and think 'Do any of these AFV people EVER build anything OOB?'

 

OOTB is an alien concept to me. I much prefer to cut it about and change it into something a bit different to what the kit manufacturer intended.

 

John.

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16 hours ago, Ozzy said:

Nice start John, I do like the flat pack concept.

Yes, me too. If it's well tooled, there's no reason that it can't be all square once assembled.

 

John.

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17 hours ago, Hewy said:

i knew you lot had big boxes all mixed up with kit parts and unfinished shermans, i bet theres at least 3 full shermans in there and that's being Conservative,

I  suppose I'm a bit of a hoarder. Never throw anything away that might prove to be useful at some later date. You should see the state of my garage!!

 

John.

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Hi John. Sorry to hear about the other project but will follow what you do with these two with interest. I notice already, however, that they're not going to be OOB builds! :wicked:;)

Kind regards,

Stix

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6 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi John. Sorry to hear about the other project but will follow what you do with these two with interest. I notice already, however, that they're not going to be OOB builds! :wicked:;)

Kind regards,

Stix

Thanks Stix. The other one is still around, just waiting on some info. OOB not in my nature (usually).

 

John. 

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All of the running gear completed. It took a lot less time to clean all of the parts compared to the Dragon HVSS. It helped that I was able to put the road wheels into the chuck of a mini drill to sand off the seam. I don't think that I have ever built a tank with so  many wheels. Including the road wheels, idlers and the return rollers, it totals 40!

New, thinner strakes added to the front of the hull/track guards.

 

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The fixed piece of rear engine deck was added from 1mm (not 20thou) card, and then blended in with Milliput. At the same time, I filled the two small slots on the rear hull plate which were meant to accept the fixed brackets for the 105mm gun cradle of the M51, as well as the two U shaped indentations on the side of the hull. Once the Milliput was sanded smooth, the front and middle sections of the engine deck were added from the M1 Sherman kit.

I filled all of the holes meant for the pioneer tools with some stretched sprue.

I started work on the rear hull plate by first removing the door extensions, the mouldings around the exhaust port and filling the spaces with card and Milliput. Once this was sanded smooth, the plate itself needed some surgery. It's too tall by about 10mm, so this was removed with a scalpel. There is also a kink in it, roughly where the two air filters will fix in place, so the way that I got around this was to score it on the back with a blade, and then make several swipes with an Olfa P Cutter so that it was cut half way through. This allowed me to bend it flat and glue a length of 20x20 strip into the groove. I then added a piece of 30thou card to the back of the plate to hold it all flat.

 

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I assembled the two air cleaners and filled the holes for the kit's clamps which I didn't use, with stretched sprue. When they had dried, I added the etched clamps from an Aber M4 set. The completed cleaners were then fixed to the hull plate. Other items added were the two idler tensioners and the towing pintle, plus the engine doors from the M1 kit.

Before fixing the plate in place, I added a false roof to go between the frame extensions. This would also give a base for the exhausts to fix to.

 

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That's all for now. Thanks for looking.

 

John.

 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, fatfingers said:

Aye up John,

 

Nice job. Shaping up to be a another great build :yes:

 

Regards,

 

Steve. 

Thanks a lot Steve. At least this one is progressing better than the last one. 

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19 hours ago, Badder said:

Fantastic work all round John, with more lovely photos and great write-ups, this is yet another perfect WIP.:star::star::star::star::star:

Rearguards,

Badder

Thanks Badder. With regards to the photos, it just shows that these days you don't need an expensive camera for decent photos. Mine's just an ordinary bridge camera.

 

John.

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Sponson fillers added to the upper hull, and then the upper and lower halves were glued together. One thing that I didn't mention earlier, but is obvious from the photos, was the addition of the engine access doors from the Tamiya M1 kit, to the rear hull plate. The complete assembly was then slid between the frames and glued with MEK. Once it was all in place, I added the exhaust deflector from the M1 kit.

At this point, I also added the armoured cover for the air intake on the engine deck.

 

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One job that I was a bit concerned about was the supports for the extended track guards (or fenders). Earlier HVSS Shermans didn't have the supports that are supplied by Tamiya and Dragon for their M50 and M51 kits, ie; they weren't U shaped channels. Instead, they were simply tubing bolted to the track guards and the hull side. The bolts are anchored to small base plates which I made from strips of 10thou card, cut into 1mm x 1mm pieces, making 32 in total. These were glued in place on the hull and the track guards. Then, using a punch and die set, I punched out 32 “nuts” and glued these on top of the base plates. The tubing is 20thou rod cut into lengths approximately 4.5mm long. With a bit of trimming, they slid between the plates and just required a dab of glue. In the end, it was a lot easier than I had anticipated.

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

John.

 

 

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