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My new Tamiya Super Sherman arrived save and sound today.

The documentation indicates a "light sand" color. The Tamiya "light sand" is TS-46.

I'm attempting to paint the lower hull to match the top. Does anyone know if the TS-46 is a match?

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no12skyline

If I read you correctly, you're trying to paint the naked metal lower hull to match the color tone of the molded plastic of the upper hull. I would suggest that you paint both halves so that the colors would match properly.

pattoncommander

Until 1961 most IDF tanks were a French OD...(SAC Bomber Tan) as many came from France. Then they went to a grey-sand color. Closest I have found is Floquil Earth. Model master puts out an Israeli Sand, but I have never seen it in spray cans. Are you going to do some modelling to make it look like an M-51?

mfpage

All stock with no modeling expected. My Super Sherman hull and turret are now painted Model Master Desert Sand. I had six cans of it laying around and I'm extremely pleased with the results. The tank commander uniform, helmets and accessories such as ammo and storage boxes are Model Master Beige Sand. The two containers on the rear of the tank, that look to be water containers, are colored Tamiya TS-46 (light sand). Metal parts were cleaned with TSP, then sprayed with two coats of the appropriate metal or plastic primer, then two coats of the above top colors. Driver will be more finely detailed. FYI, I started painting the lower hull with TS-46, but did not like the coloring.

Khaki colored sand bags are also on the way. I have Tamiya weathering kits, but have no experience using them so I may not attempt weathering on this build.

I will be using some artistic license with the decals. Probably using US Stars and other associated markings.

Final pictures will be forthcoming, but don't expect them soon.

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pattoncommander

The cans should be painted black. Tamiya has the stowage totally screwed up, as well as the name Super Sherman, which it is not....it's an M-51 (sort of). TC's uniform should be a lighter OD with khaki shoulder boards with yellow צהל (Zahal) on the chest (a couple yellow dashes at that scale will do) and tank helmets black. I have built two M-51s and 2 M-50s which are modelled after actual tanks. When you stow the spare track, use the turret for later or hull by the driver for early models, not both. Tamiya also left off the large gun travel lock on the rear and the cover for the horn. You should also have the IDF ID tags (black w/white numbers)on the front and rear. Here are a couple photos. Hebrew letters you can make by using larger white decals..gimmel (ג )is easy using a Y and top of a 2. Alef (�) by combining number parts. White stars or American marking would not be kosher. That's only if you care to be a little accurate with a very minimal amount of work. Sandbags absolutely NO!.

Good luck....the M-51 is a really great tank.

yellowshaker

My Feedback: (1)

I was just recently sayng askign a club member if he has seen anyone build the new Tamiya Sherman. I am anxious to see the kit completed.
I built an M-1, with a lot of info gathering from Pattoncommander. I used the Mato for my build along with Nick Aguilar's parts and Tamiya Pershing electronics.
I too was concerned with the color being close to correct, and after alot of reading, I found that in this scale armor sand is probably as close as you can get to the 1:1 scale Sinai grey, which was used on the real tank.

mfpage

Major painting has been completed. Final touches coming on the accessories. Assembly has started, but is slow going as I have other projects ongoing. My HL Bulldog is finally repaired and up and running.

My spare time will be spent between the Super Sherman and a RC 90mm Alpha Jet. I cannot wait to get the SS up and running.

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pattoncommander

Looks good....colors did vary until mid 1961, but you can use Sac Bomber Tan, as that's pretty close to the French color many of the tanks had when they bought them. Note you copied ברק (Barak=lightning) from the Latrun tank. May want to round off the middle letter (ר =resh) at the top...otherwise it's a lot like (ד =dalet.) The M-1 Super Shermans did not have the stowage boxes on the side, and no side fenders for the A1 chassis, ie; no side stowage...but if you are going to have jerry cans, like on back, paint them black. Side stowage boxes came in with the M-50 and M-51s and no two were exactly the same. Are you going to make hangers for the spare tracks?

Hawker_Fury

Take a trip to your local Testors Model Master Rack.  The Military colors (enamels, forget acrylics if you are going to run it in any kind of distress or dampness) have a color called Isreali Armor Sand.

The actual color of the armor was, as I understand it, two shades of a gray-to-gray-green sand color.  One of them is perhaps just a shade lighter than the pics above the other is lighter.  The Isreali Armor Sand color is a fair match, depending on scale to the pictures of Isreali tanks I've seen on the web.  If you really need a lot, I'd find an auto paint store with a spectrometer that can mix an exact match to the color in the Testor Bottle, as it's about 3 usd for a small bottle. 

Hope this helps somehow!

 

Hawker_Fury

VERYclose indeed! Perhaps a slight shade lighter, but this is a darker picture environment.... looks very close to dead-on. The tanks varied widely depending on paint batch, weather exposure, etc. OUTSTANDINGBUILDSIR!

mfpage

Here is the finished product.

Panther F

That IS a sweet looking Sherman!!


- Jeff

pattoncommander

Maybe the sounds are better, but this has to be the worst detailed tank Tamiya has ever produced. The back deck is totally wrong and they didn't even consider the large gun travel lock that dominates the back. Stowage locations are incorrect, water cans should be black and IDF tanks did not use English markings, strictly Hebrew. The turret, gun and MB all look good.