M4A3 Painting question

i have gotten to where I assemble as much as I can that is the same color before painting. That way you can get a better idea of any seams and what nots after you primer and before you paint. With the Sherman I did recently , I assembled the entire hull and the entire turret then painted. I also paint the tools off the tank cause I just cant paint well enough to paint the tool and not the tank.

Are you doing the new Academy M4A3, if so how do you like it?

What I always do is assemble as much as I can, leave off the road wheels. I attach all that I can to include pioneer tools and anything normally attached to the tank. I then paint it in a dark color (black for OD and dark grey for Desert Yellow) then overcoat with the primary color, paint the road wheels seperate. Hand paint the tools etc. and weather as needed.

Hey Chris, just checked out your web site, you have some nice models, I've just gotten started in the tank modeling, having only the M3 done, and the M48A3 ready for weathering, and so far its been a blast,

As to the question asked, I like to assemble as much as possible then paint,

Gasser

Richard - Academy's new kit is the M4A2 not the M4A3. It has some errors, namely the slope of the rear upper hull and the gun barrel. Otherwise, nice kit.

Warrior - everybody has their own procedures when it comes to painting. I assemble as much as I can, including tools, except for the tracks, and then hit the whole works with the basecoat. Then I'll pick out the detail colours, add the tracks and weather it all.

I do the same as Rob. Try a few and find what works for ya. good luck with your build.

Should I be thinning the pain that I brush on the tool/ammo cans down a bit as to not cover any detail...if so what ratio of paint to thinner should I use?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Gasser Hey Chris, just checked out your web site, you have some nice models, I've just gotten started in the tank modeling, having only the M3 done, and the M48A3 ready for weathering, and so far its been a blast, As to the question asked, I like to assemble as much as possible then paint, Gasser

Thanks Gasser. Glad you enjoyed them.

I'm in the "build as much as possible before painting" club.
Depending on the track/roadwheels/skirt situation, I might even completely finish the build before painting.

i preferr painting on the sprues. no airbrush

QUOTE: Originally posted by warrior1973 Should I be thinning the pain that I brush on the tool/ammo cans down a bit as to not cover any detail...if so what ratio of paint to thinner should I use?

Yes ... if you are using a brush you should thin the paint a little, but as far as how much depends on the type of paint you are using and how thin it is already. I use Tamiya Acrylics and never thin for detail painting.

Also in regards to your original question, warmonger brings up a good point. Do you have an airbrush or are you paintung the entire vehicle by brush? If you are brush painting I would assemble everything but the tracks, suspension, tools and stowage and paint that way.

I used to paint the sub assembly and then build like in aircraft modeling. Now I build as much as possible and then paint for armour. Armour is easy to paint the details after construction. It saves a lot of time too.

I also assemble as much as possible. I usually paint the entire hull as one assembly and the turret as another... it all depends. Sometimes I put the tools on the tank and detail them later with a brush, other times, I put them on afterward. There are advantages to both... putting tools on first allows a good glue bond, but they aren't easy to paint. The other way, the glue bond isn't as good (as you have to scrape away a tiny bit of paint on both the tool and the tank), but painting and detailing the tools is much easier and is the way I ususally do it. Stowage I almost always leave for last and use glue as well as tie downs such as string or what ever. Sometimes stowage is just tied in place and not even glued... it all depends on where it goes and how gravity and parts of the tank hold it in place.

Ron

Thanks for all the great advice...I have the whole model assembled now and painted it OD green (a little dark for my taste...will mix some white or yellow with it next time). I used Shermanfreaks sharpie tip for the rubber on the road wheels and Hattal's tip on painting a black base coat before the main coat. I painted all of the stowage and pioneer tools by hand. Now I have a brand spanking new Sherman. I have been looking in previous posts for weathering/drybrushing tips, but either my search skills need work or I am blind, but I was wondering if anyone had a site with detailed tips (pics...lol) on how to complete this step by step. I must say, although tedious at times this was a fun model to build...hard to complete with a newborn in the house, but fun none the less.

Once again it falls under the case of many different techniques to achieve the weathering.

Do you want a fairly clean build or an old veteran warrior who's fought many a day?
Do you want it in the summer heat with lots of dust or slogging through the winter mud?

Figure that part out and we'll be able to easily answer your questions.

By the way, don't worry about it appearing too dark, by the time you're finished weathering it will be a different colour all together.

Don't know how I missed this earlier but i'll toss in my anyway (better late than never right?).
For Shermans and other vehicles with similar suspension i paint the suspension parts and the road wheels the base color on the sprue. After assembling the bogies i attach them to the hull (which was assembled while the bogies dried) and the whole thing is given a coat of paint. After that i paint the rubber part of the wheels.
For all tanks the turret and hull are base coated seperately to ensure that there is paint under the turret and the camo (if any) is applied with the turret in place as would be done on the real deal.
If you attach the tools, tow cables, etc. before painting use very small amounts of glue at the attachment point and you can slide paper between the handle, cable, etc as a mask.