spcled327

I bought my first tank about 3 months ago. A Taigen 76MM Sherman. Looked great but not realistic. Decide to buy some accessories that I thought were painted, But were not.
Bought a paint kit and did it myself after watching many YouTube vids.

afv aficionado

Hi Spcled
Welcome & good to see you have a crack at it. Bit heavy on the mud for my taste, but that's a personal thing. You might want to dip the barbed wire coils in vinegar for a bit, so that it kills the silver - they're look factory fresh.
Mal

spcled327

I just got the wire today and plan on rusting it. I was excited to get some pictures up.
Should have waited. Thanks for advice.

Just started the rusting process from a kit from RCtanks.de

MAUS45

Looks Great!!!

RichJohnson

Nice

spcled327

Some New shots

spcled327

Before I went crazy

edoubleaz

My Feedback: (1)

The stowage roll on the front is on top of the vision blocks and hatches. They would never do this. Watch that stowage box too, it may foul when turning the turret...

armourguy

just a heads up, both of your M2HB machine guns are upside down

spcled327

WOW! Very impressed and excited about the feedback. I love the idea of making it totally scale and true to history.
I'm new to this but as a Retired 9 Year U.S Marine, I have seen a lot of Tanks.
I will move Gear blocking Vision block and also flip Guns.
I new I was blocking window but was just throwing stuff on at the time that was just for me to look at.
The Guns I actually flipped 2 or 3 times and couldnt decide. In hindsight it makes sense for the grab handles on barrels to be under barrel since they swivel.

Thanks for all Help and opinions. Did anyone notice the winch in the rear? It came off my Traxxas Summit.��

One last thing, My Grandmother was a Sherman. This Tank is name after her Cousin, General William T. Sherman.
Her father is Roger Sherman of Rye NY. whose great Grandfather signed the Declaration of Independence.

Thanks again! It HELP me keep it real and authentic.

Bulldogger

My Feedback: (1)

I think you did an awesome job. How do you like the tank and how is the quality.

armourguy

The Grab handles on the barrel are made from wire and have a tendency to swivel, but on the model they are molded on the gun to be pointing down, If / when you mount the gun with them pointing up the gun's receiver is going to be upside down, which is never done (as it's impossible with the way the cradle works, as well as the rest of the gun feed controls and sights are on the receiver's top... not to mention the trigger butterfly and charging handle). Along with the receiver the cradle mount (the part that connects the gun to the rest of the mount's yolk) will be upside down too as this part is molded into the receiver on these models.

If you want to make the model pop further paint the cradle OD (this includes the yolk, ammo can tray, and the receiver cradle), as these parts are not the same parkerized finish of the rest of the gun. Here is a pic of a complete cradle so you can get the idea on how it looks absent the gun,

RichJohnson

Blow up these two pictures and you will see what the gun and mount should be painted and appear like. I often paint the ammo can a different shade of OD just so it pops and doesn't blend in with the rest. The ammo cans varied in color a little. Im kind of a minimal stowage and weathering guy as I spend so long building the tank I want to see the tank like this rather than piled on heavy like in battle. My decals came right after these photos. Alco M4 (75) March 1943 production 5th Army 751 TB Italy 1944. No stars just unit markings front and rear. Kinda bland but its right.

RichJohnson

Nuts they don't blow up huge like they used to. here is a zoom in for you.

spcled327

Beautiful! But to new looking. I'm going to get the 75mm Sherman and do a little less detailing.
I'm building a small Diorama to display it on annd want it to look like its been in battle and in Europe awhile.
That's why you need more than one

spcled327

Ok!!
I switched the Machine Guns. I applied rust and ageing to the barbed wire. I moved the Backpack from blocking window.
I like the mud. Looks like its been on the Battlefield awhile.
I don't want a Battle Tank looking like its For sale at the Dealers lot. But, thats whats great about any Hobby, No way is wrong.
Antenna is being painted. Just stuck it on and may put Flag on it.

spcled327

Found this Picture of Sherman 76mm with upside down Guns.
Its from a Website that sells Taigens.

RichJohnson

Yes, when Taigen first unveiled their 76mm A3 the photo had the gun upside down.

Now, I really like your tank. Every time I do one I think I will mud it up but then when it takes me a year plus to build and detail a model I hate to cover up all the detail with thick mud.
I don't have any out of the box tanks, all of them are kit bashes of parts to make Sherman variants that are not available to buy.
I want to point out to you that the gun post, with the yoke, is backwards. The yoke should curve backwards.
Also, your antenna is stuck in the spot that holds the gun mount when it is removed from the top of the turret and stowed.
The primary antenna goes on the antenna mount behind the gunner hatch. The mount behind the driver is for a secondary receiver only if equipped.
I was trying to find some photos but I couldn't right away.

armourguy

Close but no cigar my friend, you have the receiver in the right orientation, but now it's sitting in the yolk in reverse, Here is a pic of one of my 1/6th scale M2's so you get the idea,

All you need to do to fix it it to pop the gun off again and rotate the Y yolk 180 degrees, then reinstall the gun and you will be good to go.

Another quick heads up is where you have the antenna base (the one that emerges from the blister on the rear bustle of the turret) On the real sherman tanks this was never for the antenna, but was instead for the mounting the M2 50.cal when not in use. The barrel would be removed, and the cradle with the receiver still mounted would be placed in the storage pintle (the part that emerges from the blister) The barrel support would be secured in a clamp that is found on one of the angle iron mounts that emerge from the rear turret bustle. The barrel would also be clamped into these mounts as well, below are more pics to show how the system works, (only when done in real life the barrel would be removed from the gun)





hope this helps.

spcled327

My Taigen Tiger Tank 390 motor died after 10th run. I bought new motors from Taigen but gears dont line up.
What is the pinion puller tool for these motors?

RichJohnson

Put motor in a vise gently. Use a small torch and heat pinion gear quickly. While its hot use two screwdrivers or a pair of needle nose pliers to pry it off amd get out of the way.
then set the gear on vise and heat back up. Push new motor shaft into gear and let it cool.
i reuined a nice little puller and a gear trying the puller method.
I use the heat expansion method all the time to put tamiya motors in all my taigen tanks.

RichJohnson

Put motor in a vise gently. Use a small torch and heat pinion gear quickly. While its hot use two screwdrivers or a pair of needle nose pliers to pry it off amd get out of the way.
then set the gear on vise and heat back up. Push new motor shaft into gear and let it cool.
i reuined a nice little puller and a gear trying the puller method.
I use the heat expansion method all the time to put tamiya motors in all my taigen tanks.

MAUS45

Sorry, but I have to say, Sophie is a dirty girl and looks great. I wouldn't tone down the mud.