Ya, I have the same Sherman kit with those guys... Good call on using other manufactuer's parts as well.. I do that with all the personal gear and TA-50, in fact, I got my figure's gear set up almost like an Army Supply Room, lol... I use the parts orgnizer cases and label them with bayonets, etc., e-tools, ammo pouches, canteens, packs, well... You get the idea... The Tamiya stuff from the 70s/early 80s doesn't bear close scrutiny anymore, but that's never been an issue with me... There were only a couple of Tamiya rucks that were any good, one being the "horse-shoe" pack (NOT the one with the e-tool molded on) from the WW2 "US Army Infantry" set, the other was the medium ALICE pack from the 80s "Modern Infantry" set along with that one's M-17 pro-mask carrier.. I cast a bunch of those Horseshoe packs one boring evening... The middle one is the original part. The left one is done in resin, the right with plaster.. I used Bondo Auto Body Filler (it's the two-part filler, not the glazing putty) for the mold material, rather than the more expensive RTV molds.. Both types turned out ok though I prefer the resin part better.. But as cheap as plaster is, and since it's NOT a real issue having a flat "back" part, plaster is my usual material with stuff like that.. |