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M36B2


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Earlier today i mentioned that I would be selecting either my M10 or M36 for this build. My stash chose for me, because I can't find the M10 anywhere. Note to self: stop buying models.

 

The M36 is the 20-ish year old Academy kit rereleased by Airfix. It's an okay kit but mine suffered a setback when my dog ate one of the sprues. Note to self: do not leave open model boxes on the workroom floor.

 

Only a few key elements were consumed, and I think I can raid an old Sherman kit for the missing pieces.

 

Here is where I left off with the kit last year. Certainly less than 25% completed, I'd argue.

 

Ignore the jagdpanther in the background.

 

PXL-20220520-010557704.jpg

 

 

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And a few hours later...

 

PXL-20220520-024911377.jpg

 

PXL-20220520-024924451.jpg

 

 

I'm not putting too much effort into the forward compartment, as most of it won't be visible. The radio operator's seat back went through my dog's gut, so I'm doing without. Again; shouldn't be too visible.

 

 

Ha. Speed modeling like this took me back to my preteen years. 

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9 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Welcome with a 36, one of my favorite AT guns. Id love to get the version with the Sherman chassis and this turret. I think its the B1 ? 

Indeed it is. Academy/Airfix make one of these, but I think they just reuse Academy's old M4A3 (or was it an A2?) hull, which has some chunky details. 

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More speed modeling. I didn't go into too much detail painting of the hull interior. Again the gun and turret will obscure most of this, so I just blocked in the main colors.

 

PXL-20220521-025122152.jpg

 

See? Not much to see. Even without the turret on.

 

PXL-20220521-025157827.jpg

 

And yes, I angle cut the front fenders, as is seen on many historic photos of these things.

 

PXL-20220521-025152205.jpg

 

 

 

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Hi SoftScience. Welcome to the GB! Great to have you here, at last!! Glad you've got back onto BM. Looks like you are already well underway too! And looks good too!

Kind regards,

Stix

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Things are going a touch slower this week, but they're going nonetheless. The hull is together, although fit was pretty crappy compared to what I've grown accustomed to. Some filler was needed around the rear plate, and I can see now that i'll need to add a bit to the bolt strip thing, up front.

 

PXL-20220527-014213916.jpg

 

 

I raided the track from an old Tamiya M4 as Airfix gives you the same awful non-gluable polyvinyl junk that Academy includes in their original boxing. Would it have killed them to update that to the vinyl material found in modern kits? 

 

Anyway. Most of the details up front are done. The photo etched brush guards will come at the end. 

 

And if you're wondering why I glued the track on before I painted, well it's how I roll. I find it less messy than screwing around with glue after things have already been painted. 

 

PXL-20220527-014204270.jpg

 

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Hi SoftScience. Great to see you have been making progress with this. Shame the kit is s little lacking in places, but you seem to be on top of it.

Kind regards, 

Stix

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And here's where I leave things for a while. I'm heading out on vacation for a week. I'll be back on the 4th or 5th. 

 

Until then, here is the mostly finished hull and mocked up turret. All the little bolt and spacer bits are on. Those were tedious to remove from the sprues without damaging the spacer disks. The whole se.t took me the better part of an hour. Good stopping point, because I'm all modeled out! :)

 

PXL-20220528-014531302.jpg

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm back from vacation and refreshed (not really - two days back at work has burned me right back out, but that a different story). I have finished assembling the hull of the M36. I cheated up front and used light guards from a Meng Sherman. I could not shape the Airfix PE parts properly and gave up. Much applause to those of you who work with PE, but for me, it's a complete drag, so I avoid it whenever possible.

 

PXL-20220608-005335257.jpg

 

Having said that, I DID use the PE for the rear guards. And it looks only slightly better than bad. Alas the plastic parts were among those that my dog ate, last year.

 

PXL-20220608-005357948.jpg

 

Turret coming soon.

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We're getting perilously close to the GB end, but I'm not ready to accept defeat just yet. 

 

This morning I began assembling the turret interior. There was some putty work needed for the shooty bits, so that will need to dry before I can finish assembly, then paint the interior parts and put it all together. Not a ton of details here, but probably good enough.

 

PXL-20220612-154252699.jpg

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I am really pleased this project is still progressing and I hope you get enough time at the bench to get it finished!

Kind regards,

Stix

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Thanks, Stix. 

 

I found the joy in your own build inspiring, and taken a similar "joy-first" approach to this project has helped it move along at a good clip. It's certainly going much faster than any of my regular armor builds! 

 

So there is a slim, but not entirely impossible chance that I CAN actually finish this by the 19th.  Very, very slim chance. ;)

 

There has been great progress the last few days. For one thing, I finished the interior. Nothing special, just a tried and true Verlinden style of cloud pattern color modulation followed by a dark wash, and several shades of dry brush. Nothing fancy, but enough to keep things looking busy. Later, I'll add some canteens and ammo boxes to the empty back section. 

 

PXL-20220614-024303597.jpg

 

PXL-20220614-024323954.jpg

 

PXL-20220614-024708465.jpg

 

You may notice I also base-coated the hull. Before doing that, I painted the whole lower half of the tank a brownish black mix. Then I painted the OD leaving the track, tyres, deep recesses in the darker color. The lines of demarcation are not super-precise, but the various washes and dirt colors will blend it all in. 

 

PXL-20220614-024341835.jpg

 

Tomorrow evening I'll finished building the turret exterior, and base coat it. Then a fun surprise!

 

 

 

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And here we are, all painted assembled and base coated. It looks positively neon now, but that's all part of the plan.

 

PXL-20220616-013059750.jpg

 

I realize adding the bags and rolled tarp diminishes my chances of finishing in time (painting fabric is still something of a mystery to me) but an American tank hunter without stowed gear looks like a man in a public without his trousers. 

 

Hopefully with all y'all's (im slinging all sorts of English dialects in here today!) help, I can figure it out.

 

Once this is good and dry tomorrow, the real fun stuff can begin.

 

 

PXL-20220616-013111216.jpg

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Hi SoftScience. WOW! Really impressive paintwork and initial weathering. And the whitewash really is superb!! Fantastic work!! Very well done! :worthy:

I'm really hoping you are able to get five photos of it into the Gallery by midnight (UK time) tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Stix

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4 hours ago, PlaStix said:

Hi SoftScience. WOW! Really impressive paintwork and initial weathering. And the whitewash really is superb!! Fantastic work!! Very well done! :worthy:

I'm really hoping you are able to get five photos of it into the Gallery by midnight (UK time) tomorrow.

Kind regards,

Stix

Unfortunately, it's far from done. I'm going to see what I can accomplish in two more days, but don't anyone hold your breath

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