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Heller 72nd Sherman M4 * Finished *


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Not much to be seen since last time but the tank had a coat Tamiya khaki drab and it didn't make a huge difference to the olive drab first coat.

 

It was also a bit too brown in tint so then I sprayed Tamiya Dark Green 2 (RAF) and that didn't make it light enough. After that I added some Tamiya buff to the RAF green and sprayed that. Not sure it's light enough for my needs but it'll do. This time i've included a right hand side pic of the turret showing where the cheek armour sits.


m416.jpg

 

m417.jpg

 

m418.jpg

 


Also started painting up the tools. I gave the sprue a spray can of black and started painting the handles. This reminds me why I don't do 72nd anymore, these things are tiny little boggers!

 

m419.jpg

 

Next step will be a gloss coat and then I've got to decide how to break up the monotony of the finish. As I've said before, this is where I come unstuck wth green armour so I'll leave it alone for a few days to hatch a plan.

 

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Perhaps your base colour was a bit too dark?  :shrug:

 

For my base coat over a black primer in 1/72, I lighten OD 60/40 with Dark Yellow/Buff, using more Sand for a fresher colour or more Buff for a faded look.  I then lighten this at least twice more for highlighting. 

 

I reckon once you get some Klear & some pin-washes on it the colours should 'pop' just fine.  :coolio:

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31 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

Perhaps your base colour was a bit too dark?  :shrug:

 

For my base coat over a black primer in 1/72, I lighten OD 60/40 with Dark Yellow/Buff, using more Sand for a fresher colour or more Buff for a faded look.  I then lighten this at least twice more for highlighting.

Thanx

 

I use Tamiya OD for base rather than black but I'll bear the 6/40 ratio in mind for the future. The current paint finish is lighter IRL than in the pic, due to using my phone as a camera. And the turret bears no resemblance to real life at all, I think it was the angle and the lighting at the time that made it look so dark, even the tint is wrong, it's more OD thatn the pic

 

But in the future I really need to push the lighten overspray limit, I always err on the side of caution and not go too dark. Which is a bit silly as you can always make it darker with filters etc.

 

ATM my plan is to lighten with oil paints, not oil dotting but actually painting with oils. Could be interesting. :rolleyes:

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The trick with the highlighting is to mist it on in soft random clouds (concentrated somewhat on the centre of panels or surfaces and raised details).....You can use quite dramatic shades but the clouds need to dissipate into the base as seamlessly as possible. 

17 minutes ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

Which is a bit silly as you can always make it darker with filters etc.

You just hit the nail square on the head!  :coolio:

17 minutes ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

ATM my plan is to lighten with oil paints, not oil dotting but actually painting with oils. Could be interesting. :rolleyes:

I've highlighted with oils before.....It works but it's time consuming.  :sleeping:

 

You could as easily try shooting highlights on what you have without fear IMHO, just go real soft on the application and let it build up gently (as ever practice on the paint mule if you are unsure).  :shrug:

 

FWIW

 

11 minutes ago, Hewy said:

It really  is a super little model it's scale isn't apparent in those photos,  cracking job

This is the kit Airfix should have made instead of their most recent 1/76 releases, they'd have sold more in total, made much more money and we'd all love them again.....But would they listen?  :wall:

 

Heller will sell bazillions of these.  :mellow:

 

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7 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

The trick with the highlighting is to mist it on in soft random clouds (concentrated somewhat on the centre of panels or surfaces and raised details).....You can use quite dramatic shades but the clouds need to dissipate into the base as seamlessly as possible. 

You just hit the nail square on the head!  :coolio:

I've highlighted with oils before.....It works but it's time consuming.  :sleeping:

 

You could as easily try shooting highlights on what you have without fear IMHO, just go real soft on the application and let it build up gently (as ever practice on the paint mule if you are unsure).  :shrug:

 

FWIW

 

This is the kit Airfix should have made instead of their last three 1/76 releases, they'd have sold more in total, made much more money and we'd all love them again.....But would they listen?  :wall:

 

I bought a1/72 airfix sherman about twelve months ago only to use the parts for casting greeblies on a 1/48 scale millennium falcon project(that I'm converting from the hasbro toy) and judging  it against this kit it gets completly blown away, maybe airfix should beg for these moulds 

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(Re the following pics. The combination of the workbench lighting and using the phone camera gives some harsh shadowing but it'll suffice for what follows)

 

Exhibit 1, after a coat of Aquagloss.

 

 

m420.jpg

 

 

The plan was to use oils to 'paint' (not oil dot) the tank and get some modulation going and a lighter overall colour. Sarge did warn me about this so I was prepared for failure.

 

And Sarge was right, it didn't work as I'd hoped so I reverted to oil dotting with a new twist. It seems madness to use cotton buds to do it (with all those stray hairs from the buds floating about) but it worked quite well. By the end of the session this was on the bench (a bunch of buds had already been binned at this point).

 


m421.jpg

 


And this was the end result. You can see some modulation there, if you really squint and get close to the monitor but it wasn't what i wanted. However, it had lightened the overall colour a bit. Note the white stub on the rear top of the turret where the aerial mount used to be... <_<

 


m422.jpg

 


In parallel to the Sherman I'm also painting up a 35th V150 using the same processes and this pic shows that I did manage to lighten the Sherman a bit in relation to the V150 but IRL the differences are not as stark as the pic.

 


m423.jpg

 


The next morning, after the paint had dried a bit, there was virtually no difference between the pre and post oil finish and it looked like I'd done nothing to the model so I need to move to plan B ... whatever plan B is. :hmmm:

 

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So plan B is revert to type, stick to what I know and don't pfaff about as I'll never get it finished otherwise.

 

I messed around with some green pigments and pastels just for future reference, as they'll disappear once i put another coat of Aquagloss on. I might return to pigments after the matt varnish.

 

I then gave it a panel line wash with raw umber (which I don't normally use) and it certainly helped the detail 'pop'.

 

m424.jpg

 

Decals. I always planned to build a generic M4 so I didn't follow the instructions, but as it happened I ended up using most of the decals from option 1. Hmm, I reckon the decals are oversized as the weight badge certainly wouldn't go where it was supposed to (on the front of the sprocket drive casing) as it's too big. In the end I've put it on the nose, I'd like to keep it as it adds some colour but i'm not sure about it. I know that not all shermans had the badge and its location varied. I'll let you guys decide for me, remove it or leave it?

 

When you look at the rest of the numbers etc, they also seem too big. The star and ring on the top of the turret just didn't look right either, so I took it off. In the end I put a plain star on the turret as Sherman crews would probably want some sort of ID on the top. A couple more stars on the sides finished the decalling so I  gave it another coat of Aquagloss, ready for weathering and washes.

 

 

m425.jpg

 

m426.jpg

 

m427.jpg

 

m428.jpg

 

m429.jpg

 

So, what do you reckon, yellow disc yes or no?

 

 

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Great stuff there, I am taking onboard all the comments as I am planning on doing the M4A2 “Divsion Leclerc” version as a Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry Sherman III for the blitz bau!

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5 hours ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

So plan B is revert to type, stick to what I know and don't pfaff about as I'll never get it finished otherwise.

 

I messed around with some green pigments and pastels just for future reference, as they'll disappear once i put another coat of Aquagloss on. I might return to pigments after the matt varnish.

 

I then gave it a panel line wash with raw umber (which I don't normally use) and it certainly helped the detail 'pop'.

 

m424.jpg

 

Decals. I always planned to build a generic M4 so I didn't follow the instructions, but as it happened I ended up using most of the decals from option 1. Hmm, I reckon the decals are oversized as the weight badge certainly wouldn't go where it was supposed to (on the front of the sprocket drive casing) as it's too big. In the end I've put it on the nose, I'd like to keep it as it adds some colour but i'm not sure about it. I know that not all shermans had the badge and its location varied. I'll let you guys decide for me, remove it or leave it?

 

When you look at the rest of the numbers etc, they also seem too big. The star and ring on the top of the turret just didn't look right either, so I took it off. In the end I put a plain star on the turret as Sherman crews would probably want some sort of ID on the top. A couple more stars on the sides finished the decalling so I  gave it another coat of Aquagloss, ready for weathering and washes.

 

 

m425.jpg

 

m426.jpg

 

m427.jpg

 

m428.jpg

 

m429.jpg

 

So, what do you reckon, yellow disc yes or no?

 

 

The paintwork is really good to my eye, the modulation has worked a treat.

 

Duncan B

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Once the decals had been applied I could put the pioneer tools on. Unfortunately, @Graeme H (who's also doing this kit, here) got ahead of me at this point and glued the tools on before decalling. If you do that you're going to struggle fitting them behind the tools.

 

I'm now happy with the overall colour, which is unusual for me as I struggle with dark green finishes (as mentioned before), so the time had come for weathering but I couldn't decide how to do it

 

As a starting point I used AK Streaking Grime on the vertical surfaces and also to dirty down the decals. It actually worked better than the pics show. I used raw umber for the obligatory fuel stain and (although you can see it in the pic) it's now disappeared as Mr numbskull managed to smear it off before it dried, I might do it again later on.

 

m430.jpg

 

m431.jpg

 

But I was still undecided how to weather the beast (pigments, pastels, paint, washes) so I bottled it and moved onto the stowage instead. Again I wasn't sure how much, or if any, stowage I was going to put on. For me, stowage has to sit naturally otheriwse it's not worth it but I've had an idea floating around in my (vacuous) mind for a while and I decided now was the time to try it.

 

I got some plasticard, cut it to shape and added some 'bits' of plastic to make a rough shape, this would be the 'bulk' of the stowage which would then be hidden under a tarp. For the latter I got some foil (which is the silver foil that scalpel blade packs come in) and cut it to size.

 

I wanted this to be removeable (just in case the idea didn't work) so I used blutak to stick it to the hull and then pressed down the foil on top of it. I used a kit bag to peep out the edge of the foil to suggest what was underneath. I prodded, poked and folded the foil to make it look more natural but it will need gluing down.

 

m432.jpg

 

It kind of worked but I also wanted to put a bit of stowage on top, the problem is I couldn't get stowage to sit 'into' the tarp and make it look natural. I then had a brain wave, use just Blutak for the bulk under the tarp, doing that means I can press something on top of (and into) the tarp and get it to sit naturally rather than on top of the stowage.

 

That's the theory ... but I'm still mulling it over

 

 

 

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6 minutes ago, Foghorn Leghorn said:

I'm now happy with the overall colour, which is unusual for me as I struggle with dark green finishes (as mentioned before)

I would be too, it looks the business.  :coolio:

 

The subtle metallic efect on the tools looks great too, I can never get that right.  :unsure:

 

No suggestions on the stowage other than keep experimenting, I fell the same way about getting it to sit right (remember to tie it down too), resin accessories are often rather too 'stiff' looking, so I sometimes take a file to them and remodel the contact areas with Milliput.

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12 minutes ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

The subtle metallic efect on the tools looks great too, I can never get that right.  :unsure:

 

No suggestions on the stowage other than keep experimenting, I fell the same way about getting it to sit right (remember to tie it down too),

 

Like you I struggle doing metal, this time I painted it Vallejo black grey (70862) and then burnished it with gunmetal powder. I think it works in 72nd, not sure it would in 35th though.

 

And yeah, I'm with you about the rope, I was (and still am) a fan of the verlinden style but I find "velcro stowage" (as it became known) annoying. That's why i might use blutak, so I can press the rope into the tarp.

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Sometimes you have moments when the urge to do something is just overwhelming, so you do it ... and then later on you wonder what madness posessed you. :mental:

 

Having started messing with the stowage, I thought "s*d it, just get on with it" so I did. I put some blobs of blutak on top of the plastic bits so I could push the tarp down on top of it. And in all fairness that idea worked quite well.

 

I added another blanket (half-tucked under the tarp) made from the foil and then I needed to tie it all down, I used sewing thread, Kristal Klear and super glue to do it. The thing is, I wanted to get some tension on the (scale) ropes so I had to loop it through the lifting eyes and the rear headlight guards. That was fun.  :mental: If you do the same, I suggest you get some valium and then lie down in a darkened room afterwards, nearly as bonkers as Sgt Squarehead's track skids.

 

 

m433.jpg

 

 


m434.jpg

 


Painting the stowage was a bigger challenge as the 'rope' is really thin. The stowage has had a basic paint job but it''ll need shading later on. With hindsight, there's possibly too much rope on show and I haven't got the kind of tension that I wanted but I'm not about to do it again. The stowage still doesn't look quite right tough, I think I know what the problem is so more work is needed ... when my sanity has returned.

 

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I think if you trim back the knot to the minimum (use CA to secure it first) and stain the rope here and there, you've got a winner.....A few items casually tossed on top or tucked into the rope might break the tarp up a bit, but it's all a matter of personal taste IMHO.

 

PS - A pushbike would look stonking on top of that tarp:

 

https://www.modelimex.com/1-72-bicycle-2pcs

 

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2 hours ago, Sgt.Squarehead said:

I think if you trim back the knot to the minimum (use CA to secure it first) and stain the rope here and there, you've got a winner.....A few items casually tossed on top or tucked into the rope might break the tarp up a bit, but it's all a matter of personal taste IMHO.

 

PS - A pushbike would look stonking on top of that tarp:

 

https://www.modelimex.com/1-72-bicycle-2pcs

 

 

 

Yeah a couple of bits on top will make a difference. I might take some of the rope off as well, there's one piece that's kind of surplus now. As for the bike, that's an excellent idea but it'd cost 2/3 the price of the kit :shocked:

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