MSo, here's the original model before my cutie of a little cousin decided to run it across the floor like a hot wheels car. Not a bad effort and I think representative of the massive dust and dirt these tanks were subjected to in Italy.

And here is the current effort.

Canadian Sherman V's in Italy usually had Large Squadron markings on their turrets with the troop number indicated inside the Squadron marking. There are no decals available AFAIK of these larger Squadron signs so I painted them on myself. The troop number is a decal. This tank is from B Squadron, 2nd troop or in American Nomenclature, B Company 2nd platoon. The Italian red/white theatre marking was also painted on myself with my airbrush. I used Tamiya Flat black and white and for the red I used Mr. Color Insignia Red.

The Regimental and brigade markings come from Decalomanics. I am not overly pleased with them as they have this white border along the top of the decals which is not appropriate and must be a flaw in the printing process. You can see the white in the pictues. I am hoping to paint these out as I go along.

More pictures on my facebook page.

www.facebook.com/totalwarinscalemodels

Wow, that was a beautiful model before- looks like her reconstruction is coming along great though. Please keep us up to date to how she turns out. 

As stated by Cliff, the original build looked great, and look forward at what can be done to improve on it.

The white bar above the markings (signifying  it belonged to a corps), that particular symbol might of been applied when the formation was relocated to the North Western Europe theater in 1945.  As you have indicated, just paint it out, or the decal could have been trimmed beforehand.

regards,

Jack

Thanks Guys,

I would have probably left this model as is if it wasn't busted up. But in a way it's a good thing as I can make some accuracy corrections as I go along.

I didn't notice the white border along the top of the decals when I was cutting them out. I will keep this in mind for these decals next time.

Well, bad news. My compressor has had the biscuit. Was hoping to get some more mileage out of her but it didn't happen. It lasted me quite a while though so I am not too dissapointed. I am going to purchase a double piston tank compressor which wll be quieter no doubt as my old one was a loud construction type compressor. So, for now I won't be doing any major airbrushing.

Cheers,

David.

I like it,your modulation of the greens is outstanding,tools look good,and so does the original figure.

Hijacked by alien drivers!

Thats a great looking model. Needs to get down and dirty.

Yes she will be getting weathered at some point. 

I managed to fix the unit insignia before my compressor died and they look much better now. I also added a camo net to the rear deck and did some touch up on the periscopes and also added the other number 2 to the port side of the tank.

To make this model somewhat unique I decided to scratchbuild an AA mount using twin Bren guns. I used the below pics as a reference. The guns are resin, the bipod legs from a Tamiya set,  the mount is from Academy's MG set, the Sight is from a PE German MG set and of course the rest is just plastic card. As you can see I built a bracket for the Sight to sit in then pin drilled a hole through them and added a retaining pin and chain. Once painted up this should add some nice visual interest to the model.

Looking really sharp there, and I like the addition of the duel bren.

Don't know if you are familiar with Barry Beldam's Armoured Acorn website, but he shows some vehicles from this regiment, and you could add the recognition flash to the front and back as well.

http://media.wix.com/ugd/279ff1_b9f0f6e1e3d34e64bafb4579d67fe19d.pdf

http://media.wix.com/ugd/279ff1_5c05bedbbe464cc0ae61fe4a50a993d0.pdf

regards,

Jack

Nice....... love the storage and that double Bren looks wicked!

Very nice looking M4 even before it crashed lol. I have never seen  dbl. Brens on a M4 before that is realy cool. I realy like M4s with add on wepons. I have a older dragon 1/35 M4 with 60 pound rockets on each side of the turet can't find much info on that one I think they was called tulip and was just British tanks.

jgeratic

Looking really sharp there, and I like the addition of the duel bren.

Don't know if you are familiar with Barry Beldam's Armoured Acorn website, but he shows some vehicles from this regiment, and you could add the recognition flash to the front and back as well.

http://media.wix.com/ugd/279ff1_b9f0f6e1e3d34e64bafb4579d67fe19d.pdf

http://media.wix.com/ugd/279ff1_5c05bedbbe464cc0ae61fe4a50a993d0.pdf

regards,

Jack

 

 

Hi Jack, 

Thanks for checking in on the build or shall we say the makeover. 

Yes, I am familiar with the Armoured Acorn Site. It's a great reference though I think in one graphic he has the wrong colour for the squadron markings for one of the shermans. Still I use it a lot though for Italy Shermans as there is nothing else out there that has this kind of information.

blackdog62

Very nice looking M4 even before it crashed lol. I have never seen  dbl. Brens on a M4 before that is realy cool. I realy like M4s with add on wepons. I have a older dragon 1/35 M4 with 60 pound rockets on each side of the turet can't find much info on that one I think they was called tulip and was just British tanks.

 

You are correct. I believe only the British units mounted the 60 pound RP's which were devastating whether they hit their intended target or not. The Brits loved their Rockets. In fact 2 Tactical Airforce (2 TAF) designated Typhoon squadrons to either use rockets exclusively or bombs exclusively.  RAF Squadrons had a mix of bomb only/rocket only squadrons while the the Canadian squadrons used bombs exclusively but I digress.

Update on the MG work.

Did some recent work on the Sherman V. I completed the smoke launchers using a set from my Tasca Sherman V kit and some brass wire. I also added the serial numbers and tonnage indicator on the front hull. The serial number puts this tank in a group of 1943 Sherman V builds by Chrysler that were sent to the Canadians in Italy. Finally, I re-painted some of the stowage that was on the original model and added a water can as well. BTW the last picture shows the lip I added to the co-ax gun shield with some plastic card. Next up will be some weathering.

So, physical changes to date for a 1943 Sherman V in Italy.

1. Removed tool box and storage bins on turret and hull. 
2. Added rivets and exhaust deflector hookups on rear plate.
3. Added tools to the rear plate including sledge hammer which was normally added to the rear deck in production but the Canadians often moved this to a better spot on the rear plate.
4. Removed all periscope guards on the tank. These tanks didn't have em.
5. Re-positioned the bogies by spacing them out more accurately.
6. Removed the sands shield strips. 
7. Added lip to bottom of co-ax MG shield.
8. Re-did weld lines on glacis, added casting marks.
9. Added siren to the front left fender with wire connection.
10. Removed antenna frame (and antenna which I will add back) for antenna on rear turret bustle area. This was a later feature
11. Added pads the hull lift rings.
12. Added weld seams to front sides of hull where the glacis meets the hull.
13. Added PE Chain to search light cap.

More to come...

She's coming along great! I wish my Shermans looked half as good...