Italeri 1/35 scale Sheman cast hull

Great model, don't like the chain!!!...cheers....Kenny

That chain would be akin to a naval vessel's anchor chain and not an item readily manhandled on a tank. That's what the tow cable is there for. You've also got it draped over the gun travel lock, an item that is used quite frequently. I'd get rid of the chain, it is too over scaled and looks out of place on the tank.

Also the hanging items (sandbags?) seem rather random and placed without much though as to what they would be used to protect.

Basically, the tank looks good, it's just the "extras" you've added detract from the overall appearance. They look unrealistic.

I second Robs statement . The chain is actually detracting from the rest of the model . The stowage hanging over the sides of the hull don't look to be in a normally seen or desirable  location either . The rest of the model looks pretty good .

I concur about the stowage.  The gear on the turret roof would also block the vision of a buttoned up tank crew as well.  Hanging gear along the sides is a very bad idea -- easy to get knocked off.  Nothing more to be said about the chain other than to please omit it. 

Also your frontmost road wheel is riding up due to the design of the Italeri parts.  All twelve road wheels should be solidly FLAT on the ground.  Push it down and superglue the arms in place.

A good looking tank.  Concur in getting rid of the chain.  Good idea on the road wheels.  Stowage on the back should be tied down, or you'll be dumping some gas cans on the ground first lurch you have when you hit a bump.

Halp!!!

The weathering is very nice, but yes, the chains and the sandbags need to go. Good effort on the kit itself.

disastermaster

 

Halp!!!

LOL ................

The other problem with the chain is that it's clearly a decorative/jewellery chain. It's what's known as a "curb" chain where the links are flattened to lie flat in the same plane, unlike a common utilitarian chain. 

I'll not belabor what's already been said other than to say that it is indeed a nice build...nicely faded, scraped a bit here and there. I do like the lister bags hanging off the starboard side, but this woud only be appropriate in a diorama with the vehicle parked and the crew outside. Perhaps getting a drink out of  the bag(s)?

Go to a railroad shop and get a replacement for the chain, it comes in many different sizes and is not very expensive. I've been eyeballing your work that's been posted here lately and I like what I see. Welcome to the forums.

Regards,

Mark

If I can offer a differing opinion than Mark about getting smaller chain from the railroad hobby shop.  Indeed they will have some.  But the problem is, you don't see much chain on any WW2 era vehicle.  The four circumstances I can think of are these

1. Pre war and early war French AFVs
2. Pre war and early war Russian tanks
3. tire chains for US gear -- but when not in use, stowed away in bags
4. chains with hooks for towing winches (like in US Half tracks).

In all these situations, you see that a length of chain without hooks, really has no place on an AFV.  The danger from them catching, falling off and into your suspension/wheels is too great.  And they suck at towing in comparison to tow cables.

Omit the chains.

I am with all the others here. A good base kit build. But the chain has to go, as well as the sandbags. The other stowage with a few tweaks is reasonable. A good idea when your adding stowage is to think of yourself as a 1/35 commander/crew member. Where would I want this stowed? A tommy gun on the rear hull where its out of reach and prone to getting caked with mud and dirt thrown off the moving tracks? No. Any individual weapons within arms reach of the hatch or inside. Steel pots hanging off the anternna mounts, lift rings, and MG stowage brackets, yes. Water cans on the engine deck, sure. Sleeping bag hanging down near the idler wheel where its gonna get covered in thrown mud and such... not what I wanna sleep in. Take a look at real tanks in service to get a feel for what goes where and you will get some good ideas.

Hey Steve,

Where do all these builds keep coming from? Do you build and paint/weather a new kit every day?

Please don't be disheartened by the comments as, certain things aside, this Sherman is a beauty! What would you want, a build that looks badly wrong or even terrible but to be told "yeah, love it, it's great"? You do get this on some sites and it helps no-one!

You will be told if anything is wrong so you can make your best build possible. There are some superb modellers on here and their advice has helped my work improve MASSIVELY over the last 3 and a bit years when I started modelling.

The main thing I notice on a LOT of builds are items of stowage being placed here and there but nothing to show them attached to the vehicle ie tied on or wedged in place. Show a fixing as stowage looks so unnatural when it is just 'placed'. The other thing is the barrel - the muzzle end looks like it has a small gap and it may benefit from being glued from the inside and clamped overnight to sort itout.

The chain is crazy overscale and looks really out-of-place and the hanging items again, look incorrect but I love the nice weathering and the other stowage and think you should go back to this and remedy these couple of items then you'll be sorted. The previously mentioned front right hand suspension assembly needs attention but that's easily sorted - I can see you have been supplied with the remedy by T26E4!

Finally, I'd look at the engine deck and see if you can muck it up a bit i.e. spilt fuel, oil, general muck. It's very clean at the minute! Pigments and dirty washes will help too on that rear deck.

All of your build shown so far have been great and I hope to see many more. I presume you are posting photos of builds in your collection seeing as you have just joined FSM. I'd think about a blog when you start your next brand new build and post assembly, painting and weathering updates as your build progresses.

I can see you are a fellow Brit? Where are you from Steve?

Keep these build coming - I hope to see a proper blog soon too

Many thanks,

Ben