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PLEASE VISIT PAGE 3 FOR THE 'FINAL' FINAL PHOTOS. TAMIYA 1/35th M4A3E8 'EASY EIGHT' (lastest tooling) With scratchbuilt armour upgrade. STGB entry: 'FACE OFF' I had intended making this OOB, but @Sgt.Squarehead supplied some rather interesting photos of WWII Shermans, one of which took my fancy. This was an 'Easy Eight' with added frontal and turret 'cheek' armour. The added frontal armour consisted of almost an entire glacis, removed from a presumably 'knocked out' Sherman and bolted/welded on top of the Easy Eight's own glacis. This vehicle was present in the Bastogne region in January 45, and showed signs of having previously been whitewashed. I'd never done a 'conversion' before, but quite liked the idea. This vehicle would be an ideal start then as I thought it would be a fairly easy to replicate, simply slicing the glacis from the kit, and slipping plasticard underneath. However, carefull inspection of the photos showed that the 'donor' glacis wasn't a simple 'cut and paste' job. It had necessarily been cut inwards of its full width and the lifting rings, headlights and horn had all been repositioned slightly. Indeed, the driver's headlight had been removed (or possibly had been severely damaged by enemy fire or some accident) Anyway, only the mangled brush guard remained. So, I couldn't just slice the glacis from the kit and use that. I 'd have to do some mods to it. And then I thought that was way too much work, and risky, so best to scratch the new glacis instead, using plasticard. The cheek armour would be fairly straightforward. I was not intending to do a precise copy of this Sherman then, but something based loosely on it. And I really fancied showing this Sherman with full, but worn, winter camo. I've been meaning to do a winter diorama for ages now, and this seemed the perfect opportunity. I'd previously scratchbuilt a ruined building - which WAS going to appear in my 'Ever Evolving Diorama' - and thought this would be ideal for the winter dio. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and didn't even start the diorama. I DID use it as a backdrop for some of the Gallery entries though. So here it is, with worn winter camo. Be aware that this is not finished. I intend to add stowage to the turret rails, replace the tow cable and replace the figures. It will aslo be getting more mud/grass and snow when placed in the diorama. This was a much harder build than I thought it would be, with many trials and errors along the way, but I am reasonably happy with the added armour. It's a shame I never had time to add all of the stowage, or get the figures to the higher standard that I now aspire to, but I am very pleased with the worn winter camo and mud/grass effects. Thanks to all those who inspired me throughout the GB. Now don't forget to vote! I've already cast my vote, and no, it wasn't for my own model! There's some crackers in there and in my eyes, 3 masterpieces! It's a shame we only get one vote each. TFL Badder