edoubleaz

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Gang, Its time for my next Sherman build, "In The Mood" the somewhat famous M4A1 (76) from Operation Cobra, July 1944. This 3rd AD tank was credited with several tank, afv, and soft skin kills during the breakout of Normandy. I have aquired Nick Aquilar's turret, cast hull and Tamiya Sherman kit for the project.

edoubleaz

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First step is Priming the lower pan. I usually use a rust colored primer but this time I gathered up the assortment of half empty Testor Spray cans and found all the dark tan and brown colors. Also painted first was the suspension brackets for the bogie assemblies. I like to use enamel paints for the base coat on these tanks as I feel it holds up better. The weathering and detail painting may be acrylic or oil, or enamel, whichever strikes my mood.

Second I painted the idler assembly and transmission hull components.

edoubleaz

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Setting the pan aside to dry, I began to paint the metal components of the suspension. Sprockets, Rocker arms, and the bogie wheels get lined up to ensure I don't lose any parts.

edoubleaz

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I like to paint the suspension components with the primer coat, assemble them to check their functionality, and then paint the Olive Drab. I wont add the vinyl liners until the very last step before adding the tracks and the overall painting is done.

Assembly begins with the addition of the replacement bearings I ordered from Hong Kong. This is the only aftermarket product I really believe is crucial to improve the performance of the stock tank. I have learned to use an old crimping tool I have to press them into the trucks with out doing too much damage and it really speeds up the process.

swathdiver

Nice! [sm=thumbup.gif]

edoubleaz

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Its important to keep track of the suspension parts as you paint because it reduces the hunter gatherer moments as you look for lost pieces. I am priming the Tamiya plastic parts with the same brown paint and putting together sub assemblies for later installation. I place the axels on one half of the bogies and add the hubcaps before painting. I am using ordinary locktite to fasten the moving parts as I cannot seem to use the Tamiya blue stuff with out it spreading everywhere.

FFR2608

Good to see a familiar face posting a build Ethan. Yesterday, I pulled my firefly apart for a complete redo. Most likely a captured sherman in the German colors.

Darrin

ksoc

Darrin,

What the ..... first you were all Allies, now you going all Axis! I just hope they were no captured Pershing, or we lost you for sure

FFR2608

Kevin, I just got tired of painting things green.
Lighter colors show more details and weathering


Heres your thread back Ethan.........

Darrin

Jeff489

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Ethan,

It looks very good, I am constantly amazed by your modeling abilities.

Wight

Looking forward to more on this.
Nic's castings look sweet.Very detailed and nicely textured.

edoubleaz

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I must admit the Tamiya HVSS in a convincing suspension in 1/16 scale. Although it is limiting in terms of potential variants we all have to admit it works and is very rugged out of the box. I sat down to watch the Cards take on the Bengals (I am a DIE HARD Browns fan by the way) and had the suspension done by the third quarter. I always plan to replace the screws with hex head bolts but for now I will stick with OEM.

WhiteWolf McBride

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Ethan:

Invest in a set of the nickel-silver shock-oil reservoirs. I see so many shermans with missing ones as the styrene ones snap off VERY easily.

I did this, and soldered the beasties to the casings, and despite grabbing it and feeling the bits under finger, have yet to pop one off. I ~lost~ 2 of the stock ones this way before I gave up and replaced 'em.

Ask about... its a popular metal upgrade.

And I agree about the bearings. Tamiya should have put bearings in the idler too... *sigh*

edoubleaz

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I agree with your reservoir opinion but the short responce is 'dey ain't ere yet'. I have tackeled some of the larger pieces and the kit is primed and ready to assemble. I used the excellent MR Resin primer on the big pieces. I have learned the value of a good paint surface on resin. My pal Rick is a master at casting pieces in resin that will not take paint at all. After the priming comes the base coat of red/brown.

edoubleaz

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More work on priming the resin components. The turret and transmission cover got a coat of the light earth and eventually dark tan as my spray cans ran out. My pics are a little out of order but during this process I began test fitting the assemblies to see what work needed to be done.

edoubleaz

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More work completed on the turret rotation gear. Nick Aquilar did a great job on his turret but I cannot get the rotation and elevation mount to work as is so I started with the old glueing of the turret rotation slip gear and testing the fit of the turret rotation guides. I has to sand the resin mounting posts down and drill them out but they are holing up great.

edoubleaz

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More work on turret. I had to remove the underside of the resin turret in order to replace it with the turret ring from the Sherman kit. This was the only way I could balance it out and with a little refinement it works perfectly now. I made a decision to skip recoil on this Sherman variant as the stock Tamiya MFU/DMD has the correct engine noise for an M4A1. I refined the pivots for the mantlet with some leftover Pershing parts and used the Tamiya elevation arm attached to the new turned 76mm Barrel. Added a small counterweight and so far it works. The only wrinkle is I have to get the barrel length right before I lock everything down.

edoubleaz

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In the mood continues with hull detailing. I took a deep breath and tackled the only significant flaw so far, the bulge over the bow machine gun. I used my dremel and ground the glacis down to a more appropriate shape and began to adjust the opening for the machine gun. This will take a lot of putty to repair but I think it is worth the result. Also began to add details to the turret. Drilled and pinned the travel lock and crew hatches.

ksoc

Ethan,

Any reference shots of what you are trying to match?

Thanks

edoubleaz

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KSOC,
This is close. I am using several of my 1/35 kits as a scale reference. Nick's hull is good, but it has a few dimensional issues for the rivet counters to pick on. I am enjoying the build though. I am placing the grab handles now, maybe some picks later.

http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/usa/szm4a1.htm

firenick

Ethan, the hull I made was a representation of a late production M4A1 so that i could include the ventilator cover for added detail. I referenced several photos of actual tanks from various sources both in print and on the internet. The dilema i had was wanting to build an early model 76mm T23 M4A1 but having a HVSS suspension. This later hull with the rounder bulge is correct for this type of suspension we have and would be better suited for an M4A1E8 you just have to add the small side fenders. Since you are making "In the Mood" I take it that you will also be removing the ventilator cover between the hatches and cutting the U shaped opening. I've also read that there is a picture of "In the Mood" with the left hook of the gun travel lock shot off. Hope this additional info helps.


Nick

The_Stuff

looking good!

got an extra sherman kit you can 'lend' a pal?

edoubleaz

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Primary hull work is done so In the Mood gets another coat of light earth to check for flaws and blemishes. Suspension gets its first coat of OD as I want to place the vinyl tire on the bogies. Not much work done as I attended the Browns/ Cards game, DOH!.

icecreamslick

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Click for fullsize LOL!!!

Those are the biggest pictures that I have ever seen on this (or any) forum. I had to save them to my desktop, so I could look at each in its entirety.

7wt

No joke, thank goodness for the two finger scroll on my MacBook! The tank looks great.