M4A3 HVSS 105 - The Culebra Beach Wreck

[Cerberus]

 

 Sitting on a beach, Culebra Beach, Puerto Rico to be exact, there is a very curious tourist attraction in the form of an ex Marines M4A3 HVSS 105 Sherman, It's slowly rusting away and covered in green seaweed and slime, plus large amounts of graffiti for most of the year, she tends to get a new coat of graffiti with every new tourist season I think, and therefore changes in appearance quite a lot, I have a sneaky feeling that there's a beach bar close to where she sits in the sand, plus, there's a great deal of pictures online now of this tank wreck, due to it being a popular tourist spot, which is very handy for projects like this, but anyway, I think the above picture would make a good little vignette, and it does have to be said that painting is not my strong point, so this could go south very quickly indeed, luminous green seaweed is not in my skillset... 

 

 

 A little history on this particular M4A3 HVSS 105mm Sherman and how it came to be sat on a beach in the Caribbean, and this is all based on snippets of information gleaned from the internet so is probably not entirely correct, but here goes, during World War II the Americans had some bases on the islands around Puerta Rico, these bases were mainly used for testing purposes and as firing ranges for the duration of the war, most of the bases were maintained for quite a long time after the war, right up until around 1973 (ish) They were then shut down and abandoned, due mainly to protests from the locals I think? And when the Americans abandoned all the bases, for reasons unknown they left behind two or three ex Marine M4A3 HVSS 105's, which have been slowly rusting away in the sunshine and sea air ever since.

 

 

Pictures above and below, this seems to be the most popular style of graffiti, judging by the pictures online, and is obviously the most favoured style by the youth of today,  and statements like that make me sound very old, As far as I can tell the interior of the tank is pretty much fully gutted out, there's no engine left in the engine bay, just a load of old rusted metal junk, the sponsons are mostly rotted out as well, as far as I can see from pictures, but I'm guessing there's probably the remains of a transmission in the front, and probably a gun breech still in the turret, I need to hunt more pictures...

 

 

 Pictures above and below, there is a no luminous green seaweed option, which is a damn good thing for me at least, because that's probably going to be the hardest part to do, so I can always chicken out and just do all over rust, plus some graffiti on the turret and hull sides maybe, but it does have to be said that the green seaweed is what kind of makes this picture, for me at least, It takes a rusty old M4A3 105mm and turns it into something curious to look at, and provides good contrast and colour for a very nice picture.

 

 

 Picture below, this is as far as I got about six years ago, I was just messing around with various forms of destruction on some fairly good plastic kits (Dragon and Tamiya) plus an Aber metal barrel, and doing a little experimentation with various ways to create very badly rusted and pitted surfaces on armour plate and castings, mostly using ca glue and powder, and some very crude use of plastic card to create the areas where the armour plate has flaked away in big chunks on the hull sides, but apart from that, I didn't get very far with it, the prospect of green seaweed/slime scared me half to death. 

 

 

 Comments on the build and ideas on how to do the bright green seaweed/slime/algae on the front plate are more than welcome folks, plus it has to said that this is just a chill out kinda build, just a little bit of fun in a world that has gone insane, accuracy of the model itself is not all that important to be honest, it just needs to look vaguely like a badly rusted and corroded M4A3 HVSS 105mm Sherman, covered in bizarre graffiti, and something that good old mother nature is desperately trying to reclaim as her own.

 

 You can all blame @Bertie Psmith for this build log, so when it all goes south, just remember he twisted my arm...  

 

 Matt

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Cerberus
Update

[Milan Mynar]

It looks interesting, I will follow your building.

[Stef N.]

Ooh, this looks a great idea. Something unusual where you can go nuts. Nice one and well done Bertie for the arm twisting. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I take full responsibility for this brilliant build and if it goes pear shaped again, it's all his fault.😁

[mullac2001]

ooh looking forward to this 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I had a conversation recently with a guy who makes rusty submarines about the extreme rust textures he uses. Right now I can't remember his name or the build but I think he said he used pva with grit in it for the texture. That may not be much help but it's all I have. 🤷‍♂️

[vytautas]

It looks like it will be an interesting project.
It seems to me that the main volume of the seaweed would be easiest to make from epoxy putty, hanging seaweed from the pile of an old brush.
Your project intrigued me! If you don't mind, I'll take a front-row seat.

 

Vytautas

[Cerberus]

4 hours ago, Milan Mynar said:

I will follow your building.

 You are most welcome 

 

4 hours ago, Stef N. said:

Something unusual where you can go nuts.

 That's exactly what I'm thinking, go nuts with a Dremel and a dental bur 

 

3 hours ago, mullac2001 said:

ooh looking forward to this 

 Welcome aboard 

 

1 hour ago, Bertie Psmith said:

pva with grit in it for the texture. That may not be much help but it's all I have. 

 I'm just about to do a post with my crazy ca and powder method, but that's a good idea yes, pva with, probably much better for covering large areas, the ca/powder method is a bit slow, best suited for small areas, all ideas and suggestions are very welcome indeed 

 

1 hour ago, vytautas said:

It seems to me that the main volume of the seaweed would be easiest to make from epoxy putty, hanging seaweed from the pile of an old brush.
Your project intrigued me! If you don't mind, I'll take a front-row seat.

 I am forever in your debt Vytautas, for the blinking dog eyes, feel free to take a seat, who knows, I might even restart the Grizzly one day 

 

 Matt

[Model Mate]

Weathering frenzy! This should be fun…! I’m looking forward to what you’ll come up with.

[Cerberus]

Bodge it and leg it!

 

 The turret is an old Dragon item from their M4A3 HVSS 105 kit (which is hard to get now) It got slated at the time for having an incorrect gun mantlet I think, too big, or too small, I can't remember, but we don't care about stuff like that for this build, the gun mantlet has already been covered in large amounts of ca and powder, so who cares, the Aber metal barrel got attacked with a large hacksaw, as you do, that gave me a warm feeling inside, very much like eating Ready Brek, the pistol port is hanging open as per the real thing, and the commanders hatch has been butchered to within an inch of its life, the plan is to cover the whole turret with ca and powder for that very rusted corroded effect.

 

 

 Pictures below, I tried to think of a clever way to do the flaked out chunks of armour plate, but then just bodged it with plastic card, why not, the extra thickness on the sides of the hull plates doesn't really matter as it's all going to get covered with something nasty anyway, the crew hatches and the hull vision slots have been ground out/enlarged, not much else yet has been done to the hull, it needs lifting eyes adding, and then a lot more grinding and roughing up work.

 

 

 Picture below, the lower hull (which is a Tamiya item) has had a little work, and this is some proper bodge it and leg stuff to be honest, but it really doesn't matter, again it should all get covered with rust, old bits of metal junk and sand, I just needed to build up the engine compartment wall because I think it's still there on the real thing (I should check really) The engine access hatch is glued open, but I think it's fallen off now on the real thing, It was there six years ago when I last looked...

 

 

 Picture below, a close up of the ca and powder trick used to create a heavy rusting effect, this might, or might not cause problems when it comes to the painting stage, but I'm not gonna worry about that now, I kinda figure that a heavy coat of some car auto primer might be needed, but anyway, It creates a very realistic rusting effect I think, the plan is to do the whole turret like this, and then do something else on the hull, maybe have a go with @Bertie Psmith suggestion of pva glue mixed with grit, might be better for a larger area.

 

(I've forgotten how to take pictures again, every one is a different colour)

 

 I think that I need to keep telling myself that it really doesn't need to look pretty, from a construction point of view, then I might have a fighting chance of actually getting to the finish line, maybe, and It has to be said that this build should be sponsored by Minicraft or Dremel, because most of the work is just grinding plastic with various dental burs to be honest, which is a lot of fun, it's like model making in reverse 

 

 The more you have, the more you want,

 And the more you want, the less you have... 

 

 Matt

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Cerberus
Bud spelzing

[ColonelKrypton]

Great start Matt.

 

I recently stumbled across this blog post and it seems quite apropos to model particularly when  you push your imagination and building comfort zone - just replace words like drawing, painting, artist with model and model maker.

 

https://www.learning-to-see.co.uk/why-your-artistic-failures-are-really-successes-in-disguise

 

cheers, Graham

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Im following this in the hopes of learning something. Ive always wanted to do this Sherman tank near Saipan. 
 

https://www.ww2wrecks.com/portfolio/the-submerged-sherman-tanks-of-saipan/

 

It would look pretty good half submerged in clear resin with maybe some locals swimming or climbing on it. 

[Cerberus]

2 hours ago, Model Mate said:

Weathering frenzy! This should be fun…! I’m looking forward to what you’ll come up with.

 Fun so far, I'm hoping it stays fun, my mojo tends to vanish when things get tiresome, and that's a beautiful little engine you made by the way 

 

1 hour ago, ColonelKrypton said:

I recently stumbled across this blog post and it seems quite apropos to model particularly when  you push your imagination and building comfort zone - just replace words like drawing, painting, artist with model and model maker.

 Good lord, there is a lot of truth written in that Blog post Graham,  especially the part about doubt, doubting ones ability to do something, which I suffer from a lot, if I'm being brutally honest, thank you for that link.

 

1 hour ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Im following this in the hopes of learning something. Ive always wanted to do this Sherman tank near Saipan. 

 You mean this famous one

 

 

 

 I seem to remember that many many years ago, a very good model maker (who's name I can't remember) did this on Armorama or maybe Missing Lynx, using resin for the water as you say, and he had children playing on the turret very much like in the picture on the left, I'll see if I can hunt down the build log at some point, plus I think there are still some pictures on the net of the finished model, It would be a lot of fun 

 

 Matt

[Hamden]

 

What a great idea/subject and who can prove your detail is incorrect! I love this type of project. 

Will take a seat and follow along if you don't mind?

 

   Stay safe        Roger

[Retired Bob]

Brilliant idea, and no troublesome tracks to bother with, as for the rust and seaweed, it will be continually changing so anything goes. 

[Bertie McBoatface]

I predict that this will be the 'thread of the month', at least for armour fans. I for one, will be following with interest.

[Bertie McBoatface]

9 hours ago, Cerberus said:

Bodge it and leg it!

 Picture below, a close up of the ca and powder trick used to create a heavy rusting effect, this might, or might not cause problems when it comes to the painting stage, but I'm not gonna worry about that now, I kinda figure that a heavy coat of some car auto primer might be needed, but anyway, It creates a very realistic rusting effect I think, the plan is to do the whole turret like this, and then do something else on the hull, maybe have a go with @Bertie Psmith suggestion of pva glue mixed with grit, might be better for a larger area.

 

Large amounts of CA and fumes can be very unhealthy. I've read of a couple of modellers suddenly becoming very allergic to the stuff.

 

9 hours ago, Cerberus said:

 

 

It does look very good though. Is there something flat that you could stick on for the 'delaminating' flaking effect? Tea leaves maybe?

 

9 hours ago, Cerberus said:

 

 The more you have, the more you want,

 And the more you want, the less you have... 

 

 Matt

 

 

That's a concise and elegant way of describing stash mania (as well as the real basic fundamental problem with the human species that underlies all our marriage difficulties, wars, overpopulation, global warming etc. We are greedy pinging animals aren't we?)

[Cerberus]

9 hours ago, Hamden said:

What a great idea/subject and who can prove your detail is incorrect! I love this type of project. 

Will take a seat and follow along if you don't mind?

 You are more than welcome Roger, and yes exactly, there is no correct with a rust wreck 

 

8 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

Brilliant idea, and no troublesome tracks to bother with, as for the rust and seaweed, it will be continually changing so anything goes. 

 Thank you, and yes no tracks is one of the best things about this build to be honest.

 

7 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Large amounts of CA and fumes can be very unhealthy. I've read of a couple of modellers suddenly becoming very allergic to the stuff.

 I get an allergic reaction to ca on my hands if I start using it a lot, I get an itchy lumpy rash on my thumb and forefinger, which I'm guessing is fume related, not sure, and I think ca has been toned down a little over the years, to make it slightly less nasty stuff 

 

7 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

Is there something flat that you could stick on for the 'delaminating' flaking effect? Tea leaves maybe?

 That's thinking outside the box Bertie, any preference for brand, I'm a PG tips kinda guy  But on a serious note, It's a good idea, and I'm going to do a post later, looking at Tea leaves mixed with pva glu, and fine sand mixed with pva glue, as a test on some scrap card, see what they look like.

 

 

7 hours ago, Bertie Psmith said:

We are greedy pinging animals aren't we?

 Yes Bertie, we are.

 

 Matt

[Bertie McBoatface]

24 minutes ago, Cerberus said:

That's thinking outside the box Bertie, any preference for brand, I'm a PG tips kinda guy  But on a serious note, It's a good idea, and I'm going to do a post later, looking at Tea leaves mixed with pva glu, and fine sand mixed with pva glue, as a test on some scrap card, see what they look like

 

Try tea leaves or herbs sprinkled over wet pva and then primed after the pva dries. I'm imagining actual flakes of rust which in this particular situation might not be overscale. It will at least smell pleasant.

[Longbow]

What a fantastic painting and weathering opportunity !!

 

Its going to be stunning !!

[Cerberus]

More Tea Vicar?

 

 Now is probably a good time to experiment with different surface finishes I think, best to work out how to rust and corrode the surfaces early, rather than later, and who can resist experimenting with tea leaves on a model tank! not me that's for sure, and this is a first for me, as I'm used to using powders to get rough finishes, but I've never used fine sand or PG tips tea leaves, still, a little bit of experimentation never hurt anyone, or so they say... 

 

 

 Picture above, from left to right, 1) Tea leaves sprinkled on pva glue, 2) Tea leaves sprinkled on pva with fine sand, 3) Tea leaves sprinkled more randomly/sparingly, 4) Fine sand mixed with Mr Surfacer 500, and last but not least  5) Fine sand sprinkled on pva glue, all of them were then given a coat of Mr Surfacer 1200, and it has to be said that these all look a lot rougher in the pictures than they really are, my phone was struggling a lot with this to be honest.

 

 The tea leaves in 1 and 2 are way too rough for the turret I think, but would be good in places for the hull and running gear, very fine sand sprinkled onto pva glue seems to be the best option for the cast turret I think, plus It's very quick and easy to do, unlike the ca/powder trick which takes quite a long time, and is a pain to do, even with slow drying ca, to be quite honest.

 

 

 

 Picture above, I decided to mess around and experiment on the turret, just to better see what things look like, so left to right, 1) Fine sand on pva (my favourite one) 2) Tea leaves randomly sprinkled, this would probably be very good for very heavily rusted/corroded areas I think, 3) Fine sand with a little tea, lol, and lastly 4) Fine sand mixed with the pva to form a paste, then applied, and I kinda like this one as well.

 

 

 

 Picture above, I think the random tea leaves one would work very well for areas like this on the front of the hull, and to maybe cover the lower hull/running gear which has spent more time in the water, and therefore very heavily corroded, but anyway, I'm in danger of getting far too serious about tea leaves 🤣 My favourite to cover the entire model with as a starting point is the fine sand sprinkled onto pva glue, which I think works very well, though it might be better to prime the plastic first with Mr Surfacer so that the pva glue sticks better to the plastic, I'm a bit unsure about pva straight onto fresh plastic... 

 

 Thoughts and ideas are more than welcome folks 

 

 Matt

Edited March 7, 2022 by Cerberus
It's my build log!

[Bertie McBoatface]

Fascinating. That was a very scientific investigation. 9/10 from the Chemistry teacher (He never gives a ten).

 

I agree about priming before PVA. Of course there are many different PVAs of varying stickiness and hardness...

 

 

[Cerberus]

1 hour ago, Longbow said:

What a fantastic painting and weathering opportunity !!

 I had a thought, I can use Tamiya paints, hold the airbrush too far away, so its dry before it hits, get a nice sandpaper finish, and it will be perfect for this... 🤣

 

17 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

I agree about priming before PVA.

 Yeah, otherwise the pva might just peel off the smooth plastic like a skin, that's another good thing about the ca/powder method, It's very permanent 

 

 Matt

[Cerberus]

 Here's a few more good pictures of this strange Sherman M4A3 HVSS 105mm rusty wreck, the green colour that can be seen on the turret pistol port is from when this Sherman was given an all over coat of green graffiti with white spots, which it has to be said looked very strange, there are patches of this green scattered around all over this rusty wreck.

 

 

The picture below is a good example of the green that was applied as it can be seen on the hull top plate near the engine deck, this picture is also a good example of the junk that can be seen in the engine bay, I think there's some bits of old rusted sponsons that have broken off and been thrown in there.

 

 

Picture below, the back of the turret looks to be in very good condition in comparison to the rest of the tank, it seems to have very little in the way of rough corrosion, this is about the only part of this Sherman tank wreck that has survived the elements quite well.

 

(My thoughts exactly )

 

 And that's a piece of the tracks I think sticking out the sand on the right hand side, It's probably sat on about half a length of track buried in the sand, but I'm not doing tracks, so I'm just gonna forget that I saw that, what track? Nope, I've not seen any track,.. none at all...

 

 Matt

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 7, 2022 by Cerberus
Update

[Peter2]

 

Last year on an impulse I bought a Light Green Vallejo Model Color Acrylic Paint 70942 / 075. It is very bright, though not being very opaque probably needs some kind of an undercoat or a primer, and then a couple of coats of this Light Green. It might enhance the encrusted green seaweed / algae effect.

Peter