Foghorn Leghorn

Yeah, it seems they would have been painted green. Thanks for the links Jack, I'll dig a bit more. Apparently some turretless shermans were also used as liason or signals, correction, for sappers

Indeed yes, I built Italeri's kit many moons ago. Apparently it's not that accurate but at the time when I built it, it was the only M7 out there. Academy's Priest may be a better place to start from but refs/pics of M7 Kangaroos are hard to find as well. The first link in my original post also covers the M7 Kangaroo if you want more info, maybe I'm sad (but then I am a modeller) but I find the background info that it gives, facinating. Neil Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot, I also came across one M7 Kangaroo photo which had been converted to a command/signals vehicle

Cracking info there, Jack. I continue to be amazed with the research that's available out there (the Missing Lynx link), with people managing to piece together tank serial numbers for an unusual (and small volume) tank conversion. The Star sheet is extremely useful as it shows: 1. It's green. In Andy's FSM piece he admitted he used artistic licence to do a desert scheme, they may well have had that scheme at some point but the decal sheet shows at some point they were green. 2. It's got a cast nose 3. It's got a partial wading trunk 4. They surivied until 1945 5. It shows badge info. Many thanks for the info Neil

To cut a long story short, I read a piece in FSM April 2018 by Andy Cooper who built an M4A2 Kangaroo. I didn't think any Sherman Kangaroos existed (assuming you discount the RAM Kangaroo) but it seems they did, so I want to do one in 35th. I only found 2 refs on the web, this refers to the story around the conversion to Kangaroos http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/apckang2.htm The second ref covers building a wargame version using the M4A2 large hatch 47degree Sherman as a basis http://tinyhordes.com/rubicon-sherman-kangaroo-conversion/ I'm guessing this is the wrong version Sherman as (I think) all the 47degree M4A2s went to Russia .... and the first link also mentions the Sherman III as the donor tank. Half way down the page is a pic of the Kangaroo and it looks like an M4A2 small hatch but I can't tell if it's a cast nose or bolted. Does anyone have any more info on the Sherman Kangaroo, does the pic show a small hatch early M4A2? Is it a cast nose or bolted? TIA Neil

I've never considered a GB as competitive, but I've never been that way inclined with modelling (although I am competitive elsewhere in life). For me, one of the reasons for entering a GB is the drive to get the thing finished and not end up as yet another shelf queen, the deadline for the gallery is good motivation in that sense.

Either that or the Aussies have been caught ball tampering again ... I'll err ...

Yeah, I'd go for that. It does seem strange to post your finished GB and not vote, but each to their own I suppose BTW, thanks to you, Ozzy and Sgt Squarehead for running the GB

Yeah, it's a shame that you never made the deadline but you have to remember that modelling is supposed to be enjoyable and, fundamentally, you do it to please yourself (unless your a pot hunter of course), not for others. So take your time and finish is the way you want, otherwise it'll always nag you in the back of your mind.

Yeah, it may or may not have been down to temp, at the time it was the only explanation I could come up with. Even then it wasn't that cold as I spray indoors too. I've thinned with water before and it was fine. Maybe it was just a modelling gremlin day but as the UMP worked with it I'll probably stick with it for now Thanks for the kind comments Badder... and to everyone else

What a brilliant idea for doing the eyes. I think I've still got my rotring set from many moons ago. I'll have to dig it out... Otherwise, looking cracking as per usual

Heller 72nd M4 Sherman

When I was painting the dio, I also gave the Sherman a very light dust coat of khaki (I dont normally weather with an airbrush), more to tone down the yellow decal at the front than anything else. After that, I felt the tank needed another coat of W&N matt varnish. I'd had 'paint flow' problems with the previous coat (I thinned it with water, which is what i normally use) so this time I used UMP thinners and it sprayed on much better. I have a feeling that part of the previous problem was down to temperature as we were in the middle of the cold snap. I'd planned to go to town on the weathering (using pastels and pigments) but because it would disappear under varnish, I decided to stick the tank to the base (so I wouldn't have to touch the model again) and then add the weathering, thus avoiding the need to seal it. I was going to paint the edge of the base black but I quite liked the texture of the balsa (a kind of cracked earth effect) so I painted it khaki and gave it a Mig dark wash. I added the towing pintle, hull MG and 50cal (fitting the 50cal ammo box was fiddly) but left off the extra track links for the hull, then glued the tank to the base. At this point my master plan changed because I was relatively happy with the finish. I wanted to tweak it but I've been there before and stuffed it up by tinkering too much, so I added some dust pigment to the bottom of the tank and left it alone. I'm a perfectionist (not a good thing for a modeller) but I've found a partial cure, I now add a deliberate mistake to my models. The theory is: because I've added mistakes, I can never get it perfect, no matter how much I tinker with it, it sounds odd, but it works for me. This time it's the aerial and its mount, it pinged off during construction and it'll be an awkard little bogger to replace. So I wont bother. The Heller kit is a little gem, in fact it's the most detailed 72 armour kit I've ever come across. Yep, it's fiddly and the instructions aren't the best but it's 'almost' converted me to 72nd armour. As others have said, I really wish Heller had expanded their Sherman range to more than just the M4A2. Many thanks for the comments guys and gals and special thanks @SleeperService (who recommended the kit) and to @Sgt.Squarehead (for his sterling mod work in this GB). (Edited 21/03/18. Moved to new image hoster as my original image hoster has gone down)

Yep, dead simple... spot on. The simpler and quicker, the better AFAIC Confession. I kind of screwed up a bit. The dark brown wash is normally is oil paint based (made up to be a thin wash) but I decided to use Mig Dark Wash (as it was to hand) and I thinned it down by about 30%. Mistake. Whatever's in the Mig wash doesn't react the same as an oil wash and it didn't flow that well. Also don't dry brush the grass with lighter shades of greens, take a green and then mix in more and more yellow until you end up with pure yellow. One of these days I'll find something that gives me convinging long grass, in 72nd I can get away with scatter but not in 35th. I've tried various solutions but all I get in unnatural rigid tufts, I suppose 'real' looking long grass is (generally speaking) a bit of a nirvana for a lot of us. Thanks for the comments guys

Maybe a stockpile of cheap heller kits (creative sell them cheap every now and then) used as donors with UM is the way to go. That etch bolt plate is b****y stupid though And as for that behemoth, what's wrong with you man? EVERYONE wants german 1946 kits, they keep making them so it MUST be the case. In fact we're probably breaking the law by not making german stuff in this GB Looking great otherwise ...

Gardening time "We plough the fields and scatter the good seeds on the land..." Sprayed with khaki Sprayed with greens Drybrushed Dark brown wash Drybrushed again I shall now spend a few days trying to suss out the new car (Civic). There used to be a time when you bought a car and drove it. Simple. Now I've got a 500 page manual to wade through. And you need to be Stephen Hawking just to understand the windscreen wipers and headlight options. And they call it progress...

She's looking good I love that caliper stretcher! You might want to copyright it before someone makes a specific tool and charges £40 for it

Wow, brave man! I'll never use a can of varnish again, tried it once with a Humbrol mini spraycan and ... it didn't end well. Tasty 110 too

Another stonking WIP to follow!

Did you spray W&N straight from the bottle? I thin mine about 30-50%. But it's the mattest matt I've come across, almost too matt,so I have some W&N gloss to un-matt it when needed. I've tried the clingfilm thing before but it didn't really work for me. I have a different approach to dio bases than most so all the grass etc (which will be round the edge of the tank tracks) needs to be there when it gets sprayed so it gets a unified appearance. But (for various reasons) I need to weather the tank separately and add it on at the end. Mind you, this is 72nd we're talking about so maybe it doesn't matter as much, I could be overthinking it. Should be ok for tank track impressions, thanx

And I'm back on the wagon ... but it'll be brief descriptions from now on as time isn't my friend. In order to meet the deadline the dio base will be very simple. A piece of balsa was given a random shape, poyfilla stuck on it and track lines carved in by one of my "Hammer House of Horror" dental probes (seen at the top). What the hell that tool is supposed to do to your teeth, god only knows I then gave the tank a coat of Winsor & Newton matt varnish and it suddenly came to life. And the finish has changed my ideas about weathering, I may keep it to minimum as I'm happy with the finish the way it is. I've not figured out the process of 'grassing up' the dio and sticking the tank to the base, I need to do A before B but I also need to do B before A, so I need to figure out the best route.

Geez, that's quite possibly one of the best armour models I've seen. And the b&W pic ....

Well things have been a bit hectic of late. 1. Had to look around for a new car, I'll be getting it next week. Money for it has been a hassle to arrange as well. 2. The weather's been a nightmare for me this week due to being a carer 3. One of the HD's on my server decided to have a fit (and it's a really important HD). Still working on that, not sure exactly what happened. And of course it happenend while I was making a backup of it, so it corrupted the backup as well. Luckily I have 2 backups, close call, that one. 4. All the above killed my mojo. So next week or the week after I'll be back on it but it means I'll have to drop the dio ATM and go straight to some simple weathering. It should be made a criminal offence for 'life' to interrput modelling.

There I was, minding my own business and I stumble on this piece of modelling lunacy. Definitely a but I'm still keeping an eye on the shack. So only 99% left then ...