Swathy,

Thanks for the replies and post tonight I always appreciate you thoughts and insights, and your work serves as an inspiration of what is possible.

You mentioned in your last post about using Mr. Surfacer which is great stuff. I've used it extensively on my 1/35th scale armor. But I've always thought it just isn't quite thick enough for 1/16th scale. Even using the thickest they make, Mr Surfacer 500, seems like it lays down too much for me, making the cast texture a little too subtle.

Well you know me, I try to experiment and learn something new on every project, so on this one, one of my goals is to experiment with a new material to create that pitted steel texture.

Well I was at the local Home improvement center and low and behold I found something and I thought, "ya know that may just work, what the hell I'll give it a shot.

Rustoleum has a line of paints called "Hammered" and it's intended to replicate hand hammered copper or bronze. The only colors they had were mettalics but I thought I would give it a try.

Using an extra Sherman turret I simply sprayed a few coats of this stuff straight outta the can. Goes on like any other enamel so I started with a few light coats to give it some tooth and ensure good adhesion, then ended with two relatively wet coats and set it aside to dry for a few hours. These pics don't do it justice as the sheen really reflects the light. But I think once you spray a primer gray or matte olive drab finish over it, it should look pretty good.

It's definitely quicker and easier than doing the entire tank's surface with a small brush and bottle of Mr. Surfacer, I'd guess cheaper as well.

Squid

Craig,<div>
</div><div>Would certain parts on a cast turret not have a heavy texture?  The periscopes assemblies or the hatches or was everything on the outside of the tank made of heavy cast material?</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

My first 1/16 build was my M26A1. To replicate the cast texture Itook some testors glue and sacrificed a paintbrush to apply it to the turret and front cast areas of the hull. Came out pretty good. Maybe some combination of the 2 will work. I'd shy away from paints as the coats may diminish detail and cover things that wouldn't have texture as KSOC mentioned.

I'll have to find the other methods that are available. Shermans weren't that rough, a lot of what we think as casting marks on monument tanks is actually a protective coating and or layers of paint that wasn't removed. But the turrets did look a little different depending on the foundry that made them, some had huge scrapes or markson the side, visible nail impressions, etc. Thosewould best be replicated by putty IMO.

Kevin - swathy,
You guys are both right about everything being textured. The photos I shared were just a test so I didn't take the time and effort to mask off the items I wouldn't want to add texture too. If I was to use this on a "real" project I would mask off the details

Craig

Craig,

I'm ready to start building but for a kit.  I am procrastinating until the variations in the final product are worked out.  I've got all the accessories already.  Just missing a kit.  I'd like to purchase the kit, and then immediately do the build.  Just waiting for the go ahead from you and dugster.<br type="_moz"/>

Jeff,
Maybe Doug can sound off here on this thread as to his status. Last I saw his Sherman it was put together except for tracks, electronics, and details. He had already shot his in flat black primer. You can see the progress on mine here in this thread, and I'm not sure exactly all the details you will want to add. But I should be ready to get this thing into paint within the next couple of weeks. Hey it's summer time, battles here are on hold for the heat, so no time like the present to get crackin on project work! (LOL)

I think Ethan is planning on including his Jumbo on this little group project. Again maybe he is willing to chime in as to his intentions.

Craig

PS What details/accessories do you have thus far?

Ok, I'll pick a kit and start on it. 

As to parts I've been buying them for over a year now.  So far, I've got the following:  Battery, radio receiver (I'm going to share a radio on this one),  Tamiya battle system, Impact rear idler wheel assy, wheel bearings, sleep and mute relays, charging port, on/off/charge switch, the Nick A. parts (gun, trans cover, and hatch), and a bunch of Bob Morey metal detail parts such as the pintle hitch etc (I bought a bunch of his stuff some time back, and am unsure of what all I have )..  I'm not adding any item that isn't in the kit though.  I might go for metal tracks, but later, if at all.  I'm not real pleased with my last set of Impacts that had all the bent guide horns (Panther).   I'm probably going to get DT's transmission brace,  but am unsure right now.

Still on the fence regarding the oil reseviours, haven't decided.  I generally like to replace all the small breakable parts out before they break, but this one I'm trying to keep simple.  I'm going to install the stock Tam transmissions, as my last Impact set (on the KT) had a bent drive shaft (still works ok, but had to remove the donut hull bearing to make it work).  I should have given that KT the number 666 instead of 332.  My firing problem (sound cuts out sometimes on recoil) turned out to be a bad MF-01.  I'll be sending that in for repairs too.  So, its down for 9 more weeks.  10 battles per year takes a toll on them.    

Hi all,
Did just a little more work tonight.

I wanted to block off the rear intakes (grousers) as this was sometimes done on the M4A3.

I started by removing the molded intake covers using a micro-saw. Then using a burr bit in the Dremel tool and files I leveled everything off, leaving the molded on base plate of the intake. Using a peice of .188 styrene I filled the through hole in the hull. Then using .020 styrene sheet I made a new base plate "cover". I added a small washer and hex head attachment bolt both made from Styrene


Squid

Jeff,
Sounds like your Sherman will be damned near bullet proof. That's a lot of parts to swap out for the stock stuff so it sounds like you have your work cut out for you. It's all good I know you're up for the task, keep me posted as to your progress, be interesting to see how these all evolve.

Still haven't seen Doug chime in, and I asked Ethan about the Jumbo being part of this group build and he said "nah, I think I'll still do a 75mm" I think those will be his 5th and 6th Shemans - he's outta control!

Let me know what you choose to do on the oil reseviors, I used the metal ones so I have my stock plastic reseviors left over. I was looking at them and I think you could make them a lot more stout with just a little work. That way you could stick with the stock components but they wouldn't be as fragile. Let me know your thoughts and I can play with them if you like

Craig

Ethan sounds as bad as I will end up with the Shermans. It's an addiction.

One more piece of the "major" cosmetic surgery now complete. I cut out the solid molded plastic rear deck in preperation for the new Imperial Modelbau resin peice. I started with a reinforced cut-off wheel in my dremel, and slowly worked up to the inside edge of the panel line using finer burr bits, files and sanding sticks. I took a lot of time to finesse the opening as I wanted to ensure a consistent panel line around the new piece. Dry-fitting often, showed some problems with the cast part - it was warped and not quite square.

I made sure my opening was square and true, then used CA to tack the resin piece along to front edge of the back deck closest to the turret. Then I slightly "tweaked" the resin part to compensate for the warpage. I got the panel line even all the way around the perimeter and tacked it into place. Then using .060 styrene strip on the underneath side I reinforced the glue joints and filled the gap between the plastic hull and resin grill panel effectively creating the bottom of the panel line around the part's perimeter.

Becasue the resin part needed some tweaking so did the PE grill that fits into it's recessed opening. Scraping and file work on the the resin lip, plus lots of dry fitting and the grill dropped into place. Then just to add support I also made a brace down the center of the opening to help support the PE grill from being bent inward.

Streetsquid

Craig,

You know how I am about external glue-on crap falling off  (or being ripped off) my tanks during battle.   I'll probably go with the stock ones, and put a pin through them to keep them from falling off.

I don't really think anyone knows how rough we run them unless they see us battle (i.e. rocks on the battlefield, dumps into the river gully, high centers on dragon's teeth, flattened hedgehogs and collisions during battle both with other tanks and battlefield props (remember the cement block that got knocked over on to my Persh?).  Is it any wonder we break them?...

<br type="_moz"/>

Jeff,
Well put and I agree, I think we as a group are hard on our tanks. I know I for one keep that in mind when I build. Our field is technically challenging, and our battles can be intense, which means in the end we are not kind to our vehicles.

We also have some inexperienced drivers that will also test your skill level. But that being said I also don't want a shelf queen I enjoy driving my tanks hard.....................you know me.

How many times have you heard "wait you can't do that" or "You're not going to drive over that are you" ....................................."Hell yes I am, that's what I built for!"

Squid

Jumping around a bit.

Today I headed back up to the front of the beast and worked on the travel lock. The stock Tamiya 105 travel lock is too large so it needs to be shortened and relocated higher in the front glacis.

Armed with a correct size resin part from Nick Aguilar (it belongs to Ethan) as reference I wanted to see if I could modify the kit part to work. I started by cutting a section of plastic out of each leg. By removing the center section I could still maintain the cross sectional detail of the legs.

After gluing the legs back together using Tenax solvent I reinforced the joints using CA.

Then using fine cotton thread I sliced the mounting points off of the front glacis. Using the thread means you lose very little material and you can cut irregular shapes and hard to reach places. I created an new back plate out of styrene and attached them higher up on the hull.

Once the mounting points were dry, I added welds made from Tamiya grey putty, then drilled and pinned the travel lock using .032 brass rod, so it's moveable.

More to follow!

Squid

YOU HAVENOIDEA. I need 3 just to modify existing suspensions. Ihave three other Sherman 'in production'. Nuff said. I wont even discuss the KV-1 situation.
<br type="_moz" />

Well Mr. Squid, enough said about Edoublaz's Sherman fixation ! By the looks of things you to seem to befixated with detail and this Sherman, for that matter just detailing in general. I would never attempt anything beyond my razor saw and some "bondo" and a hot paper clip to create hatches, launchers or the like.</p>

It is guys like you and Ethan that give me the guts to "cut and tear" into a several hundred dollar working r/c model !!</p>

Looking forward to more pics and of course a test drive of the Sherman when it's completed....without axis tanks lurking !</p>

nascard88 aka: 9.7</p>

9.7
Thank you for the kind words. For me one of the greatest joys in this hobby is pushing and challenging myself to step through any fear I might have and to just jump in and do it! Besides, figuring out a way to do engineer and create something keeps the brain going.

Yeah it's nice to buy after market parts, and sometimes that makes the most sense, but if I can make it or build it, I think it makes it a bit more unique, plus I develop and intimate knowledge of my tanks. I know their built to take a beating, and i just hope in the end they look good as well!


Regards,

Squid

Back to the tail end of the beast.

Tonight I decided I was going to tackle the one part I was kind of dreading, the airbox-exhaust deflector. I've been putting this off for awhile, and I just got to a point where I needed to get after it. Ethan had a resin airbox (not sure if it's a BYA or possibly a Nick A. part ) that I used as a pattern, and after much thought of how I wanted to put it together, I threw caution to the wind and started cutting and gluing.

Unlike the resin piece I wanted to make my deflector more accurate and construct it as a two pieces. It would involve modifying the rear plate of the upper hull, as well as constructing the airbox-deflector that would be attached to the rear plate of the lower hull. The modified upper hull plate would need to slide down over the top of the airbox, like on the real tank.

I first attacked the simple modification to the upper hull, by adding a peice of .060 styrene which was reinforced with styrene backing plates on the underside of the upper hull.

I decided to make the airbox out of solid wood covered in a styrene skin. I chose the wood as I wanted to make it stout. I plan on screwing it directly to the rear plate at final assembly.

I stood the resin part on end and traced the silouette of each end onto some .040 styrene. Then using three pieces of 1/2" x 1/2" pine cut to length, I glued them in an "L" shape.

I then went about cutting the styrene louvers and spacers that would be needed

Once I had all the parts sized, cut out, and dry fit several times I got down to construction.

I started by gluing on a .125 x.125 spacer to the bottom edge of the wooden "L". Then added a .040 louver, then a spacer, another louver, etc. until I had all the louvers in place. I then glued on one end cap to stabilize the louvers and then sanded the other ends flush with the wood. I then added the other end cap and the floor of the airbox.

Anywhere the plastic was attached to the wood I used super glue (CA) and all styrene to styrene joints were put together with solvent (Tenax 7). I hoped in this way the joints would be strong and stable.

Once the lower portion of the box was done, I used .020 styrene to skin the front and top section of the box. Finally I went back and added .125 verticle stiffening ribs to the louvers.

Squid

Here are a few shots with the new airbox mocked up on the rear of the tank.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I think it's more accurate and looks better than the resin part. Plus it cost a lot less and was actually a challenging and enjoyable way to spend 3 1/2 hours (LOL)

Streetsquid

Hi all,
Not much activity here on my post, but I did receive a few PM's requesting dimensions, or templates for the exhaust deflector I built. So I went in and did some rudimentry drawings and as requested traced the end caps onto paper on to which I layed out an 1/8" grid. Hopefully these will work for anyone who is interested. If you need clearer or larger images please PM me and I will gladly e-mail you the files

Squid

Thanks MUCHLY Squiddy,

Gonna give it a shot with light cardboard tonight, and then go for the styrene & wood when I'm sure it fits together neatly (sometimes i put things together a ~tad~ Bass-Ackwards)

Reminds me I gotta get some bristolboard for the LCM prototype too, to see how much tweaking the plans need.

Whitewolf,
Glad to hear you think the drawings will work.

I don't know maybe I just got lucky but when I built mine it all just fell together. I only had to remake one part ( I had cut one of the louvers a tad short and so I cut new one a bit longer) and I didn't use any drawings. I took some basic dimensions off of the resin piece and started cutting out and gluing parts. I did the drawings off of my built up deflector after it was done so you'll have to let me know how well the drawings work if you use them to build your own.

Having the resin piece here was a HUGE advanatge, but I'm hoping that between the pictures and drawings I posted it should make it pretty clear. I think the build photos will help clarify any confusion or questions the that might arise from the drawings. It really is quite straight forward and was a lot less difficult than I thought it was going to be. By all means let me know if you have questions or if I can help in any way.

Regards,
Squid

Tonight the work was a bit tideous and time consuming, and it seemed at the end I didn't have much to show for it, especially since most of my pics today came out blurry (screwed something in the depth of field with my macro setting).

Anyhoo, tonight I decided it was time to see if I could successfully thin all of the stock plastic kit brush guards for the headlights, taillights and horn. Schumo does make a set, but as I've mentioned before I'm cheap and if I can save $70, plus avoid having to wait two-four weeks to get it, I'm at least willing to try. I know my plastic bits will be fragile when they're done, but until I break them beyond repair, who knows maybe then $70 bucks would become a bargain.

Using my calipers I scribed a line at .030 in from the inside edge of each of the guards, effectively marking the center of the .060 thick part. Then using a small burr bit in my dremel I slowly ground away material from the inside perimeter of the part. Then I finished everyhting off with files and several grits of sandpaper.

They're a definite improvement over the thicker stock parts, and should look more scale once everything is painted up and weathered.

Like I mentioned earlier sorry for the blurry images, but I'm hoping you can still see the results of thinning them down compared to the locator holes in the hull. The first picture shows the stock part on the right and the thinned kit part on the left. My plan is to use solvent to attach them, then reinforce the joint with CA, and finally add a weld bead made of putty.

Squid

Work continues to move forward albeit slowly.

Armed with all the reference material Ethan supplied has really pushed me to add some additonal mods and details. In an earlier post, I mocked up Nick's resin mantlet and aluminum turned barrel. The resin mantlet was desinged to worked with the stock Tamiya 105mm articulation and turret opening, but it does leave some visible and unsightly gaps all the way around the mantlet.

On several earlier Sherman builds, Ethan had robbed the rotor shield off of a 1/18th scale 21rst Century Toy's Sherman, and scabbed it onto the Tamiya turret with good success. Armed with "Modeling the US Army M4 (75mm) Sherman Medium Tank" by Steven Zaloga (Osprey Publishing) I thought I would to tackle the necessary modifications to make my M4A3 as accurate as I reasonably could. Fortunate for me Ethan had an extra 1/18th scale rotor shield he was willing to share.

The 21rst Century Toys Sherman has the earlier style M34A1 rotor shield with a flange all the way around it's perimeter, but what I needed to model was the later E5721 configuration without the flange. Because of it's smaller scale the part would also need to be "scaled up" to look correct.

Keeping the gun slot in the center, and maintaining the position of the two inboard slots would be critical. The inboard slots align with two cast bolt heads on Nick's resin mantlet. The plan is to drill out the resin bolt heads and replace them with real ones that will pass through the mantlet, through the two inboard slots on the rotor shield and through backing plates that they will be bolted too. This will effectively "pinch" the rotor shield between the backing plate and the resin mantlet, and the slots will allow the anchoring bolts to travel up and down - while elevating and depressing the gun.

I figured out how much I had to "stretch" the rotor shield and decided the best method would be a combination of lengthening the part and reducing the the size of the turret opening. Actually the turret opening would have to get slightly narrower and taller.

Using a razor saw and miter box I removed the flange off of the left end of the rotor shield, and then cut it into three segments. This way I could leave the inboard slots alone but still grow the over all length of the part. Using .060 styrene spacers I glued everything back together using Tenax 7 plastic solvent. I then added .080 ribs to each side of the stock turret opening using Tenax and reinforced the joint from the backside with CA.

I will ultimately have to fill in the molded bolt detail on the flange, respace and drill new holes in which I plan to sink small brass bolt heads. But for now I set everyhting a side to dry.

More to follow I promise!

Squid