ARMOR - Sherman Family Group Build

My Formations Sherman M4A1 set came today, along with the Zaloga Osprey book on Sherman 75mm tanks.

Hmmm. The guy who runs Formations told me that his A1 doesn't work for Tunisia because it does not have direct vision ports, but in Zaloga's book there's an illustration of a tank called "Henry III," an A1 (later knocked out by a PAK at Mateur).

The tank does not appear to be direct vision, but it's kind of hard to see from the angle of the pic. And it has the standard M4 suspension, not the funky early M3, so I think this kit is good to go for !st Armored in Tunisia. (Confirming Robert's earlier statement, I might add.)

I may even model it as "Henry III!"

Anyway, spent the past half hour sanding the turret bottom so that it fits correctly into the main turret part. I assume that is the most challenging piece fit issue with this set -- the rest of the build will be, I think, just taking pieces off the pour plugs and gluing them on. Sherman fever -- catch it!

Meanwhile my Panther languishes on the shelf -- a victim of a promise unfulfilled (my wife promised me up and down she'd buy me isopropyl alcohol today. )

Everybodies work on their Shermans is great!


I haven't fallen off the end of the earth yet.

The BARV is still progressing, but I am having to scratchbuild the walkways. The kit supplied PE parts for these didn't quite cut it.

I'll post some pictures when I get back from travelling. Work's got me running again!

Great job, Fieldgrau - looking good

Ron P. - are going to leave anything out ? - great job

Sherm - did you hire someone with little fingers to do those periscope covers - that's patience put to the test - nice job

wow, amazing tanks there, ron and robert!!!

Robert, that Firefly is looking great.

Poniatowski Yours is looking great to. Did you do the interior work yourself or was that a kit? I had seriously thought about doing the interior of mine, but decided against it due to time constraints. I think I will however do it on the PanzerKampfwagon IV J I have waiting for me.

Ron,

The details on your model is just AMAZING! Wheeew!

Ron and Robert, your Shermans are coming together beautifully.
The details are awesome!

Regards, Dan

Wow! That's looking great, Sherm. The barrel is really fantastic. Too good a temptation to start with my Firefly...He-he-he. Gotta fight it now......ughhhhhh.

He-he-he.

And here's the progress on my Firefly.

The PE is a combination of kit supplied, Eduard, On The Mark, and Royal Models.
The barrel is from Jordi Rubio and the commanders hatch is from the parts box and is from the Tamiya Churchill. Ran across a couple of references that show this conversion made on British based Shermans before the U.S. released the late all round vision hatch.

Excellent looking model Ron.
Thanks for posting the pictures Robert.
mark956

Poniatowski's progress

Bill - I used the Italeri idler's too .... a couple of drops of CA fix them up good.

U.S. tanker uniform pics ..... compliments of Ron P.

Very nice Feldgrau.
mark956

yep, his site is still down, man, i'm so anxious to put the next quiz up too, cuz itsan awesome one. oh well,

Is Ron's site still down??

I got the upper hull glued onto the lower and the transmission bulges onto the front housing. I'm still struggling about what to do for my idelers. I was exstatic when I found an extra set in my Italeri UMSC Sherman. Until I noticed all the ejector pin marks on the back side Guess I'll have to keep looking and thinking.

QUOTE: Originally posted by Murray Kish Chris: Sounds like you made it to the Dief Center! Hope you enjoyed the displays... what was your favorite??

hmm, I'd have to say it would be Bob Aaberg's scratchbuilt WW1 AFV (man, i can't remember its name now) but, Cam Tetrault is amazing!!! those planes of his are simply amazing, especially that tomcat.

Feldgrau, looks good!

Didn't get anything done last night and can't get onto RonUSMC's site... so... hm. Well, Hm. Took some photos of uniforms and such.. some of the in progress Sherman, but can't get onto Ron's site. hmmm. hm. oh well.

R.

FieldGrau23...nice looking Sherman...
Mike...exquisite!
Murray...looks good.......

Regards, Dan

QUOTE: Originally posted by shermanfreak QUOTE: Originally posted by petbat Here's my silly question..... there does not seem to be enough room between the main supports and the inner racks to move the shells back and forth so the heads or rears can be brought out of these holes. How did they get 'em out???? Without digging through a pile of reference pics ..... I'll go with the simplest of answers. The interior of your Achilles if slighly off scale, slightly out of dimension, and the shells are slighty off scale too. All this resulting in the problem that you now have. That's my story .... and I'm sticking to it.

Thanks Sherm....I think!!!! As a silly question.....Ha,Ha. Back to the drawing board I guess.

Looks good so far. It's an M4A3 75mm if I am not mistaken?

And on that note ..... here they are.

Hey gang,,,,, Robert will be posting some pics for me shortly but as you can see i am close to being done. The weathering still needs to be done but its getting there. Right now it has the fresh off the assembly line look. Well in anycase tell me what you think and hopefully buy the begining of march I should be finished. This weekend I will be doing my other hobby,,, German WW2 reenacting. So I probably wont get much done this weekend.

Thanks for posting the pics for me Robert.

Mike you've done a fine job. Great details you've put into it.

Murray your Sherman is coming along nicely. It looks like a really nice kit.

Thanks Mike, I will give that a try.
Murray, Your tank looks very nice.
mark956

Murray - interior is white, same with the engine compartment. The engine itself is not, here's a pic that should help a little bit anyway.


I'll wait for the pics so you don't get pointed in the wrong direction on the other 2 questions.

Just a few answers to your questions:

Build22: Yes, there is another piece that joins up to the bottom of the turret. I did get it put together last night, but not before the pics were taken (the turret was just temporary for the pic.) That large square joint has a piece that goes in from behind (I think it's a hatch of some sort.)

Chris: Sounds like you made it to the Dief Center! Hope you enjoyed the displays... what was your favorite??

I'm getting close to firing up the paint booth, so I'm hoping you all can help me out a bit:
- What would be the general interior color? I think the instructions say to paint it white, but I thought I'd check with you guys. What about the engine area? Were the engines painted white too?
- There's a join line where the side skirts are attached to the main hull (primarily at the very front of the skirts). Is this join line supposed to be there (I'd rescribe it if it's supposed to be there)? Or should I putty it over and smooth it into the hull? (I'll edit this post later with a pic of what I'm referring to)
- There's a 'gap' at the front, where the side skirt meets the front armor, Shoud that gap be there, or be filled in? (pic will be added later.)

Murray

Mike,

Nice job so far! I really like the stowage on the bustle (like the whole thing, actually). My hands seem to get more and more shaky each year and I have to take my glasses off to see what th' h' I'm doing on small parts... annoying getting old!

Therriman,

The tanker coveralls (HBT's) faded to a light sage green. If your tanker is wearing wools, the trousers would be a dark OD, while the shirt a greenish light OD.... Confusing, eh? IF I have a chance, I'll take some photos tonight and post them on RonUSMC's site. Boots are russet brown. The winter bibs I have in my collection are a light greenish tan as is the tanker jacket.

I'll also post some photos of my progress so far. One small step forward at a time! Always seems like finishing one thing brings ten other little details to mind!

Ron

Sorry guys, I haven't worked on my M4 for a couple of weeks. I've been working on a 1/32 Trumpeteer Wildcat, 1/350 Trumpy Essex, and 1/350 MHM Spruance, all at the same time and I was getting a little burned out on the M4. So many models, so little time.

Also what was the standard tanker uniform color in '44 France? I thought it was OD. But my Tamiya instructions have it as a tan. Which is it?????

if it turns out as good as your se5 and ferrari, it will be awesome!!!!