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M4A3E8 Sherman "Easy Eight" - *FINISHED*


Geo1966

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Finally got some paint on (rattle can plastic primer).

 

I must have spent about 2 hours faffing around with different stowage combinations. In the end i told myself to just stick something on and go with it. Think it looks ok ish. Going to add a couple of bits to the front shelf at some point.

 

Hoping to get a shadow coat of Tamiya NATO black on then the first coat of OD later today if life permits.

 

NHu3j8k.jpg

 

George

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3 minutes ago, Jasper dog said:

However....another loon that mounts all the stowage prior to painting!

This will be the first time i have tried mounting it prior to painting. I usually leave it till last, but have had problems previously with glue getting where i don't want it and ruining the paintwork.

 

Fingers crossed i will be able to paint everything without getting paint where i don't want it and ruining the paintwork 🙄

 

George

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15 minutes ago, Geo1966 said:

This will be the first time i have tried mounting it prior to painting. I usually leave it till last, but have had problems previously with glue getting where i don't want it and ruining the paintwork.

 

Fingers crossed i will be able to paint everything without getting paint where i don't want it and ruining the paintwork 🙄

 

George

Yeah I doubt I could paint the stowage in situ that's why I always do it separately.

To avoid the glue spoiling the paintwork,  dead simple ....don't glue it!

I think with all my builds I've just tied the stowage down after painting rather than glueing it.

spacer.png

Nothing there is glued down, that way I can remove or reuse, all tied down with various types of thread.

(Hope you dont mind the inclusion of the pic as an example).

Darryl 

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They look great Darryl. No problem about the example pic.

 

Good idea about not glueing the stowage on. It is not like they are going anywhere apart from to the display cabinet. I must admit that on the ISU-152 i did recently i just balanced the stowage and ammo boxes on the deck.

 

KoQ4q86.jpg

George

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Hi George. Great to see it with the primer going on and the stowage should really add to the appearance. I'm a 'paint the stowage on before fitting it' modeller, although I do glue mine in place. Good luck with the next stage.

Kind regards,

Stix

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I normally use a dab of PVA glue to hold stowage in place, then tie it down so it cannot escape.  The PVA does not harm the paintwork and can be washed off to re-use stowage items or from the tank itself.

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On 24/04/2022 at 02:00, Geo1966 said:

Finally got some paint on (rattle can plastic primer).

 

I must have spent about 2 hours faffing around with different stowage combinations. In the end i told myself to just stick something on and go with it. Think it looks ok ish. Going to add a couple of bits to the front shelf at some point.

 

Hoping to get a shadow coat of Tamiya NATO black on then the first coat of OD later today if life permits.

 

NHu3j8k.jpg

 

George

 

Loving the look of that stowage! The tie downs are an awesome touch

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9 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

I normally use a dab of PVA glue to hold stowage in place

What a good idea Bob. Will give that a try next time.

 

George

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Your 152 looks tremendous,  particularly like the wood effect on the ammo boxes 

9 hours ago, Retired Bob said:

I normally use a dab of PVA glue to hold stowage in place, then tie it down so it cannot escape.  The PVA does not harm the paintwork and can be washed off to re-use stowage items or from the tank itself.

As much as I hate to admit that's a really good idea! 

 

35 minutes ago, Geo1966 said:

What a good idea Bob. Will give that a try next time.

Ditto!

 

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So, a bit of a jump from the last update. I did a shadow coat of Tamiya NATO Black before spraying a base coat of Tamiya OD. I then did a lighter highlight coat and then a further lighter one.

 

13L41ia.jpg

 

1YTEfRA.jpg

 

I need to add a bit of mud and dust to the running gear before final assembly and adding the tracks. I have decided to leave the rubber rims of the wheels in NATO black so they are a different colour to the tracks. It is my understanding that the tracks were rubber coated, so were basically overall black. Is that correct?

 

I was planning to do this as ‘Alley Oop’ (top right) with the black camouflage, but I have bottled it. Maybe because I am quite happy with the way the OD came out and I don’t want to stuff it up. So the plan now it to do St Louis Blues (middle right).

 

UEktBO6.jpg

 

George

Edited by Geo1966
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As this is the first time, I have pre fitted the stowage before painting, I thought it would be a good idea to give it a base coat before varnish and starting weathering. Not sure if this is what others do?

 

Think I might have a bit of trouble highlighting the stowage as I used about 8 different greens (surprising how much some of them look alike). One of the colours I used was a 40+ year old bottle of Tamiya Field Grey. Had to use a pipe wrench to open it, but after a good stir, it brushed on lovely without any need for thinning. I wonder why Tamiya changed the formula for their paint as it is massively different know.

 

W2Ml1II.jpg

 

George

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OD gone really nicely George. Your at the point I'd be wary of, getting all the stowage painted, shadowed and highlighted in situ. 

Sure with a pinch of luck and a steady hand you'll be fine.

 

Cheers

Darryl 

 

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22 hours ago, Jasper dog said:

Your at the point I'd be wary of, getting all the stowage painted, shadowed and highlighted in situ. 

Sure with a pinch of luck and a steady hand you'll be fine.

Thanks for the reminder Darryl 😬

 

My hands arn't too bad. The problem i have is my eyes, I am practically blind in one eye (old rugby injury) so my perception of distance is not great. I normally get by, but sometimes this results in a big blob of paint in the wrong place, as I think the brush is further away  :wall:

 

George

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A couple of firsts here. First time using VMS decal set and softer and the first-time using Star decals.

 

The decals went on ok after a gloss coat, but I ended up with quite bad silvering. Don’t think I have ever not had Silvering, but I now know that a good coat of varnish usually sorts it if the decals are well stuck on. I waited 24 hours then applied a coat of VMS varnish. Sort of came out ok although I seem to have a couple of tide marks. Not sure what that is, maybe I used too much decal fluid?

 

Sbk9LSG.jpg

 

The star decals are quite nice. I like that the stars and other marking are not perfect i.e, there are little patches missing rather than a solid white. They are in my opinion quite thick, which I guess I didn’t expect from a dedicated decal manufacture. Then again, what do I know 🙂

 

George

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It's looking good George, always a nice forward step when the painting is ready and the decals applied.  Some dust and mud can always hide any imperfections on a tank build.  :wicked:

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Hi George. That really is looking excellent! As Bob said, mud and other weathering effects are your friends with AFV builds!

Kind regards, 

Stix

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Hi George,  sorry to learn of your depth perception problems, I'm bad enough with two functioning eyes never mind one. Unless you'd have said I'd certainly never have been able to tell.

The M4 looks great with the decals on, it is nice, as you say, that the decals have slightly imperfections around the edges. From my only experience with Star decals I found them to be on the thick side with quite an edge to the decal film.

 

Atb

Darryl 

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On 5/4/2022 at 7:57 AM, Geo1966 said:

They are in my opinion quite thick, which I guess I didn’t expect from a dedicated decal manufacture.

 

The defining thing about after market isn't always better quality, but higher price😄.

 

The tank looks gorgeous, very 'solid' The shading is imperceptible on my screen so it's obvs in exactly the right place.

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