should turn out pretty cool

Sometimes you just need to turn loose the creativity and get the juices flowing! Looks like this one fits the bill in that respect, ought to be interesting!

That looks like a really cool project...just what the doctor ordered to get the juices flowing again

nice... reminds me of my current tank build,.,,

Go for it man !

Thanks, all. I'm having too much fun. Yesterday saw the installation of the stowage normally carried on  the hull sides, plus a couple more thingies. I've got a LHS trip to make before I do  the turret bustle rack, and then paint is not far off.

I think that'll turn out nicely. Since I have started building accurate and realistic kits, I haven't built one that was just for fun. When my father was cleaning out my grandfather's basement, he found an old unbuilt Chevy truck model that my grandfather must have forgotten about before he passed away. I now have the kit, and want to do something really crazy or creative with it. But, most importantly, I want to have fun doing it. I think we all can benefit from leisure builds.

Just really cool, great

Terry

Terry, Mike: thanks.  I truly have to say that I haven't been this enthusiastic about a build in years.

Looks awesome to me, any tank can be improved by adding a bigger gun (Sigmon Freurd  would have a ball with that one).

And love those T34 exhausts.

EXPRESS YOURSELF  !!!!!

cool goin' man !... I too love those t-34 exhausts!

tread

I came real close tto making the exhausts from a couple of M48 wading trunks but they were a little too big. I may rotate the actual exhaust pipe towards the rear, not sure......

So, as it is now:

i1236.photobucket.com/.../SD530324.jpg

i1236.photobucket.com/.../SD530320.jpg

i1236.photobucket.com/.../SD530321.jpg

i1236.photobucket.com/.../SD530319.jpg

I decided to make the turret shell-ejection port look welded up, since the cartridge for the ginormous gun this thing has wouldn't fit anyway. I need to do some kind of access to the top of the turret bustle to allow ammo loading (maybe all four or five rounds that might fit). and a few more detail items. Than about fifteen tow cables, enough crew stowage to make it look like the Joads are aboard, and paint.

I think it will only take 2 forum members and 1 WIP photo to have you committed.  The 1st step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem.

Oh wait.  I scratch build parts for 144th tanks and slap 'em on a peanut butter lid....  never mind

LOL!!!!  It's a good thing my friends and family have no idea what I'm doing, they'd try an intervention.

Got a suggestion on another forum, shorten up the barrel, give the impression t hat the gun is a low-velocity "demolition gun", make it all more believable. I agree, but I really dig the giant muzzle brake.....

do it.. yourrrrr.. waaaaaayy.... !

Burger King it is!

Now, how can one not like something that looks like this? I think it's great.

Mark

Why, thankee!  I've had a very busy past few days, no time at the bench until this morning. I hope to have the hull finished up and get on the turret basket this week.

Well, progress. I have the bustle rack pretty much done, and a few more goodies on. Not shown in the pics are front fenders and turret-mounted MGs. I'll try and get more current pics up soon. Still undecided on the muzzle brake......

(Third pic fuzzy, added one more using "edit")

Too cool !!! Keep em comming !

As it is now:

I'm almost to the point where this could be the subject of a contest like "Whoever identifies the most different kit/mfg parts wins a Rubics cube",  or something.....

Commander's MG will go on some sort of swivel mount, and I will most likely do something else where the old gunner's sight is, since I do have my added "sight"  on the loader's side of the turret, but it's all electronic, right?  Plus, it looked good, and wouldn't fit anywhere else....

Tongue firmly in cheek, putty in hand.

The Frankensupersherman is coming along nicely! That bustle rack gives it a mean/squared-off look and is perfect for the extended turret/counterweight design IMHO.

Now I know how you came up with this idea.  I got some pain pills in the ER last night... did something to my arm...  and I have been seeing alot of that kind of stuff today.  And yours doesn't look as nearly as weird as it did before  Love the basket. balances out the big bang stick.

Bill, Marc, thanks for the input. Always good to get. And I promise, this thing came from my un-aided imagination, and is probably the result of too many IDF builds.

I still get a chuckle out of this thing, can't help it.

Okay, with paint. Primed with Krylon gray automotive primer, followed by MM SAC tan from a rattle can, then a wash of MM acrylic burnt umber. I scrubbed the wash with a Q-tip (actually many Q-tips) and alcohol. Markings are from the spares box and Archer.

Still to do that I know of: Mantlet 50-cal barrel, turret MGs and hatches, tow cables, some more detail painting, weather the tracks, and stowage, if any. I also have a set of Friuls (M26) that I bought for one of the two M26s in the stash that I may use, not sure. Also, I shortened the barrel between the fume extracter and muzzle brake, based on a suggestion on another forum, the idea being to make the gun look more like a large bore, low velocity bunker-buster.

Anyway, the pics:

Thanks for looking, as always!

Shorter barrel definitely changes the look! Weathering is bringing out the details, looking good so far.

Thanks, Bill. Nothing like a nice dark wash on a lighter color to make things pop. I may lighten up the bigger, flatter surfaces, not sure.

Yeah, I kind of liked the super-long barrel, but in the interest of plausibility, it had to go. The shorter barrel and ginormous muzzle brake still have a presence, though.  Maybe the next one....  I've been eyeing the new Tamiya M51 in a major way.

Is that the 105mm gun from the Tamiya M60 kit or the 120mm gun from the M1A1?

If it is the 105mm gun I do believe the 76.2mm guns on the M50 Super Sherman and the M51 ISherman were replaced by the 105mm guns around the time of the Yom Kippur War.

RBaer

I know most of you are not in to "what-ifs" but I'm having too much fun here. This all started because I had a serious case of modelers' block and needed something to do that was just plain modeling, with no issues about accuracy.

I had this on the shelf, from a few years ago, same issue back then:

So, in a fit of "I need this", it was off the the spares boxes and cannibalized kits. This is where I'm at now, more to come. The "story" is this: What to do with a bunch of old M51 hulks, when you need an armored vehicle for secondary urban conflicts, or maybe border patrol duty.

Enjoy, I sure am....   :)

Just too cool, man. It's awesome I love it.

Regards,

Mark

Mikey, it's the 120mm gun tube from the old Academy M1A1, with the over-size and inaccurate fume extractor. I used it for the sheer size of it.

Mark, thanks. This model has moved towards completion faster than any model I've doen in years, if you don't count the fact that I did the original suspension and hull more than five years ago....

Okay then, I've gotten some more painting done, getting closer. Pics:

As always, thanks for looking!