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Sherman tanks in the PTO ...


Etienne

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Hello modellers,

 

as the Sherman tanks STGB is now ended and my Sherman projects are not ... this thread will serve as a "potentialy never ending WIP" :P

 

 

The Asuka/TMD M4A2 is now painted and will be clear coated before decals today ... I added a few highlights with faded OD that will surely be smoothed by filters and weathering.

 

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Cheers, E

Edited by Etienne
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Next and last updates for today ... decals on the mid-prod M4A2, another CoA, 3rd Tank Bn on Iwo Jima.

 

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... and begining of another M4A2, this one of late production. This kit is obviously not Dragon's best and I had to modify, fill, trim and file :huh: 

 

First step, the turret ... the high bustle turret does have the thickened cheek but it's far too thin in my opinion so I thickened it a bit with thin styren sheets and putty ...

 

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Then I filled several holes and gaps and added bolts from MasterClub, excellent stuff, and final drive assemblies from TMD (got them super cheap from another modeller) and far better than Dragon's in this kit. Note I had to fill a huge gap under the sponson (fortunately not visible) ... :mellow:


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It will most likely end as a 1st MarDiv tank on Peleliu island.

 

Cheers, E

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Hello,

 

thanks for your comments ... searching on the web, a tragic accident occured ... I found that terrifying photo of Ann, the famous M4A2 Sherman belonging to Co.A, 3rd Tank Battalion and my heart broke suddenly !!!

 

My build is awfully inaccurate, totally unacceptable 😱 ... you see that standard rear wading stack, the jerrycan holder and the second aerial on the forward antenna bracket ? 

 

I only had 2 options : stop modelling at once ... or build another Ann !!! Guess what 😎

 

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I'll finish this one, but another "Ann" will join my Sherman's team soon for sure ...

 

E

Edited by Etienne
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Etienne, you've just discovered rule No.1 of Sod's Law.........whenever you build something, a photo always comes to light to prove that you got it wrong!!:angry: No doubt that you can use it again. The second one is coming along nicely though.

 

John.

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Hello,

 

I started the day with oils, then pigments on the lower hull ... the 2nd Sherman is nearly at the same stage than the 1st one, still have to figure how to make dust without ruining everything I did before so tomorrow will be the day of tests !!

 

Problem is the photos don't do it justice ... strange light today, no way to shoot a good pic !!

 

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E

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7 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Etienne, you've just discovered rule No.1 of Sod's Law.........whenever you build something, a photo always comes to light to prove that you got it wrong!!:angry: No doubt that you can use it again. The second one is coming along nicely though.

 

John.

That is so true ... but it's also a good pretext to start another Sherman project 😎

 

Cheers, E

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10 hours ago, Kris B said:

Can you tell me what paint did you used for this Olive Drab? I think it gonna be a super model. 

Hi Kris,

 

I used Vallejo olive drab 71.043 for the base coat, and a mix of the same OD with sand yellow for the highlights. I then used a dot filter with several enamel washes and filters, sort of unorthodox method, of which a neutral grey and a tan filters that gave that faded OD color at the end.

 

In fact, the base coat is only what it is, and the result is very much conditioned by what comes next ... as an illustration, the two Shermans came with the same base coat, the one on the left got more green & brown filters while the other more tan & grey ...

 

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E

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Hi,

 

not too much to show today ... when I was younger and training for competitions, one of my teammates always said : "there's only two kinds of cyclists, those who have already fallen and those who are going to fall !!"  

 

Guess what ... you can replace cyclist with modeller, and fall with spilled cement !!  ... so today, I spilled my quick setting cement on my cutting mat with all those tiny connectors for track links 😱

 

As a result, one cutting mat out and a blob of plastic parts, mostly connectors ... fortunately, not other damage but I don't have enough connectors anymore to finish the tracks, and probably need to resupply 🙄

 

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Cheers, E

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Hello modellers,

 

news from the workbench after a week out for holidays with my wife and our youngest son ... I have several projects running, here they are and no, it's no Sherman's assembly line 🙄 

 

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On the right, the late M4A2 that has already been detailed in this thread ... on the left, an Italeri M4A3 and in the center, the Asuka hull that was replaced by a TMD Fisher hull for "Ann" project and a Dragon M4A3 that will probably end up as a 5th or 6th Tk Bn tank on Iwo Jima, but not without a lot of work, I suspect 😕

 

You also have the very beginning of a benchmark analysis of the different available T54E1 tracks ... for the moment, you have Bronco, Modelkasten and Panda Plastics and I'm still waiting for Friuls to complete the study ... I'll write a review as soon as it will be completed ...

 

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Now let's talk about the Italeri kit ... hummmm, not a bad kit per se but full of flaws and dated. However the main problem was not the kit but the condition when I received it, as the seller didn't take any special care when packaging and eventually refused to refund me so I had to make something with it. It won't probably be a full project, I guess, but more a training kit to practice and learn new techniques ... here is what I found when opening the box 😱

 

The turret was shattered into pieces, the hull had its flank opened and many other parts suffered ...

 

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So I took my glue, putty and tools ... I "rebuild" the turret, added cast texture and thickened the cheek, standard feature on high bustle turrets, also modified the lifting hooks to represent an early M4A3, replaced the MG bow socket with fuze wire (to test the idea ... seems positive, I think) and added cast texture on the differential cover ... took me much time but the result seems honest, even if many flaws of the kit remain, isn't it ?

 

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One final point I'd like to share with you (many probably already know this tip ... but for the others ) : I don't know for you, but I felt the need to have a flat and rigid sanding stick to avoid rounded corners and non-flat surfaces on some parts ... I found the solution on this very interesting website : http://paulbudzik.com/ ... many tips for tools, techniques, sometime overkill when it comes to perfect finish but still very useful.

 

So I used scrap clear styrene from other projects ... and cut custom sanding sticks, then just applied double-sided tape and sand paper that you can choose according to your needs ... easy, fast and cheap !!!!

 

... and pretty effective 😎

 

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Cheers, E

 


 

 

Edited by Etienne
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That was a bit of a bummer, with regards to the condition of that kit when it arrived, but you've done a good job in repairing it. I also like the fuse wire around the bow MG. Very neat job.

 

John.

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4 minutes ago, Bullbasket said:

That was a bit of a bummer, with regards to the condition of that kit when it arrived, but you've done a good job in repairing it. I also like the fuse wire around the bow MG. Very neat job.

 

John.

Thanks John ... I couldn't accept that the kit was unusable 😉

 

However, the drivetrain is in bad condition too ... half of the bogies will go to the bin and I must admit that the rest is very ugly compared to Dragon or Asuka offering ... but there's not hurry and I'll surely find a solution.

 

Cheers, E

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Good job with repairing the broken parts. Good that you get it broken as now it looks better then Italeri made it. 

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Hello,

 

some work on the Italery M4A3 today, new gun (Italeri's gun is a very early one, and rather ugly) and periscopes mounts, turret and bow MGs ... from the surplus box (Dragon & Asuka kits are great, some much left overs 😎) ...

 

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USMC M4A3 in the PTO had early glacis with extended bullet splash guard, which neither the Italeri nor the Dragon kit do have ... so I added those (will do the same on the Dragon M4A3 later)

 

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Then I did a lot of welding ... after installing the side fenders brackets, I had to "produce" a lot of stretched sprue 😉

 

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Next Sherman ... the late M4A2, same problem, the elongated splash guard was added, only 76 late M4A2s had the short ones ... then welding here again !!

 

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... and to finish this busy day, I did a little bit of bodywork on the Dragon M4A3, as the thickened cheek armor is much too thin on Dragon kits (in my opinion ... 🙄). Still have to add some more, I use a mix of acrylic putty and primer that dries quickly and is rock solid after completer curing.

 

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So the assembly line is closed for today ... cheers E

 

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14 hours ago, Etienne said:

Then I did a lot of welding ... after installing the side fenders brackets, I had to "produce" a lot of stretched sprue 😉

 

Nice one Etienne. That's a detail that a lot of people leave off (including me!!)

 

John.

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5 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

Nice one Etienne. That's a detail that a lot of people leave off (including me!!)

 

John.

Hi John,

 

they are not mandatory actually ... but they give a little bit a realism to this bits of plastic 😉

 

Took me some time to find the right method but when you know how to do it ... it's quick and easy 😎 ... for straight welds, I use stretched sprue, firstly fixed with quick setting cement (pale green cap Tamiya) then soften with normal cement (dark green cap Tamiya, quick setting evaporates to quickly). For curved or round welds, I just use milliput (still have to practice to make very fine welds)

 

The weld marks are made with a blunt surgical needle (I have plenty, my wife being a nurse ...) ... probably need a smaller one for milliput welds, they need less strength, more precision than stretched sprue.

 

Cheers, E

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Nice production line those M4's are really coming together.

Some top tips as well that I've book marked for future projects!

 

  Roger

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They say its all in the detail, and you've certainly done a great job so so far, be happy you're not putting the duck bills on those bronco tracks, i still have flashbacks of mine😫

Glynn 

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Looking good no matter what references indicate! 

3rd tank Battalion used rebar extensively in some companies. D Company had a rebar rail completely surrounding the rear deck and rebar jerry can holders.

Most, if not all, tanks on Iwo Jima left the lower half of the wading trunks in place. It protected the radiators which are in the hull overhang of M4A2 and A3's with liquid cooled engines. 

 

G

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