Thank you Dan theman!  It does feel good to be back!  Now I just need to get all my modeling stuff down here! 

Thank you Gamera!  Bish was a huge factor in making it happen too!  Big thank you to him! 

It's great to see you back Eagle.

Hey Eagle, it's good to see you again! Hope things have calmed down at least a little bit.

Thank you sir for a great group build!

Not sure if anyone is still checking this GB out, but I had to post something.

Bish!  Thank you so much my friend!  I really can't thank you enough for all you have done.

I'm sure you all know what happened by now, and I want to thank everyone who kept the GB going!  Awesome work everyone.  Thank you for the support and wonderful posts of your work!

I'm going to do my best to get back on the forums and start posting again, but had to send out a special thank you to Bish and thank everyone for keeping this GB going!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

yeah, the camera kinda washed out the colors a little though.

Bish: Thanks! I was kinda hoping to get some better photos when I get the dio finally finished- just wanted to get something up to show that the Sherman was in fact finished even if the rest isn't! Still it works - thanks!

Ghostrider: Cool, I think he came out pretty darn well.

And, as a bonus, I painted up thwe George S. Patton from the Tamiya Famous Generals set.

the photo probably doesn't do him justice.

Ok Ghost, I have added one from the previous page.

gamera, sorry, I had not added one of yours, done it now.

And thanks again guys. Some great work there, and thanks for the words for eagle.

well, I thought those pics on the last page were better, but if you like it, go ahead, I've got a few more angles from the shelf there in my photobucket album , but I'll leave the final shot up to you.

http://s56.photobucket.com/user/ACESHIGH1/slideshow/Model%20pics/Tamiya%20M4A3%20with%20105mm%20howitzer

Thanks Bish for taking over this GB, and Eagle for starting it.  If I haven't mentioned it already, Eagle, you have my condolences.

Really nice there Ghost. You want me to use that as your final pic, or do you have any more.

I really like that Ghostrider!  The whitewash looks like the crew just slopped it on as fast as they could to get back into the fight, and the fresh mud is a nice touch.

Hey Ghostrider, sorry didn't meant to come off telling you what to do! I'd guess partially blocking the intakes like you've got there shouldn't be any problem. Nice work - the figures look really good.

yeah, I pretty much just followed the example stowage picture in the instructions, I've already recycled the instruction sheet, but it definitely had all three of those crates on top of the intake.  I suppose it could have been wrong, the scale of some of the stuff was a bit off in the picture.  I rearranged the crates to clear some more space on the intake.

I also took the time to paint the three soldier figures that came with it.

Thanks Bish!

That's a great looking build Bob, thanks very much for sharing. I have added a pic to the line up on page 3.

Thanks Gamera!  I'm pretty pleased.  The Tamiya weathering set made it very easy.  I'm thinking I might have to get all the sets.

Bob: She turned out great! Other than the #@%$@#$ silvering she's perfect! Everything, paint, tracks, storage looks great.

Ghostrider: That's kinda odd on the storage. I've seen Shermans with stuff loaded on the rear engine deck behind the intakes. And if the storage partially blocks the intake you're fine but I'd think they'd be problems if the whole intake is covered.  

All finished!  Sorry I'm a couple of days late, but life has a habit of getting in the way.  I'm pretty happy with how my Hellcat turned out, with the exception of the decals.  I learned a lot building it, and I'm sure I'll learn more as I get more armor kits under my belt.  Thanks to Eagle for hosting the build, and my condolences again for your loss.  And thanks to Bish for taking over.

I got a nice chunk of time to work on my Hellcat today.  I attached the stowage and did a bit of weathering.  I really like the Tamiya weathering set.  I might have to get each set after working with these.  Just need to get the tracks on and weather the wheels, attach the ammo can for the .50, and make an antenna.  After that I think I'll be done, unless someone notices something I missed.

Thanks Bish, I'm hoping to get her finished in the next couple of days

Ok guys, the GB is now officially closed. I would like to thank you all for taking part and helping to commemorate the end of WW2 in Europe.

Of course, please feel free to finish up your builds and keep posting the pics here, looking forward to seeing yours wrapped up Bob, that's a nice looking build.

Thanks again guys, and thanks for all the words and thoughts for Eagle.

Sherman's all over the place. Nice work Ghost, i'll get those build added to the list soon.

Gamera, nice work there. I know what you mean about dust showing up in photo's, I just hate that.

Ghost, Verlinden does a range of cardboard box's which are rather nice and I think a few other company's do them as well.

I don't know, that's where the diagram in the instructions said to stack everything.  None of it is glued down though, so I could always rearrange it.

She looks awesome Ghostrider!

Only nitpick I might have is the storage over the air intakes though?

yeah, I've used that same set, I thought they looked familiar.

good thing we caught them now.

Believe me, I've missed much more embarrassing stuff on models that's been caught in threads just like this.

Edit:

It's midnight May 8th 2015, and I'm done.

I give you: Tamiya M4A3(105) Sherman, H Company, 69th Tank Bttn., 6th Armored Div., December 1944, Ardennes in 1:35 scale

Gunner! Traverse Left!  Target sighted.

And from the right:

REALLY!?! Oh gawd- I think they were from a modern weapons set- KRAP guess I need to pull those off and find some other ones...

Gamera

Hey Ghostrider- thanks!

Guess you can always use extra ammo cans tossed on her somewhere.

I don't remember where I got the ration boxes, they are Tamiya- I think they were from one of the accessory kits but I don't remember which one. The large box is actually a British ration box, I figured they might have met up with some British troops and swapped rations for a change of pace- heck it sounded good to me....

hey, I was taking a closer look at your ration boxes, and actually it looks like you're tank crew has been doing a bit more then trading with friendly units, there might have been some time travel involved.  Those US ration boxes you've got are 80s-90s era MRE boxes, not WWII K-ration boxes.