bull-nut

@TeeELL Go with whatever you think looks right, obviously. For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure that Light Mud was the prescribed colour at the time in question, I believe using Olive Green as the disruptor, and that colour you have there looks close to my mix using Mike Starmer's Tamiya mix.

Later than planned, I have progress pics. First up, kit M2HB .50 Browning HMG with RB Models upgrade set; I drilled out the centre of the drive sprockets to accept a length of styrene tube, then inserted a length 1.5mm brass rod for strength and to act as a locating pin into the transmission housing. Also drilled out the rear idler to accept the same size tubing, though I left the insert off, because; I repeated the tubing and rod system at the rear, fitting the rod through the rod into a section of square tube roughly shaped as the track adjuster. since this picture was taken, I have added a piece of hex rod to represent the track tension nut. Next up was the addition of the waterproofing remnants, using small sausages of Kneadatite epoxy putty, these were placed around the two hull hatches, bow machine gun, co-ax MG, engine cover, commanders hatch, and completely covering the gun rotor shield, which I scratched roughly from a scrap of plasticard. the torn sections were roughly dragged down the tank, trying to replicate the way fabric would have fallen over the hull/turret. I left the main gun waterproofing intact on purpose. The small ventilator on the front hull side was replicated with a ball of putty, textured downwards at the edges. Thinking the tank looked a little bare, I grabbed some plastic stowage items from the Tamiya set, bedded them into a thin rolled sheet of putty, and added some putty bed rolls to help bind it all together. The first coat of primer is now drying, so I hope to get paint on it tomorrow.

Sign me up please. I have the Airfix 1/48 Warrior with etch and a Tamiya 1/48 Cromwell in the stash, the later is crying out to be turned into FV4101 Charioteer,

Not sure I follow what you mean @Ozzy, if you mean how do I keep the running gear separate as a single unit for painting, it's not that difficult when using Link-N-Length track. Put simply, glue the curved run onto the sprocket, tack the sprocket/road wheels/idler into place with sticky putty, and work forward from the sprocket around the full track run, following the kit instructions. I suppose you could do something similar with non workable single link track if you made it up into LnL sections as you went. When I come to do the RWY Sherman tracks in my other build, I'll see if I can remember to document the process for you, though I'm currently fighting with the resin bogies. Maybe I'll dig out the Achilles for the 10th anniversary GB and showcase it in that instead. In the mean time, I have attached the OVE to the hull, and replaced the M2's barrel and grips with a fine multipart replacement from RB, I'll get some pics up later. Next job is to start work on the waterproofing remnants and stowage.

Change of plan. I have managed to pick up an M10 IIC from a certain auction site, probably not for this GB, but it uses the same track and bogie frames as the M4A1, these also contain all of the lights and brush guards for the M4 series models, but the M10 uses it's own parts, thus leaving me with a full set of Lights and Guards for this build. I have also noticed that the Tamiya kit uses the intermediate, lipped three piece transmission cover, while from the timescale involved, I would imagine that Cricklade was fitted with the initial, in-lipped, version. If anyone has any definitive information as to when the lip was added to the three piece cover, I'd love to here about it. Meanwhile I shall have to go consult Google.

Thanks guys. It has been said before that any progress is better than no progress, and things have certainly been slow on the modelling front around here recently. However, I have been able to get the running gear put together. Also fitted the kit lifting eyes, lights, siren, and brush guards. Along with the lower section of the wading trunk. Then I started with the periscope brush guards. Hauler do an etch set for these, along with the light guards, but I figured I'd have a go at making them myself. After a few false starts trying to use a plasicard jig, I remembered that SWMBO had a set of jewellery pliers in her work drawers. As I was raiding her stash of wire anyway, I tried the pliers, got a better result, and came up with the following sequence that may be of use to someone. L-R, Top-Bottom The pink handled pliers are flat needle nosed, while the blue are broader; Crimp wire around needle pliers, leaving sufficient length to insert into drilled holes; Clip off, leaving one leg longer than the other, then repeat to give a matched pair; Insert into drilled holes near the corners of the periscope, place the longer leg first, and fix with a small drop of CA (super) glue; Place overlong crossbars and fix as above, trim when set, and file sharp edges flush. (still need to file these) Spots on the cutting mat are about 2mm apart The wire I used here is 0.315mm, which scales out as a shade over 15mm diameter in 1/48. I'm not sure what thickness stock the US factories used, but it looks close enough to my eye, maybe I'll see if I can measure them next time I'm down at Bovington. And finally, just because I could:

Looking good.

The "Stick" in question is the antenna base, it was a sprung mount so that the aerial wasn't damaged when it brushed through tree branches, hit the roof of arches, etc.

Fabulous M10, love the paint job on the wooden accessories.

That's a fine looking Sherman there @exdraken. Nice work with the sponson fillers. Watch yourself, these 1/48 armour kits are insanely addictive! I started out with 1 or 2 and now have nearly a dozen in the stash and half a dozen finished.

Afraid I can't help with BIG tracks, I have heard good things about Panda Tracks, and Mr Steve Zaloga, IIRC, uses them in several of his Osprey published 1/35 Sherman builds. But since I restrict myself to 1/48 I tend to use LnL from the kit.

That was my thinking, just need to find time too do it around work/family/building. Web shopping while operating self propelled machinery is sort of frowned upon Thanks @Badder, a few more and we'll have an entire RWY Troop! Of course the brush guards would be easier using etch, except that 1) I don't have much luck getting etch parts to match up, and 2) by the time the frets are shipped to me, I could have the parts scratched up from simple jigs anyway. I sent @TeeELL my copy of Cricklade as a Sherman III, so we may well see another one yet!

Thanks @Bullbasket, the picture above certainly looks as though the hull sides are still in OD No9, from the tonal variations it seems very close to the disruptive patterns on the upper hull., although the tone doesn't change significantly across the stowage box-turret transition, so I'm thinking that the pattern may be Dark Green on the hull uppers after all. Mike says that the green used was close to SCC7? as used for temperate tilts, but formulated for solid surfaces, so I think I'll go with my SCC7 mix that I have made up already. With regards to the bogies, they look to me as though they were repainted, but that the paint has been abraded off, probably by the sand cloud kicked up as the tank is moving. You can see that the front bogie still has quite a fair bit of light coloured paint on it, where as there is almost nothing on the rearmost bogie. It also looks, to me, as though the front bogie facing the camera has stamped wheels fitted, as opposed to the cast ones on the other two bogies? There is a lot of mud/sand caked into them, but the ribs look shallower, and closer together, than on the other wheels. Or am I just imagining it? On a lighter note, look what arrived in the post this week So I cracked on and fitted the gun mount and closed hatch castings to the new turret, since the texture that is cast into it matches the hull texture, and mixing the resin and plastic sections would stick out like a sore thumb. Also added various kit parts to the upper hull and cleaned up the bottom, need to add the sponson filler plate as on my Husky build, and fit the front tinwork. And while I was at it, I fitted the front and rear styrene parts to the metal hull. A spot of filler needed there, me thinks. Test fitting shows that the rear plate on the resin piece is fouling the air cleaners, so I'll need to thin it down a little before I fit the two parts together. Still need to knock up some jigs for the various brush guards, turn some sprue down into assorted lights, and add actual periscopes to the hull hatches. Not to mention drilling out the gun mount to accept the main gun, scratch up a rack for the Flimsys, and source a pair of 1/48 M1919 barrels. Someone tell me again why I'm doing this .

So rather than another A1, I have an Achilles IIC on the way from a well known auction site ,since it uses the same wheel sprue as the M4A1 I can rob the spoked wheels from there, or jus use the entire bogie assembly and put the pressed wheels I have built up above onto the Achilles, since I have been unable to find any period pics of a Op' Husky Sherman with the pressed/stamped units. On a positive note, the castings are cured enough to glue to the upper hull, and I've opted to use the kit turret on this build after all. So I build it up with the exception of the rotor shield, that will be made from some plastic tubing, and covered in waterproofing, leaving me the kit shield for the Lightfoot build. Turret hatches opened for a TC to stand in, but I need to pick up some triangular section strip tomorrow to fashion the periscopes from, since I forgot it when I went into my FLMS yesterday. I also filled the hollow transmission casing with miliput, and pushed some plastic rod into to make depressions before it cured, this will allow me to use lengths of brass rod for the axles, with the corresponding strength increase. I could likely get away with plastic, since the tracks are LnL, not vinyl, but better safe than sorry. Tonights job is to make up a jig, so that I can bend consistent periscope brush guards from brass wire.

At any given scale, a WW2 medium tank, such as the M3/M4 series, will take up about 1/3 to 1/2 of the shelf space of a contemporary single engine fighter, the lack of too many "sticky outy" bits keeps the space requirements down to a minimum. It's also easier too repair/ correct mistakes in armour models, just cover them in mud/stowage! I am looking at a 1/48 T34/85, sat on a 7" x 5" scenic base, and it has room for 5 figures, a path, and a tree as well.

I tried getting some bits, including that one, from Ian to build Cricklade of 'C' Sqn RWY alongside my Husky build, ordered on 27/12 with no sign of a parcel or communication from them after nearly 2 weeks. I'm wondering if they are having some issues. If so I hope that they aren't too serious.

Good luck with this. These 1/48 Tamiya kits are somewhat addictive aren't they? Don't forget the different tracks, Sherman II in the desert wore T49 rubber block track, you should be able to get the right look just by shaving the chevrons from the kit tracks and adding some extra plasticard thickness.

@Badder The 76mm gun came in three flavours IIRC. M1, M1A1 which was a little shorter, and M1A1C which had the muzzle threaded for a muzzle break. If your tank has the M1A1C, which is what it looks like to me, then the threads would be covered with a thread protector until the muzzle break was available. Note that stocks of one were not necessarily exhausted before fitting another, so you may have a gun with thread protector fitted while the day before tanks were fitted with guns carrying the muzzle break.

Thanks guys, you can thank Mr Zaloga for the idea again, I seem to be pilfering a lot of his techniques on this build. Not picture worthy, but I have managed to get the bogies built, though I'm considering picking up another Tamiya M4/A1 for the spoked wheels on this build, rather than the stamped versions that I think are too late for Husky? My references are a bit thin in that area. On an slightly related topic. does anyone know what's happening with Friendship Models? I've still not received my Lightfoot parts, and all attempts at contacting them have gone unanswered.

Not helped by the modular aspect of the type, one tank could have 3 piece or cast covers at different times if my interpretation is correct.

Yesterdays progress; Bogie mounting plates cut from .25mm plasticard and glued to hull sides. lower hull riveted both sides (they are overscale and need evening up, but I'm going for representative here, so I won't worry about the size). Suspension components removed from the sprue and the backs of all 12 road wheels and 2 idlers filled with milliput. By the way, if anyone is interested, the plans for the wading trunks can be found in the same book by Mr Steve Zaloga as the sponson plate, just resize for your preferred scale. Work will likely slow down now that the family is back from their New Year trip to the Lakes.

@TeeELL, sorry if its a stupid question, where did you get your info that RWY tanks were only named in Syria post 1942? I have pics of 2 shermans from the RWY, both named Cricklade, but one is an 'A1DV, and the other an 'A2. Is it possible that the Regiment re-equipped with 'A2s after leaving north Africa, to replace the mix of Grants, Shermans and Crusaders they were using during Lightfoot/Supercharge, and that the names were added in NA as well?

Ask and you shall receive, my thoughts now in your thread, though be warned that I am by no means an expert on the subject.

@Sgt.Squarehead ask and I shall see what I can do, though I'm by no means an expert on the M4 series, you have been warned. #1 I'd say M4A1 mid production small hatch (no Direct Vision ports in the hull), early? cast transmission cover, M34A1 (wide) mantlet, applique up armour package (fitted as a set, over the hull ammo racks and gunners cheek area IIRC), pressed/stamped road wheels and idler, plain sprocket. #2 With regards the upper hull and turret, I'd say the same as above, possible the M34 narrow mantlet, the driver/co driver bulges look too rounded at the front to me for it to be a DV hull, running gear seems to be what you said. With regards the "lifting hook" on the gun barrel, note how the bright reflection on the top of the barrel is unbroken and smooth. A lifting hook would have disturbed the reflection and caused a shadow. My guess is that it's just a long blade of grass, side of a rock or something similar catching the sun in an unfortunate manner.

Sorry @Ventora3300, link fixed I hope.