Post by Allied-Eric on Dec 14, 2013 21:55:41 GMT -5
Kool John!! As you all know I gotz one of the DS A3s on the bench right now so I'll be real interested to see how you tackle it. Just finished up my research and planning today for the group build so just waiting for the first!
BTW....Happy B-Day dude!!
Allied-Eric
Vancouver, WA, USA
AMPS-2652
-In the Ready Rack-
Improvised Assault Sherman-M4A3DS(ETO)
Hyper-Sherman
Crispy-44
That will require considerable rework of the glacis plate, John. Tamiya copied the arrangement for the M4A4 to make their M4; the antenna pot is a different style and the weld seam pattern is different. Of course, you'll have to fill all those weld trenches anyway so that's not a major obstacle. Also note that the bottom of the rear plate is rounded where it meets the bottom plate itself on these Ford-built tanks; I think that the Tamiya M4 & M4A3 plates are straight angles.
There's one across town at Camp Withycombe, if you need photos. That one is a non-DV hull, with original M34 mantlet, no barrel protection ears, and the welded extension on the right side for the direct vision telescope. It also has some 1952 rebuild features, like the vision cupola and torsion bars for the engine deck doors.
Greg
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
Tom, Thanks, yes, I have those on my shopping list.
Greg,
The front plate on the A3 and A4 are almost identical. The main difference between the 2 are the antenna pots and casting markings. The Tamiya kit has the correct plate pattern for an A3. But the kit driver and co driver hoods are the wrong shape for both variants. My plan is to build a late production vehicle that left the factory with appliqué armor installed. That will hide the errors on the drivers hoods.
And Yes, I’ll need to re contour the bottom of the rear plate.
I took some measurements and it looks like the rear deck plates from the A3 kit will fit the opening in the M4 kit so I’ll use a spare A3 Hull for the engine bay panels and rear plate.
Yeah, you should be pretty safe going that route. Grabbing one of the 3D-printed antenna pots is still a good idea, and it has to have a cast diff cover, probably the early rounded style. Pretty straightforward project, and suitable for late-war markings since some of those remanufactured tanks made it to the ETO in the spring of '45.
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
Oh yeah, Thanks for reminding me Greg. I have an old early cast Differential housing here from tank workshop. I'll sand off the foundry markings, and apply new ones in the correct location for Ford.
Actually, a sharp-cast nose is possible, too. Check these out, from the Camp Withycombe tank:
As you can see, this one is a sharp-cast double-brake diff cover with cast-in crew steps integral with the tow clevis mounts, and it bears the FORD logo and related info on the underside of the casting.
"You could probably use some armor. A Sherman can give you a very nice...edge!"
Post by barkingdigger on Dec 16, 2013 10:32:55 GMT -5
Hi John,
Don't mind an early start - pity my current Tamiya bash is almost a month old now! I'm using a T hull with MP upper to bash an M32B3, but started the slow crunch of plastic in mid-November...
The Tamiya upper hull hoods on the M4 are a tad wide for the A3 & A4, but some judicious sanding of the front edges ought to take away that "Frankenstein" boxiness. They also need the welding notch at the base in front (to allow access to the joint with the lower plate), but this is easy to add and will be hidden behind the applique armour anyway.
For the FDA, I'm using a leftover DML part, but Academy also do one in their M10 kits. Depending on the personal history of your tank it could have pretty much any FDA fitted, as these were swapped out for repairs. I've seen pics of M32B3s with three-piece, early one-piece, and later noses. Same goes for drive sprockets and road wheels. (Good thing, as the Ford sprocket is still vaporware...)
If I get time I'll grab some pics of my beastie so you can see how I tackled the FDA, the rounded rear, and the glacis of the MP hull.
Post by barkingdigger on Dec 21, 2013 16:02:00 GMT -5
Hi Jeff,
You do know that there is a new thread for this group build? (Not sure why, but a new thread was started at kick-off, just to add to the confusion!) I've posted on the other one suggesting the Admins lock one of them, so we only have one thread for the build going forward...
You do know that there is a new thread for this group build? (Not sure why, but a new thread was started at kick-off, just to add to the confusion!) I've posted on the other one suggesting the Admins lock one of them, so we only have one thread for the build going forward...
Yo dudes I sent a message to John about this vary thing this morning and just waiting to hear back from him before I do anything to carzy. But yeah we should either post our builds into the same thread or create new thread folder for your build sorta like what I did for HYPER-Sherman. The sight is still going through growing pains so please bear with us but feel free to make suggestions as you see fit!!
Allied-Eric
Vancouver, WA, USA
AMPS-2652
-In the Ready Rack-
Improvised Assault Sherman-M4A3DS(ETO)
Hyper-Sherman
Crispy-44
Sorry for the late response. I’ve been out and about and wanted to wait until I got to my Desktop computer to respond.
I’ll lock this thread and all activity will be in the official GB thread.
As far as separate threads, I would like to see all activity in the GB thread if possible, If you want to create a separate thread for your build, I suggest doing so in the build blog section. Then its just a matter of double posting to each.