Well ,I thought seeing as Brother John was good enough to create a nice new site ,it would be very ignorant of me not to make use of it So I thought I'd jump in with a BIG Bling build
This is my first one ,so I'll be looking plenty of help and advice !! Firstly ,What would be the best base colour for this ,preferably Model Air ,Instructions say Sandy Brown ?
This will be a slow mover for a week or two guys ,I have a lot on that I have to push on with first ,but I thought Id get the thread started anyway ....to get some disscusion going on the topic
Post by Allied-Eric on Jul 16, 2013 18:56:16 GMT -5
Hey Chris,
I also am not totally up on my IDF colors but in the spirit of commarderie have a look at this web site IDF Modeling. this is a IDF only forum but has some really great info. Just report back here what they suggest
Allied-Eric
Vancouver, WA, USA
AMPS-2652
-In the Ready Rack-
Improvised Assault Sherman-M4A3DS(ETO)
Hyper-Sherman
Crispy-44
I likey Mr. S!! I have had at this one many moons ago!! Even threatened to pull her down and rework it for the Shop!! Looking forward to seeing where you go with it!!!
So ,I finally got a start on this one ...I know ,but better late than never
The build starts with the HVSS suspension units ,which if you get them right are workable ,and nicely detailed me thinks
120 parts ,a lot of hours and some choice words ....I had six complete units , well apart from the wheels & tyres .
I then started to look at the hull . This is were the fun starts ....not ! After a dry fit of the tranny housing it was pretty obvious it was a real bad fit (being polite) but after some sanding and jiggling I got a reasonable fit ,bit of filler needed tho .I havent fixed it in place yet until Im happy with it ..... (sorry about the dodgy pic )
The back plate was then offered up and fitted ...
Then I had a look at the upper hull ...Oh dear !!! . The rear deck just behind the turret ring had a bad bow in it , drooping in the middle ! In the pics you can just see the stress marks in the plastic where I heated it and bent back into shape ,once it was straight I went ahead and fixed the rear deck panels and the back panel to hold everything in shape .I think it worked !
Then a quick test fit to the lower hull , Thankfully the upper and lower come together well and shouldnt present any further problems ...fingers crossed
And thats where Im at ...Im off to fit lots of hollow guide horns to the DS tracks
Looking great Chris! Bit of a struggle for starters, but what isn't? I just dismantled one of the same variety in hopes of having a go at it again in some compacity at some point!! Keep up the great work!
Looking good Chris! You have a lot of patience to work with the Dragon Shermans. I can not wait to see your in progress images and final build! For colors I am under the impression the I.D.F. wore a sandy/grey shade.
Post by Allied-Eric on Jul 29, 2013 19:39:03 GMT -5
Nice progress Chris. Them HVSS look sweet, but I have to say I still favor Dragons first generation HVSS, less parts, easier to build up and still look good to me. I just don't get why Dragon never figured out the Transmission fit issues but you did a great job making it work.
Keeps us post buddy!!
Allied-Eric
Vancouver, WA, USA
AMPS-2652
-In the Ready Rack-
Improvised Assault Sherman-M4A3DS(ETO)
Hyper-Sherman
Crispy-44
Well guys ,I've had some fun with this one so far ....Not !!
All the main parts ..Upper hull ,Tranny housing ,rear deck , Turret (upper & lower parts ) either had a bad fit or a warp ...or Both !!! But at last I think I have overcome all the issues (so far ) And I've managed to crack on a bit
The tranny housing took a fair bit of work to sort ,but I think it looks ok now ?
On the rear end the welds look like ...err ...lumps , so I removed them and added my own using Milliput .
Then I added the machine gun to the hull and closed the upper & lower I started adding parts to the front of the hull ...Hatches ,handles etc . The handles on the hatches were again ..Lumps so I removed them too and made up some handles from wire ,the periscopes are closed as the tank will be buttoned up .
The turret is a work in progress too . once the bad join was filled and sanded ,I removed the weld (lump) around the bustle and redone it with milliput ,but adding the double weld instead of the single lump that was there ,still have to do the weld around the bottom of the bustle .
Sorry about the lack of updates on this one ,but I am slowly making some headway ...I think lol
Started on some of the etchwork , First up was the guards . I decided to use the kit supplied parts seeing as they where there ...BIG mistake ! the kit etch parts simply didnt fit ,the side guards were not to bad ,but the front corners were absolute rubbish !!! there's just no way they were going to fit .So I turned to the Eduard parts ,but to fit them I had to cut the corners of the sponsons ...no biggy tho , after doing that the Eduard parts fitted a treat and look better too .
After that I started on the side bins ,again using the Eduard parts instead of the kits plastic parts which dont have much detail on them . It took me some time getting one side done tho ...lol ,but they look much better ,well worth the effort I think ,they are also mounted on the correct brackets rather than stuck to the side like the plastic ones are .
And thats as far as I've got ! ..hope to have more time to spend on it this week
Looking good but for one problem: The rear plate should have the engine bay doors spaced out on an extension box, which was necessary to clear the engine mount. Looks like this:
This is the rear plate I made for my Chilean M51 conversion set; this part is based on the Tamiya M51 plate with Tasca HVSS adjustable idler mounts & axles. Even at this stage of construction, you can still make a box and new doors with strip stock.
The Dragon kit has many more challenges than the new Tamiya one, but both can be wrestled into a really nice M51. Keep up the good work!
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"