Early M-51 Sherman.

[beefy66]

Some very fine details here John taking notes for something I have plans for later  

 

beefy

[Bullbasket]

10 hours ago, beefy66 said:

Some very fine details here John taking notes for something I have plans for later  

 

beefy

Thanks Beefy. If the something is an M51, go for the Tamiya kit as it's streets ahead of the others.

 

John.

[Ernst]

This is a beautiful clean model, all the extra details really make it stand out.

Cheers, Ernst

[Terry1954]

Loving the way this build is coming along John. The extra detailing you are adding really makes a difference.

 

Terry

[Bullbasket]

15 hours ago, Ernst said:

This is a beautiful clean model, all the extra details really make it stand out.

Cheers, Ernst

 

11 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Loving the way this build is coming along John. The extra detailing you are adding really makes a difference.

 

Terry

Many thanks Ernst and Terry. Much appreciated.

 

One item from the tools that I left off was the hand crank which was meant for turning over the Continental radial engine, but seeing as this one had a Cummins diesel, I think that it unlikely that it would be carried.

I wasn’t happy with the kit’s hinges on the stowage shelf, so I removed them and made up new ones from 10x30thou strip and some punched out bolt heads. Much better.

 

I trimmed a lot of the moulded on plastic from most of the tools, and replaced a lot of it with etched brass from the Eduard set. Incidently, the set that I was using was meant for the Academy kit of the M51 which meant that some parts were of no use, ie; the grouser vents mesh as they are a totally different shape. Others were superfluous as the Academy kit is a batch 4 and the Tamiya represents a Batch 2.

There are no tie downs depicted on the hull so I made my own. To do this I used my punch and die set to punch out small circles of card. These were glued in place and then a small piece (about 2mm) of strip was glued between them. Once hardened, it allowed me to thread thin strips of pewter foil through them and over the tools to represent straps. Not perfect but does the job.

 

 

If anyone is interested, this is how I make my tie downs. I’ve used a piece of scrap plastic to represent the vehicle and a short length of stretched sprue for the pioneer tool.

First I punch out four discs and glue them in place, either side of where the tool will go.

 

Next, two strips of 10x20 thou plastic are cut to approximately 2.5mm and glued between the discs, leaving a gap underneath……….

 

……..deep enough to be able to slide a length of pewter foil under to represent the strap.

 

I then fold over the ends and dab on a spot of super glue. To make it look better, I could add some etched brass buckles…...but I don’t have any!

 

Not ideal, but it doesn't look too bad once the paint is on. Thanks for looking.

 

John.

[Hamden]

 

Coming together John with your usual attention to detail.

Thanks for showing your tool mounting process, will file that away for future use if you don't mind

 

                   Roger

[Phil1960]

Very useful your trick for tie downs. 

Thanks, ciao

F 

[Bullbasket]

35 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

Coming together John with your usual attention to detail.

Thanks for showing your tool mounting process, will file that away for future use if you don't mind

 

                   Roger

Thanks Roger, and you are most welcome to file it away. I've just taken another look at the photos of the pioneer tools, and realised that I've left the bracket off of the head of the hammer.

 

John.

36 minutes ago, Phil1960 said:

Very useful your trick for tie downs. 

Thanks, ciao

F 

Thanks Filipo.

 

John.

[FrancisGL]

Wow!, awesome detailed as always ...

Cheers John 👍

[Kris B]

I do not know that you seen this, but MJ Miniatures has released the tools clamps for US WWII and German WWII. I've bought both sets and after quick inspection can say that they looks nice. Below photo from they web site. 

 

[Bullbasket]

Yes, I saw these over on ML. The person who bought them said that it took six weeks for them to arrive, and that the postage was heavy. He also said that there might be some difficulty removing them from the backing. That said, they do look good, although usually with these US tie downs, there are two per tool, not one.

 

John.

[Kris B]

Will test when I take Sherman on the bench. Maybe it will be failure, will see. 

[Jasper dog]

Looking really good John.

At the risk of repeating myself, its all the little details that makes it stand out and you make it look so simple, and clean.

 

Atb

Darryl 

[Bullbasket]

3 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

At the risk of repeating myself, its all the little details that makes it stand out and you make it look so simple, and clean.

Thanks Darryl. Your comments are always appreciated. Some of the little details can drive me up the wall sometimes. You might see what I mean when I post the work that I'm doing on the turret.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

I’ve had a liking for the M51 for many years now, and have added to my (small) stash, both the Dragon version and the Academy one, but never built either (although I have made a start on turning the Dragon version into a Chilean M60). What struck me about those two is the fact that both companies made a huge cockup with the muzzle break. Assuming that they went over the real thing with their measuring equipment, how did they get it so wrong?

On the left is the Academy, in the middle the Dragon, and on the right, the Tamiya version (which matches the drawings exactly).

 

OK, so on with the turret build. Upper and lower halves glued together and once dry, the joint was given a light sanding. I didn’t want it completely smooth as the real turrets were welded together along these lines and even after clean up, some of the weld still showed.

My original intention was to have both hatches open with crew members looking out, but I changed my mind, and I’m going to have the hatches closed. That meant that the loader’s hatch would need some work, so I removed all of the detail except the hinges. Biggest job was the two spring assisters. Using some very thin copper wire, I wound it around a 1mm drill bit and then glued it in place. I also slid a small piece of plastic rod inside to prevent the springs from getting squashed. I then added some bits and pieces to detail it. Hopefully, it will look OK once the paint is on. At the moment, the jury is still out.

I carved a small piece of card to shape and glued it between the two hatches. I believe that these were the bases where a 60mm mortar was mounted.

                                                                                                                                                      

 

Over the bustle is where spare aerial lengths were stored, between two brackets that were angled across the turret. The brackets supplied in the kit are very thick, but Eduard supply them in their etched set. The aerial lengths (.5mm brass rod) were wrapped in some paper towel, soaked in PVA glue. This was then tied down with Eduard straps.

 

Just a few jobs to do on the turret and then it's finished. Thanks for looking and any comments.

 

John.

[flashlight]

John, this is just awesome! All those details really add to the model and bring it to life!

 

Have a nice day

Nick

[Jasper dog]

Hi John, coming along nicely, as ever. Particularly like the spring assisters. 

 

Odd how you can get so many discrepancies in the muzzle brake..

 

Atb

Darryl 

[Badder]

Hi John,

Superb micro-detailing as always.  With my nerve-damaged fingers I find PE and very small mods quite difficult, even using the old spot of Blu-tac on the end of a toothpick method.  So I cheat by slapping winter whitewash over it to hide the messiness! 

 

I reckon you cheat too, in that you have one of those machines that featured in 'Honey I shrunk the kids' and you just shrink yourself down to about 2 inches tall and construct and assemble the relatively 'giant' PE and mods. Go on. Admit it! 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the paint go on. (I only put that because it's de rigueur)

 

Rearguards,

Badder

[Bullbasket]

12 hours ago, flashlight said:

John, this is just awesome! All those details really add to the model and bring it to life!

 

Have a nice day

Nick

 

7 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Hi John, coming along nicely, as ever. Particularly like the spring assisters. 

 

Odd how you can get so many discrepancies in the muzzle brake..

 

Atb

Darryl 

 

7 hours ago, Badder said:

Hi John,

Superb micro-detailing as always.  With my nerve-damaged fingers I find PE and very small mods quite difficult, even using the old spot of Blu-tac on the end of a toothpick method.  So I cheat by slapping winter whitewash over it to hide the messiness! 

 

I reckon you cheat too, in that you have one of those machines that featured in 'Honey I shrunk the kids' and you just shrink yourself down to about 2 inches tall and construct and assemble the relatively 'giant' PE and mods. Go on. Admit it! 

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the paint go on. (I only put that because it's de rigueur)

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Thanks for the comments. With regards to the muzzle brake, I just find it unbelievable that two kit makers could get it so wrong. Probably one got it wrong and the other one was too lazy to do the research and copied the first.

I think the only shrinking with me is age related. I'm definitely shorter than I was when I was in my 20's. But I know what you mean with regards to PE. I have something called idiopathic neuropathy which is nerve damage, and I do struggle with gripping with my left hand at times.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

I made a school boy error with the mantlet, by gluing the inner piece upside down. This is the part with two rubber grommets that allow the gun to elevate. I had to snap it back out and then glue it in place which means that the gun doesn’t elevate. Not a problem, so I glued the canvas dust cover around the mantlet and fixed the whole thing to the turret.

 

Another schoolboy error (this is becoming a habit) was the four mortars, mounted on the sides of the turret. I just blithely went ahead and glued them in place without checking……...they’re different!! The top one is angled differently to the bottom one. So once that screw up was fixed, I set about detailing them with some fine chain. I didn’t use the caps and chain in the Eduard set as the caps are of a slightly larger diameter. I also added a casting number to the RHS of the turret.

 

 

Finished off the various pieces for the turret. I had run out of the periscopes and brush guards from Shapeways, so I had to resort to the ones in the kit. I attempted to thin them down a bit by scraping a blade along them, but didn’t go too far with it, so as not to weaken them.

I also added the blade sight and the bead sight from various etched brass sets plus the catch for the loaders hatch.

 

Final job was a repair. The Shapeway brush guards are very fragile and the left hand one disintegrated when I looked at it (I have that effect sometimes!), and I didn’t have another to replace it. So I used one from the kit, again, thinned it down as much as possible, and also shortening the legs as it was a lot taller than the Shapeways one on the other periscope.

 

Why is it the smallest jobs are the longest and most complicated? I removed the barrel from the Tamiya .50 cal MG and replaced it with a brass one from RB Models. The rest of the details came from the etched fret included in the set except the frame that the ammo box (Tasca) sits in. This was from the Eduard set. That little lot took the best part of 4 hours.

 

That concludes the build section. I will get around to painting it soon, but I’m going to try and finish another shelf queen. This one’s finished, and only requires a suitable base. Thanks for following along so far.

 

John.

 

 

 

[Dads203]

Some beautiful detail being added here John, the game is well and truly being upped I think buddy 

[Bullbasket]

54 minutes ago, Dads203 said:

Some beautiful detail being added here John, the game is well and truly being upped I think buddy 

Thanks Dan. Appreciate it.

 

John.

[Hamden]

 

Nice extra detail as we've come to expect from your builds, looking forward to seeing this in paint

 

        Roger

[Badder]

19 hours ago, Bullbasket said:

I have something called idiopathic neuropathy

I can empathise John.

I have CIDP and that's polyneuropathy affecting knees to toes and elbows to fingertips. I got diagnosed with that 9 yrs ago, and then same day they said oh btw you're type 1 diabetic as well!

 

So, I am even more puzzled as to how you manage to make such small mods and then stick them on! So, come on, show me your tool (ooh er) I mean, a couple of photos of what you use to hold the part, how you hold it, how and when you apply the glue and then bring the part to fix correctly to the model?

I ask that because during the .m4a3' GB,  it took me an hour and about 30 attempts just to stick one headlamp's brush guard in place!

 

The .50 cal is looking super fresh, and those chains on the mortar? cups... wow! Are they mortars or smoke grenade launchers?

 

 

Rearguards,

Badder

Edited March 16, 2020 by Badder

[Vaastav]

I spotted something that would be of special interest to you John, but refrained from posting pictures as I was unsure if it would be hijacking or not.

However with your go ahead I will post photos of it.

 

Hint- Its Sherman related......