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Another Sherman - SUPER!! **FINISHED**


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Hi folks,

 

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well.  It seems like ages ago that I signed up to join this GB and yet at the same time it seems to have come around so quickly :hmmm:

 

This will be my first GB for this year and I'm really looking forward to it.  For my entry - I've decided to incorporate the subject of the GB with another particular interest of mine - the IDF.  I thought, what can be better than being able to represent a Sherman - how about an IDF Sherman - or specifically the M-51 Super Sherman from the 1/35 Academy kit.

 

To whet your appetites - here's the obligatory box art shot as well as some pics of the sprues etc:

 

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I can't wait to get started!!  This will be an OOB build and having had a good look at the sprues etc it seems to be a very nice kit and has some excellent details.

 

So here's to next weekend - good look with your builds everyone - can't wait to see all the end results in the gallery.

 

Take care and best wishes

 

Kris

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19 minutes ago, Hewy said:

Nice choice ,I'll look forward to this  I'm going to do the tamiya version 

Thanks @Hewy - hopefully I'll do it justice. Yes, I did see that Tamiya did a version of this kit too so if you're going to be going that I'll definitely want to pull up a chair and watch to see how you get on 👍

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Hi Kris. Welcome to the GB. Great to have you here and with what looks to be a Super project! (I'll get my coat....) I'm looking forward to following your progress. 

Kind regards, 

Stix

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Hiya folks,

 

So we're off - the starting pistol was fired yesterday and I see everyone is making good progress with their builds and it looks like we're going to have some crackers for the gallery :thumbsup:

 

In between getting into the garden while the weather was nice to start on some well needed spring maintenance, including digging over the vegetable patches and firing up the pressure washer I was able to make a start on my build.

 

So far it's pretty much just been a case of getting plastic stuck to plastic and after a fairly productive afternoon I've managed to get this far:

 

First a couple of shots of the hull section with the idler wheels and return rollers now in place

 

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Then I moved on to making up the 6 bogeys which were like little kits in themselves and have a nice level of detail straight OOB - I've  provided a close up pic of one of them below so you can get a clearer look 

 

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and then lastly for the day I put together the two drive sprockets which again have some nice detail to them

 

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So that's got everything together as far as the tracks are concerned other than the tracks themselves - they will come later.  Next I'll be making a start on the upper hull and adding a lot of the smaller items found there as well as adding the distinctive Sherman front to the hull and working on the rear panel. 

 

Once all this is complete I'll get another update on progress posted and will be keeping an eye on everyone else's builds in the meantime too :thumbsup:

 

Cheers

 

Kris

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  • 2 weeks later...

Finally back with an update folks - was hoping to get this out at the weekend but then I made a start on my Harrier GR.3 for the Falklands War GB so that put pay to that :whistle:

 

So what have I been up to?  I've pretty much just been continuing with gluing plastic to plastic but have made a fair bit of progress as a result.

 

To begin with I began working on the main body of the tank and added loads of little pieces such as hatch covers, caps, vents and storage boxes etc as you can see as well as adding both the front and rear sections to the main chassis of the tank:

 

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I also added the machine gun at the front of the tank and drilled out the opening to prevent it from being just an unrealistic solid tube:

 

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I then turned my attentions to the turret itself and have glued both of the separate turret hales together and again just piece by piece added all the smaller pieces to it such as hatch springs, hatches, handles, radio antenna mounts and viewing ports etc until we now have this:

 

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The seem between the two halves isn't bad at all but I'm thinking I could eliminate this by adding cast texture.  I don't profess to be an expert on Sherman tanks and it's various guises but I'm certain the turret was cast which is what creates the textured surface to the turret.  

 

A question to the experts - is the turret completely cast?  Would I be ok to re-do the cast texture all over the turret using the Mr Surfacer technique or is there a weld seam where the cast turret sections were welded together?  Is the cast texture the the same for the main body of the tank too - should it be every where or just in the main sections?

 

Any advice and guidance would be greatly received :thumbsup:

 

 

Following on from this - the other two areas I've been able to get together are the main gun and the top mounted machine gun.  Again with the machine gun I drilled out a hollow to stop it being a solid tube:

 

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The main gun has gone together without any issues and once I've finished the rest of the clean up, it should look the part without too much trouble.

 

So definitely getting there and things are coming together nicely - I'm not having any major issues with the kit and so far I can't complain about any of the parts or any fit issues.

 

If I can just depend on your superior knowledge out there to assist me with the cast texture question then I should be able to get the main construction completed and get her ready for the paint shop for a coat of primer to check for any faults and then move on with the top coats.

 

Thanks for looking in folks and I see everyone's making great progress with their builds too - I can see the gallery is going to be filled with some excellent builds :thumbsup:

 

Best wishes for now

 

Kris

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Looking good so far. Yes the turret shell was cast, there was a weld line in a similar place to the kit join although the roughness and obviousness of it varied between manufacturers.

 

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photo from http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/turret_types/75mm_turrets.html

 

The shell of the hull in this variant (based on the M4A1) was cast as was the FDA (nose of lower hull) so you can add casting texture to all of that (engine deck wasn’t so avoid that as for all fixtures and fittings). Basically anything rounded of the main structure was cast. I’ve just done the same on my M4A2 build and used me surfacee 500 stippled on.

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Thanks very much for your reply @bigfoot that's been more than helpful.

 

You've just helped to confirm what I thought was the case but it's always good to get confirmation from someone else who knows much more about it.

 

I'll be able to crack on with the Mr Surfacer job now so wish me luck and hopefully I won't make a complete pigs ear of it :fingerscrossed:

 

Kris

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8 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi Kris. Looks like excellent progress to me! And good luck with the cast texturing!

Kind regards, 

Stix

Thanks Stix - really appreciate your feedback :thumbsup:

The cast texturing is now done and for my first ever attempt I don't think it looks too bad but I'll see what everyone thinks when I post my next update within the next day or two. 

Kris

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On 07/04/2022 at 15:32, planecrazee said:

The cast texturing is now done and for my first ever attempt I don't think it looks too bad but I'll see what everyone thinks when I post my next update within the next day or two. 

 Looking good so far kris , it looks a nicley detailed kit too ,I didn't  know if it was a weld seam on the turret either, so I'll  hold off doing mine till i see your update then i can parrot yours😋

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