"Bail Out" Diorama update: 6/26/11

101stAirborne

 

I like it. I'm glad you decided to return to this one and to show us your progress. It is definately a good story and your painting is looking good so far. I also like the work you did on the interior.

Just one thing that I noticed - that grunt is wasting his time. The guys he's dragging obviously isn't going to make it - he got his head blow'd off....

Post more!

bbrowniii

101stAirborne:

 

 

I like it. I'm glad you decided to return to this one and to show us your progress. It is definately a good story and your painting is looking good so far. I also like the work you did on the interior.

Just one thing that I noticed - that grunt is wasting his time. The guys he's dragging obviously isn't going to make it - he got his head blow'd off....

Post more!

With a puddle of styrene below it to boot.

In all seriousness this is looking like a great build and your photo work is very good as well.

Great depiction of all to familiar action with the Shermans.  Do you have any plans for smoke or fire?  Great work.  Rick.

Wabashweels: Yes I am going to add a small tuft of cotton (sprayed black and gray) coming out of the hatches for a smoke effect.

It looks great and the way you are making the diomara is already telling a great story.  I will be following this WIP with interest.  Good luck!

Yeah, this is going to be an exciting dio. Nice job with the scratched interior, and I'm looking forward to more progress on this.

Thanks guys, I will be posting more pics later today.

I like the figure poses.  You might want to re-think the hedgerow title though, as the variant of the M-4 you are using wasn't used the the Normandy "hedgerow" battles.

Looking good Ryan......    I'll be checking in on the next photo-posting

Thanks for sharing!

Bronto

I like the figure poses.  You might want to re-think the hedgerow title though, as the variant of the M-4 you are using wasn't used the the Normandy "hedgerow" battles.

Thats unfortunate I really felt like making hedgerows. What Variant did they use in Normandy?

I believe (and someone might clarify this) that the M4 was the variant that landed on D-Day with M4A1 and M4A3 variants arriving in late July of 44.

By the way, what kit is this?

More pictures! I painted the Sherman w/ Tamiya's olive drab (XF-62 I think). I will paint a lighter shade of olive drab today to give the paint a "faded" look. I also started working on the vegetation. I started a tree with wire and will add Milliput later. The other trees are natural which I got from around my house. I sprayed them a green color (they are not naturally green)  Try and guess what the are! I also took a pic of some of the stowage that I will put on.

Howdy!

I like what I see so far a lot! Lots of action! Keep it up, have a nice weekend

Paweł

bbrowniii - It's the Tamiya M4A3 sherman kit

bbrowniii

I believe (and someone might clarify this) that the M4 was the variant that landed on D-Day with M4A1 and M4A3 variants arriving in late July of 44.

M4s and M4A1s were the main versions used in Normandy. Some late model M4A1 (75mm) with the angled hatches, and M4A1 (76mm) also were there. The M4A3 (75mm Wet) did not start getting in to battle until late 1944 after the Normandy breakout.

But your work looks great and the diorama idea is excellent!

Looking really sweet!

101stAirborne

bbrowniii - It's the Tamiya M4A3 sherman kit

Well... I am not a Sherman expert by any stretch, but if that is the case, I think you can get away with it. I did a google search and found images of M4A3s prior to Operation Cobra (part of the Normandy Campaign).

stikpusher

bbrowniii:

I believe (and someone might clarify this) that the M4 was the variant that landed on D-Day with M4A1 and M4A3 variants arriving in late July of 44.

 

M4s and M4A1s were the main versions used in Normandy. Some late model M4A1 (75mm) with the angled hatches, and M4A1 (76mm) also were there. The M4A3 (75mm Wet) did not start getting in to battle until late 1944 after the Normandy breakout.

But your work looks great and the diorama idea is excellent!

Well, there you have it. I'd take Stik's word over mine - he seems to know a lot more about Shermans that I do.

If you are curious, here is a link to that pic I mentioned:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cobra

I would not call myself an expert on Shermans either. ButI am a huge fan of them! I have yet to see a photo of the M4A3 (75mm Wet) in action in Europe that are dated sooner than around early Fall of '44 or so. The M4 (105mm) with the 47* welded hull and enlarged angled hatches appeared around the time of Operation Cobra.

Well Maybe it doesn't have to take place in hedgerows, just as long as the M4A3 served in Normandy I think I will be alright. Thanks for all of the info about Shermans guys I am learning alot!

The early and mid production M4A3(75mm dry) with the 60* hull and small non angled hull hatches served in Normandy. Your variant would be fine for something along the line of the fall border battles along the Siegfried line such as  in Aachen, Alsace-Lorraine, and Hurtgen Forest.

stikpusher

The early and mid production M4A3(75mm dry) with the 60* hull and small non angled hull hatches served in Normandy.

Not trying to cause an arguement, or highjack this thread, but this is incorrect.  Very few of the early M-4A3 you describe saw service outside of the US.  The few that did were used later in 44 as replacement tanks.  The only versions of the M-4 to see combat with the US in Normandy were M-4 and M-4A1.

Edit:  Actually now that I re-read the thread, you posted the correct information earlier, sorry not sure where the confusion comes in.

I have a quick question: how do you apply Archer fine transfers decals. I realized that they are not water slide decals and I am not sure how to apply them. Any help will be greatly appreciated. 

Here are some pictures of my recent work on the Sherman. I painted it with a coat of MM olive drab over the Tamiya olive drab and I think it turned out nice.

I still am going to airbrush on a dusty coat. More pics soon!

Just for grins, I’ve pulled up all of the searchable images that were tagged “Sherman” AND “Bocage” OR “Hedgerow” and filtered out all the scale models. I was surprised at how LITTLE there was!

Never used dry transfers before but I've reads a lot about them in magazines. From what I gather, you simply peel back the lesser transparent backing, gently place the decal over the area you want it to be and when it's in place you get a blunt, yet pointy tool (like an unrecently sharpened pencil) and burnish it on. Not sure what the optimum type of surface to apply them on is (ie, glossy for waterslide decals) but you should at least clean the area just before.

BTW, it's coming along really well. Sherman looks great.

Here is the finished Sherman Tank. Now all I have left is to finish the base and do a little more work in the figs. 

NICE WORK!

Two questions and an observation:

How did you make the impact?

What did you use for rope to tie down the gear on the back?

On the pic showing the front of the tank (7th and 8th pic), I think the run of tracks on the front look a little too black. Might add some extra weathering in there.

This is shaping up to be a pretty awesome build. Can't wait to see more!

I made the impact using an X-acto knife to make a hole, the I heated up the X-acto knife to melt the plastic around the hole. I looked at many different pics of impact holes on Shermans, I think it helped a lot. The rope is just some old string I found and painted. I think I will dirty up those tracks a little more, thanks for your observations!

Both the 'rope' and the impact are really well done. Keep up the good work!