Tamiya 1/35 M4 Early converted to a 144 RAC Sherman I

[The_Lancaster]

Hi All,

 

Okay so maybe it's not the conversion job of the century but more on that later.. Here's Tamiya's Early M4 Sherman. I had built this as the American gun tank OOB about 5 or 6 years ago but was never happy with it so it sat on the shelf of doom collecting dust in the corner until Star Decals Set 35-C 1245 British D-Day Shermans came across my bench one day. 

Being heavily inspired by the more colourful looking marking options here, I dunked the Sherman into Clutch oil and left it submerged for 2-3 days. This worked to strip the paint etc. off the model without damaging the actual plastic. I then rinsed it thoroughly and repared bits that had broken off over the years. 

 

Next I got hold of a commonwealth style stowage bin for the back of the tank which I found left over from a Black Dog Models stowage set. Adding to this, I scratch built a first aid box out of a resin pouring stub and some scrap brass, before adding two welded on repurposed ammo cans to the rear glacis. Adding to this I also added a spare wheel to the turret side, again using spare scrap etch to make up a securing band. 

 

Albeit not a perfect conversion, I was quite happy with it at this stage as whilst it wasn't a Sherman I down to every last rivet, it encompassed the general changes and look I was aiming for.

 

I painted the model using Humbrol 155 Enamel Olive drab, again whilst not a perfect colour match for the British SSC 15 being too light, I was quite happy with the colour for my personal interpretation of scale effect, which was dry-brushed, decalled, filtererd and washed, before oil streaks and other weathering including some chipping was applied. The model was matte-coated using Xtracolour Enamel Matte Varnish. Stowage was from the spares box, including items from MiniArt, Tamiya and Blackdog. The stowage on the rear deck was secured using painted solder which had the malleability to make it more 'rope-like' without the overscale fraying seen with twine, string or thread. Overall the jury is still out with this method so it's something I might reconsider for the next one. 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Again, Thanks for looking,

 

Sam 😀

[HL-10]

That is a very nice looking Sherman!

Good to see a British Sherman too. 
Great work 😃

[Steve27752]

Definitely a Sherman, I like the texturing on the turret, the solder securing the rear stowage and the personalised box on the Glacis plate. One question if I may?

What is securing the 'Jerry' cans onto the glacis plate?

Edited May 2, 2022 by Steve27752

[The_Lancaster]

18 minutes ago, Steve27752 said:

Definitely a Sherman, I like the texturing on the turret, the solder securing the rear stowage and the personalised box on the Glacis plate. One question if I may?

What is securing the 'Jerry' cans onto the glacis plate?

Truthfully, hopefully just the forward momentum of the vehicle! 

At least that's what I'm guessing, I based the loose cans off this reference photo

 

[FrancisGL]

Hi Sam.

Nice clean Sherman, I really like the amount of equipment you have placed on top of it, very well personalized and attached.
Cheers and TC
Francis.👍

[Bertie McBoatface]

That's a nice build. Well done.