PlaStix Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Good to see you are making progress Sarge and looking good too Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Nice trio Sarge, looks like some very delicate work going on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 Here's the first of the models with stamped wheels:   I've sorted the back skid since seeing this picture. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Starting to feel like I'm getting somehere:   Sadly the idler wheels wound up a touch too far outboard and the roadwheels lack of symmetry shows up, so the track runs are far from perfect, but they should pass muster at a glance.  5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foghorn Leghorn Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 All that effort on the skid plates, you can hardly see them now ... Â I'll err ... Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 Yup, a great deal of faffing for no significant gain. That you can't see them is in no way a bad thing TBH.....They took a few knocks getting the tracks in place.  The two kits with stamped running gear are now both on their tracks:    Identical kit, identical parts, identical technique, yet on this one the tracks were three links too long!  Incidentally, here's my top tip for joining Heller tracks, lose the silly bloody tabs:   Be sure to preserve the end connectors on each side.  If you find that you do need to shorten the track, do it at the other end trimming it down to match (full pad, no end connectors) and ensure that you remove the remnants of the guide teeth or they will interfere with the join (guess how I know about this last bit).  2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 This last one fought me tooth & nail, the first track went fine but it was four links too long.....The next one broke!   I managed to get it fixed, but it's a bit ugly TBH.....I've used trickery to conceal it from the casual glance (it's visible in the photo), but it won't stand up to serious scrutiny.  It's entirely possble I will be ordering another three Heller M4A2s just so I can replace this track (& build some Emchas).....At least that's the excuse I'll be using when the credit card bill turns up.   7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Stuart Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 And I was concerned about building 1/35 tracks - are tracks ALWAYS a problem with Sherman types? Â Your track look Ok to me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 That's only about the third or fourth track I've broken in the nearly twenty years since I restarted modelling. The break was in a really inconvenient place too, I have a feeling I may have damaged the track somehow as it broke quite unexpectedly, all a bit irritating really.....I think I can live with it but I'll definitely be more careful with them in future.  Apart from this one (probably self-inflicted) issue the Heller tracks are dead good, possibly better than Trumpeter's (my previous favourite band type tracks for the Sherman), very nicely detailed and easy to fix with CA.....They would probably be even easier to work with on less fragile running gear like Heller's own.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 I keep finding new fiddly little things to make that the kits really should already have.....I've just added a vague representation of fishtail exhausts to all three, will almost certainly have to add a towing hitch to at least one model, horns to two of them, the list just keeps growing and I haven't even looked at the turrets yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Nice going Sarge on your builds and your amount of broken tracks, I've lost count of tracks I've either broke or melted along the years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 I suspect you've completed a lot more builds than me though fella!  Here's where I'm at:   While my M4A1s make no concession to turret cheek armour, the UM M4A4 offers a full set of applique in etched brass.....While I'm not sure of their utility as actual parts (Zey're waffer theen!  ), they do make nice templates!  PS - Can you see my fishtails?  5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Hi Sarge  Looking good with these after some painful progress.  Have you ever come across shaddock.fr - offers a Sherman minutiae site which I spent an hour reading earlier (I should have been marking!)?  All the best  Ben   1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Nice going Sarge!! I struggle with more than one build at a time. Don’t know how you manage doing three  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Cheers guys! 17 minutes ago, badger said: Have you ever come across shaddock.fr - offers a Sherman minutiae site which I spent an hour reading earlier (I should have been marking!)? Yup, that's an excellent site.   Teacher's work is never done (my mum was one). 10 minutes ago, wimbledon99 said: Don’t know how you manage doing three  Fairly badly as a rule!  I'm only building them to a certain standard, not the sort of attention to detail you guys go to.....So long as they look reasonably Shermany at arm's length they'll serve their purpose.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wimbledon99 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 2 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Fairly badly as a rule! I think not!! So small but with scratchbuilt detail. Rather wonderful from where I’m looking in from  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beefy66 Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Nice production line nearly as many tanks as I build cars   beefy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 32 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said: Cheers guys! Yup, that's an excellent site.   Teacher's work is never done (my mum was one).  I found it so useful I printed most of it off and have filed it for future builds reference (much prefer a book / paper to a screen!!)  Luckily I teach at a college, so don't have quite the amount of marking I would if I worked at a school.  I was hoping to join the GB but things have been a little hectic the last few weeks. On half term after next week so will try and find some time as have been researching a T34 Calliope on a M4 chassis (heller kit with italeri launcher).  As luck would have it braillestrike decals do a sheet for the exact tank I wanted to model (and only had one in stock so that got bought straight away!).  All the best  Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Funnily enough I'm considering doing similar, but with an ESCI Launcher on an ESCI M4A3 with Italeri L&L tracks.....That's where my towing hitch is coming from. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger Posted January 31, 2018 Share Posted January 31, 2018 Cool - I definitely need the hitch on the Calliope as the photo I have shows it pulling an M8 or M10 trailer.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted January 31, 2018 Author Share Posted January 31, 2018 Same here, but I'm already junking the Italeri M4A1 kit for the track and the ESCI M4A3 already has a towing hitch of its own (at least I think it does, it better have).  PS - Your tip on the Dragon wading Shermans has sorted me out.....Dragon may be wrong, they often are, but I'll cross that bridge if & when I come to it.  PPS - Discovered more issues on the model that has the snapped track, the track has slipped on the sprocket on both sides for some reason. There's no way I can fix it, especially with a busted track, so (as I inevitably seem to find myself saying at some point in each and every build thread).....It is what it is.  1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 (edited) Hi Sarge. Despite the issues with track it's good to see you're making progress! Looks like one of the production lines back in the day! Kind regards, Stix Edited February 1, 2018 by PlaStix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hewy Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018  The brigade is Advancing nicley sarge, Glynn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 Errrr.....Houston:   FFS! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt.Squarehead Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 Sorted: Â Â Â 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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