Ripaman Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Another fine looking model in the making John Regards Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 6 hours ago, Ripaman said: Another fine looking model in the making John Regards Richard Thanks a lot Richard. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 The Turret. The Italeri turret is quite good actually, just needing a few tweaks. At the rear, the two L shaped brackets were removed as they were too thick, and replaced with new ones made from strips of thin card. The brackets for storing the .50 Cal, MG came from a Dragon Sherman kit. The crew of this tank used these L shaped brackets for stowing the gun cleaning rods and I made these from Slaters 40 thou rod with the brushes made from pieces of sprue. Archer Fine Transfer casting numbers were applied to the front of the gun mantlet and the top and side of the turret. The kit’s main gun was replaced with an aluminium one from the Barrel Store. This has a thread protector at the end and nicely done internal rifling. I used the Italeri loader’s hatch and detailed it with etched brass from Eduard, but the commander’s cupola was replaced with a spare one from the Dragon M4 Composite kit. This one had the advantage of having separate clear vision periscopes and better detail. It required some surgery though as the Italeri one is moulded as part of the turret, so using a sharp chisel blade, I sliced it off and cleaned it up with wet and dry. The Dragon item then just sat in place. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a spare hatch cover, so I had to use the one from the Italeri kit, suitably detailed with etched brass. The shell ejection port on the left side of the turret looked a bit flat to me, so I built it up with some strips of card and then blended it in with Milliput. The gunner’s periscope in front of the commanders cupola is empty in the kit, so I fitted a clear one from the Dragon kit. John. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Excellent turret upgrade John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 3 hours ago, Carius said: Excellent turret upgrade John Thanks Carius. Much appreciated. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripaman Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Brilliant John, nice touch Regards Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Coming together nicely, that turret looks great! Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 1 hour ago, Ripaman said: Brilliant John, nice touch Regards Richard Many thanks Richard. John. 36 minutes ago, Hamden said: Coming together nicely, that turret looks great! Roger Thanks a lot Roger. It's a surprisingly good kit for it's age. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff E Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 I echo the other comments, nicely done and the turret looks fantastic Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 5, 2019 Author Share Posted August 5, 2019 Thanks for the comments Jeff. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatfingers Posted August 5, 2019 Share Posted August 5, 2019 Aye up John. Nice job on the turret! Regards Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 6, 2019 Author Share Posted August 6, 2019 12 hours ago, fatfingers said: Aye up John. Nice job on the turret! Thanks Steve. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 7, 2019 Author Share Posted August 7, 2019 Final Assembly. Once the major construction was completed, I joined the upper and lower halves of the hull together. Unlike Tamiya, Italeri filled in the sponsons on this kit, so that was one less job to do. Final jobs were to fit the front fenders and the exhaust deflector. I had cut off the Italeri fenders as they were on the thick side and was going to use etched replacements, but whilst looking through my spares, I came across a pair of unused ones from the Tasca Sherman ll. These did the job nicely. I don’t know which type of horn this vehicle used, so I opted for the one fixed to the left fender. Unfortunately, Italeri have omitted to include the exhaust deflector and the thought of scratch building one didn’t fill me with enthusiasm. Luckily Revell include one in their M7 Priest kit. I made the attachment brackets from strips of card and glued it in place. A couple of photos of the finished build minus tracks prior to painting. That's it for a few days, as I will be back in Blighty being a Granddad for a while. It's nearly there, so I'll try and update when I have some time. Thanks for looking. John. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soeren Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Beautiful, I must have missed that though, are all these fragile guards around the lamps and optics from a PE kit or scratched? They look great. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carius Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Excellent construction and update my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flashlight Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Hi John, stunning and excellent job! Have a nice day Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Coming together nicely, looking forward to seeing it in paint Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 Looks superb, nice work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomCZ Posted August 8, 2019 Share Posted August 8, 2019 Just simply...wow ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 On 07/08/2019 at 14:57, Soeren said: Beautiful, I must have missed that though, are all these fragile guards around the lamps and optics from a PE kit or scratched? They look great. Thanks Soeren. Yes, all of the guards are etched brass from both the Eduard and Aber sets. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 8, 2019 Author Share Posted August 8, 2019 On 07/08/2019 at 15:28, Carius said: Excellent construction and update my friend. On 07/08/2019 at 19:03, flashlight said: Hi John, stunning and excellent job! Have a nice day Nick 23 hours ago, Hamden said: Coming together nicely, looking forward to seeing it in paint Roger 23 hours ago, phildagreek said: Looks superb, nice work! 8 hours ago, TomCZ said: Just simply...wow ! Thanks very much for all of your comments, they're much appreciated. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redcoat2966 Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 Nice Sherman there John.....your tempting me to plunge into the Firefly sooner than I planned.........love all the scratch and modifications. Some really nice work. Looking forward to seeing the first paint going on.....do you permanently affix the stowage for painting?..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 9, 2019 Author Share Posted August 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Redcoat2966 said: .do you permanently affix the stowage for painting? Thanks for the comments Simon. Nine times out of ten I will fix the stowage in place before painting, that way everything gets a unifying coat of primer. John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WelshZeCorgi Posted August 9, 2019 Share Posted August 9, 2019 Question, is that a real colored photo or is it one of those photos colored-in by an artist? How accurate are the colors in the colored-in photos? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bullbasket Posted August 10, 2019 Author Share Posted August 10, 2019 15 hours ago, WelshZeCorgi said: Question, is that a real colored photo or is it one of those photos colored-in by an artist? How accurate are the colors in the colored-in photos? The original was black and white, so this has been coloured. Looking at it, it appears to be fairly accurate. John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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