Post by Allied-Eric on Dec 24, 2013 21:20:31 GMT -5
Oh Jeff that is sweet!! I love the Calliope, it looks so Kool with all that firepower on top. I've wondered how that kit is. Looking forward to see this come together!
Allied-Eric
Vancouver, WA, USA
AMPS-2652
-In the Ready Rack-
Improvised Assault Sherman-M4A3DS(ETO)
Hyper-Sherman
Crispy-44
I am giving some serious thought on building an M4 Composite in Brazilian service. I will say pix of it are hard to find. The Bison decal sheet has it as a vision cupola for the commander. So far,I can only find pix of a split TC hatch. Plus no idea if it is a high or low bustle turret.
Last Edit: Dec 25, 2013 19:46:50 GMT -5 by zod - Back to Top
A tank filled with holes.
For that is what shall become.
Boom we go.
Goodbye.
Post by michaelsatin on Dec 29, 2013 19:22:01 GMT -5
Hey everyone! I just found out about this site and joined right up. I'm a wingy thingy guy but a closet (the one under the stairs, actually) Shermaholic. I think I have more Sherman kits than all my other armor kits combined. Mostly Dragon but a few Tasca and Tamiya as well. Anyway, I saw this group build and might like to join in. My question is, when you say "any Tamiya Sherman" do you mean ANY Tamiya Sherman?
It's not one of the old classics, but it is a Sherman and it is Tamiya. I checked both this thread and the locked one but still want to be sure I'm not crossing any lines on my first post here!
Looks like a great site, looking forward to taking part!
Welcome Michael, Yeap, the M51 will work just fine! The idea for this GB started on another forum before this forum was created, 3 of us were going to build the same M4A3 kit. But we decided to move it here and open it up to include any Tamiya Sherman to gain a little more interest for the site. This is not a real strict GB, so feel free to join in at your convenience.
Here is my project for this group build. I’ll be building the Ford built M4A3 Dry storage Sherman. The base kit is the Tamiya M4 and i'll be using numerous parts from the spare parts box.
The Tamiya M4 kit has the wrong front plate configuration for an M4, but it does have the correct configuration for an M4A4, which is very close to the M4A3 dry. The big deference is the shape of the radio antenna pot.
The engine deck panels and rear plate were cut out of a spare Tamiya M4A3 hull. The forward plate was cleaned off of the late style filler cap and splash guard. I will rework the plate to the Ford configuration.
And this is where I am currently at. The early Differential is a Tasca spare. I wanted to get most of the major parts fitted before I do much finish work.
There is a lot more filling and clean up work ahead, but here are some pictures of how it all fits together.
As I open the box, the first things I find are the front Transmission case has gaps and fill those with putty. And of course, as already mentioned, will have to fill in under the hull track openings. As I open up the Aber and Eduards PE sets, with 6 pages of directions, I may be busy for awhile, just sorting the duplicates and witch ones to use.
I’ve been busy working on the rear features of the M4A3. I have rounded the transition piece from the rear plate to the bottom plate, made new ford style tow lugs, and boxed in the rear overhang, along with making some filler panels for the sponsons. The exhaust deflector came from a dragon M4A3 kit.
The next couple of pictures show the Tasca transmission cover and Tasca fenders fitted. Plus the large gaps that had to be filled around the sides of the final drive.
Now I have a LOT of filling and sanding to be done. Once I get all that work done I should be ready to start refining weld beads.
I went and started mine today. Not totally sure on markings or even what branch of service it will be, but that is a little while away. Basic construction first and corrections to be made.
I drilled out the tool mounting points to add stretched sprue instead of putting the spots.
I cut out some sheet styrene to make the chin armor on the turret
Hey Fellas Awesome L@@king Shermans in the here group build!!!
@ Dogfish: Great start and good luck with the PE! I was wounding if you are planing to fill the spansions(?) not that you need too but would be interested to see how you tackled putting them in.
@ Big John: That is an excellent start to your A3 DS and that rear lower plate is awesome too. IT will be a blast to watch this project come round!
@ Speedster: Great start there!! I love that porcupine shot of the rear deck, gota fill in them holes!!
Keep up the Great wook everyone...I just Love the sound of cutting plastic echoing throughout the SHOP here!!
I’ve been staying busy on this one all weekend, Doesn’t seam like I have much accomplished, but there has been a lot of work going into this.
I’ve been working on the weld beads on the hull. The beads were created by gluing .010 X .020 styrene strips down, let it dry, then go back and soften the styrene with extra thin cement and sculpt the bead. The welding work still isn’t completely finished yet as I have some clean up and touch ups to do.
I also made a start on modifying the turret. I wanted to represent a turret manufactured in the spring of 1943 so I deleted the pistol port and created the relocated check casting. Again, still not finished with this yet. This involves a lot of filling and sanding, inspect, refill and sand until I’m satisfied with the shape.
That’s pretty much it for this update, I’ll continue to weld, shape, and sand!
After posting the last round of pics, I noticed the cast cheek armor didn’t looks right, so some more filing and sanding and filling and sanding was in order. Here’s how it looks now with some Mr. Surfacer primer on to blend it all in. I must say that I’m very pleased with how it came out as this was my first attempt at trying to make my own modifications on cheek armor.
That cheek looks just fine, John. Remember that the shape there varied since each foundry made their own molds. When the order came down to increase the thickness, the precise dimensions and contours weren't specified beyond something like "make it X inches thicker between the front face and a third of the way around the side and blend so as not to create shot traps". If you really feel the need, pore over the images in Son of Sherman and pick a foundry that seems to best approximate your shape and add casting marks to match. Remember too that the molds experienced wear and were sometimes patched up, which made for more subtle variation in the contours.
Greg
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
Post by pseudorealityx on Jan 13, 2014 15:46:03 GMT -5
John, I would be proud of that turret. Looks good. Those weld beads are better than what I've been able to do as well. What do you use to sculpt the welds?
Forgive me guys for not starting yet... or even for not working on my other projects. I haven't been feeling well the past month and the Doc's are on it but have found nothing significant yet (which is good) but I am leaning towards feeling better.
I feel like a dog by saying this but I am current on all my shots so maybe it's just a cold and my interest and strength will return soon! I've been watching and learning so keep up the good work everyone!