Hello fellow FSM Armor Forum friends!  I've been away from scale modeling for a while and finally got the itch to get back to the bench.  There are some reasons why I stepped away...one was I got a serious itch to start flyfishing again (that was my main hobby for 3 decades).  Another was I was just burnt out from too much sedentary bench time (since I stepped away I've lost 20 lbs by exercising more and eating better).  Lastly my work changed drastically when the company where I worked for 15 yrs was purchased by a MAJOR telecommunications company and that led to a lot of work changes...some for the better, some for the worse.  Anyway I've weathered most of that now and things have settled down.  Recently I took a look at my model stash and decided it was a good time to build some of those armor kits gathering dust!

I decided the best way to get back into the swing of things was to start with a small kit, so I picked this one to jump start the action:

1:72 Trumpeter M26 Pershing

I actually started this a couple of weeks ago and have been plugging away.  I took some WIP photos (below) but got so into it that I neglected to take more until it was done.

Of course I couldn't leave well enough alone and had make some improvements along the way.  I used no PE or aftermarket parts and the only scratchbuilding I did was to replace the antenna mount on the turret rear because I damaged it badly when I removed it from the sprue.  Most of the work was getting some of the details into more of a scale appearance (headlight guards, lifting rings, fender braces, etc). 

I intended this to be a WWII vehicle, but I'm no expert on the Pershing line of tanks and actually have no reference material other that what I could find on the internet, so the actual model may be a mishmash of M26/T26E3,E4 details and even the markings may not be correct. 

Painted with Tamiya acrylics using the Black & White method (I think that's what its called) followed with MIG filters (brown and tan).  Details painted with Tamiya and Vallejo Acrylics. 

OK, here she is.  Not my best effort, but its a start!

I really like the look of the Pershing tank!  Its so much lower and sleeker than the Sherman tank, even with its big 90mm gun!  Here's the Trump Pershing next to a Dragon M4A3E8.  The Sherm is way taller!

Its great to be back!  I'm looking forward to being part of the FSM family again!

Now to figure out which kit to build next........