Jump to content

Tamiya M4A3E8 ‘Easy Eight’ - “The Ambush”


Meteors

Recommended Posts

Hi guys, 

 

A month ago I had spinal surgery, and my wife is expecting our second child any day now, so why not start another model kit!

 

I shoved aside a half finished Speeder Bike and Scout Trooper, shelved a half done DeLorean time machine, cleaned up the bench and got ready to dive into this group build.

 

I’ll be making the Tamiya Easy Eight for this one.

 

27731962069_3ec8f8e13d_b.jpg

 

I saw that Badder was doing this one too, and was happy to see he’s doing the winter whitewash, something I wasn’t too keen on as this is only my second ever tank build.

 

I watched ‘Fury’ for some inspiration, and whilst it was pretty dumb there was one scene that inspired me. There’s a bit where they’re driving along and some Jerries ambush them from behind a row of trees with some sort of rocket launcher.

 

I thought this would make a nice little diorama, so I just need to decide whether I’ll go with the rural setting, which could cause difficulty with the trees and bushes, etc, or go with an urban style ambush with crumbling walls and all sorts of debris and stuff. I’m going to pop to the LHS at lunch today to see what’s available.

 

Anyway, here’s a pic of the clean desk at the start of the build, supervised as always by the The Big Chap.

 

24717674497_15dd0fda3d_b.jpg

 

Looking forward to tucking into this one!

 

Cheers!

 

Tom

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Meteors said:

I saw that Badder was doing this one too, and was happy to see he’s doing the winter whitewash, something I wasn’t too keen on as this is only my second ever tank build.

 

I watched ‘Fury’ for some inspiration, and whilst it was pretty dumb there was one scene that inspired me. There’s a bit where they’re driving along and some Jerries ambush them from behind a row of trees with some sort of rocket launcher.

Hi Meteors,

Firstly, get well soon! You'll need to be fighting fit when the baby arrives!

 

Next, yes I will be doing some winter camo, but plan to depict it as heavily weathered and mostly washed off. My dio will be a scene set during 'the thaw', so patchy snow, mud and puddles will feature, and the Sherman will be equally 'patchy'.

 

As for the 'rocket launcher', it was a Panzerfaust', 'Tank fist' or 'Armour fist' - basically a single use anit-tank weapon and forerunner of the rocket propelled grenade.

 

Good luck with the Easy Eight... it's a really nice kit, the fits perfect and the detail really good. Good luck with diorama also - I am really looking forward to seeing it progress. I'm not sure if work on the diorama component can be posted in the GB WIP, or should be posted in the Dioramas forum and only be presented in the GB on completion for photographic purposes? That's something I forgot to ask. I will ask Enzo and get back to you.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I’ve finally got some work done. I managed to do the first three pages, which comprises making the bottom part of the hull, sticking lots of little bits on the front and back ends, and doing some of the little wheels. So, let’s have a look.

 

27876657709_9f9fc28124_b.jpg

 

Here she is from the front. The wheels aren’t glued on so I can’t paint them seperately. Lovely fit on everything so far. 

 

Heres the back end:

 

39655197251_bef2b119a6_b.jpg

 

38946040174_e7ffed056b_b.jpg

 

Cut that right hand axle bit too close to the sprue and made a bit of a mess of it, but it won’t be seen so it’s not too bad.

 

There’s also this weird vent bit that goes up and down. Not really sure of the point of that, but here it is in its different positions.

 

39655193851_1ce1715c4b_b.jpg

 

39655196911_7a20c9b475_b.jpg

 

Just noticed those ejector pin marks there. I’m guessing it won’t be seen too much either, so nevermind!

 

And for my little diorama I picked up these!

 

24785969167_1c986b7063_b.jpg

 

Hopefully I can find the time to do some more this weekend!

 

Cheers,

 

Tom

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Weird vent = Exhaust deflector. It was to redirect the exhaust so as not to create a huge dust cloud behind the tank. To loosely quote Oddball “ The only weak spot on a Tiger is its backside” ..“You want to sneak up behind the Tigers” & not be seen from a mile or two away towing a huge dust cloud behind you. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the info, guys, if I have any further questions I know where to come first!

 

Might not not be able to provide an update for a while, we had our second child arrive on Saturday night, so it’s all go on the baby front around here. I’m sure I’ll get to stick some plastic together in the next couple of weeks though!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys! It’s slightly easier the second time around, but still pretty hectic.

 

Amazingly I got five minutes to myself yesterday and managed to glue on the driver’s hatch of my Sherman, so there has been some progress!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

 

 

Congratulations on the happy event. They are a great set of figures!

And congrats to you and your other half. I hope all is well.

 

BTW

I also have these figures awaiting the rebuild of my Villers Bocage diorama.

 

On ‎12‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 9:17 PM, Meteors said:

24785969167_1c986b7063_b.jpg

What you did get done is looking very neat and tidy.

Word of warning.... those bogies will need some good glue to hold them securely. I tacked them with medium poly, moving them about and making sure they were all in line and vertical as they set. Once set I reinforced with medium CA.

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Badder said:

 

 

 

 

Congratulations on the happy event. They are a great set of figures!

 

 

 

 

Haha, very good!

 

Thanks for the bogie tip, this delay in construction is proving quite handy as everyone is finding those troublesome little issues before me!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’ve managed to make some progress, slowly but surely. I’d planned on making up the lower and upper hulls, painting and weathering them seperately, and then fixing them together afterwards.

 

I’d thought that having the upper hull fixed on would make attaching the tracks difficult. But after having done a test fit of the hulls I think I should be ok as there aren’t massive side skirts or anything. 

 

I was also worried that having the top on would make it difficult to paint the lower hull, get all the gunk and mud and stuff in there, but I think it’ll be fine.

 

38987958775_7834da1f12_b.jpg

 

28106643919_29797fa1d1_b.jpg

 

I’ve got all the wheels and suspension ready to go. My goodness there are a lot!

 

I’ll prime them in Nato black which will also act as the rubber for the wheels. I’ll then do the rest of the bits with Tamiya’s olive drab.

 

25015530797_e14a0a8058_b.jpg

 

39854677392_2c1612ebe0_b.jpg

 

I’ll do all the wheels first and see how that goes before attacking the hull.

 

Cheers! 

 

Tom

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Meteors said:

28106643919_29797fa1d1_b.jpg

 

Neat and tidy progress Tom.

 

Thanks for the photo above. With that very precise 'full frontal' it'll come in very handy for when I eventually get to make my new glacis!

 

Rearguards,

Badder

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, glad I could help, Badder.

 

Which reminds me, does anyone know why this kit suggests I stick some kind of turning thingy (I’m not very mechanical) on to the little vertical and horizontal holes on the back face of the upper hull, only to stick a big storage bin over the top?

 

28106642349_af9aed8228_b.jpg

 

If it’s going to be covered up why bother? Is it simply so that the storage bin sits flat? I’m a bit confused!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Meteors said:

Which reminds me, does anyone know why this kit suggests I stick some kind of turning thingy (I’m not very mechanical)

I believe that Turning Thingy = Starting crank. I believe it to be a starting crank handle. Some versions had an old crankstarter like the early auto’s did. Not sure if it was backup or only way to start-up. Now that i think about it. Its entirely possible it might also have been a way to crank a jack, so the crew could work on a bogie as well ? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...