M51 Israeli Sherman

[SoftScience]

Here is my Tamiya M51 built as a tank from the Six Day War (June 1967). Ariel Sharon, who would go on to become PM of Israel from 2001 to 2006, commanded an armored division from the turret of this tank, during the Battle of Abu Ageila in the Sainai. The Tamiya kit is very good, but has a few shortcomings. My main issue swith recent Tamiya Shermans are the seam line along the edge of the rubber track, the grab handles molded as tabs of plastic, and the the manufacturer's insistence that a sherman could be driven on instruments. They give you commander figures yelling orders into a radio, but then all vision periscopes, including the driver's, are closed. 

 

Modeling an open periscope requires only minor surgery, so I did that. But if you want open hatches with periscopes in them, you'll need to hit up your spares or the aftermarket. I also added some resin boxes from Value Gear, to the rear rack. The securing cable is this very fine rubber tubing I got lord knows when  where or how. I had this tank sitting in the almost finished pile for well over a year. I didn't really know how I wanted to weather it. After painting (Tamiya mixed colors), I applied some dark brown and dark greenish brown washes in something of a hybrid between a pinwash and a general wash. Perhaps a very sloppy pin wash. As the washes began to dry, I moved them around, dragging, streaking, and redepositing with brushed dipped in mineral spirits. This was followed with a very subtle drybrushing with Vallejo buff and deck tan.  I then applied a slurry of light earthen colored pigments suspended in a solution of water and white glue, to the undercarriage, and once dry, scrubbed most of it off with an old toothbrush. A few scratches were added with taps and quick swishes of a piece of stretched sprue dipped in thin black/brown paint. That's it.

 

Not my best armor model, but pretty good, considering I went from paint to finished in three nights. I was going to just paint the tyres as a break from my Hayate build. But then I just built up momentum, and here we are! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The tarp is tissue painted with Vallejo thinned in water mixed with white glue. Same with the camouflage netting, but that began as medical gauze

 

I probably could have scraped off a bit more of my pigment paste

 

closeup of one of my simple periscopes. Just a wedge of plastic covered by a little flat square to represent the lid. A tiny bit of stretched sprue in back, simulates the hinge. 

 

Not thrilled with my mantlet canvas cover painting. I'm still working on fabric effects

[Bullbasket]

You've done a nice job on my favourite tank. It's a good kit for a starting point. A little bit of work and you can get a good model. Of the three available M51 kits, this is by far the best. At least they got the muzzle brake size correct. And IMO, there's nothing wrong with the mantlet canvas. It looks fine.

 

John.

[Keeff]

Now that's a nice build!  

I like the accessories and the weathering is superb ..... it certainly looks like it's been working hard! 

 

I'm with @Bullbasket regarding the canvas .... it looks fine.  👍

 

 

Keith  😁

[Solexman]

Me too. Canvas looks good to me. 

[PlaStix]

Hi SoftScience. That really is an impressive result!! Your finish looks very convincing - and I agree with the others - the canvas looks like canvas material! Lovely job all round!  

Kind regards,

Stix

[Pete Robin]

Gonna echo everyone else here I'm afraid. Build/paint/weathering looks fine, stowage is excellent and the mantlet cover is 1st rate. Thanks for sharing your work.

Regards

Pete

[SoftScience]

Thanks for the likes and kind words. I wasn't feeling to confident about posting this one, but I guess I'm glad I did. One thing I caught from the photos is that I forgot to paint the radio aerial. That's been rectified since.

[FrancisGL]

Hi SoftScience,

Despite all the problems, it is a beautiful model, with a very cool demeanor (that muzzle brake is incredible). You never know how others will react to someone else's work, I think it's a type of bet, sometimes we will win, other times not, not necessarily as we thought at first, that's why I think we should all be courteous and empathetic with something, with a lot of work and dedication behind it, that someone with enthusiasm wants to share. Good job!.

Cheers

Francis.👍

[Tojo72]

Great job on a nice kit,love that looong barrel

[neilspen]

What a mean looking beast. The long barrel gives it real purpose. Fantastic finish, looks amazing.

[vytautas]

Nicely done! Very realistic weatherig

 

Vytautas

[Muchmirth]

That’s a great looking m51… the stowage is ace.

Paul