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WhiteOut: Winterizing an M4 Sherman

Model Build or Disaster Story?

The idea of making a winter themed tank has always appealed to me, and what better AFV to do it with than a Sherman. While I was at it I thought “How about some mud too…lots of mud”?

The kit I chose to do this with, Tamiya’s M4 Sherman “Early Production.” is not really an early production. There are several things which would need to be corrected in order to make it a true early. The bogie units, and the gun mantlet most obvious items. I chose to go OOB and have fun with this one in a new direction for me.

Here’s where the fun and disasters that would accompany the adventure begin. After all major assemblies were completed and the base coat of OD was applied, I decided to airbrush the “white wash” onto the vehicle. With this method I had planned to add the chips in the white wash before it set by scratching with strips of wood. This idea worked quite well to my surprise, and being surprised, I continued to go overboard as we often do. In an attempt to cover some of this I decided to add the mud which is Daps minuet spackle mixed with acrylic brown paint and plenty of water. Ahh... again, overboard was right were I headed.

A New Approach

Back to the beginning I went. I stripped off all the paint and mud and started again. With a different idea in mind as to applying the “white wash”. This time I chose to do what they (the tankers) did. Sort of. During the war the tankers would sometimes use anything they could get their hands on to camouflage the vehicles. Tanks particularly. In their need they used lime, which was in plenty in France. Not the best to use on metals, as it is corrosive. Hence, rust! Another idea came to mind. “Add a little rust to the “white wash”.

I used powdered chalk mixed with water. The kind used by teachers. I brushed the whole upper hull with the chalk mix. This came out nice. I next used a stiff brush to remove the powered wash after it dried. The effect looked good and worn. Even with the snows and drizzles the tankers met, their lime washes would wash off a bit. This is when I chose to add the mud again by way of airbrush and pastels.

All was going well. The dio was started, snows were applied, the camera died, and than we decided to move to the beach. One of the last items I moved was the model on it’s dio. In my haste or carelessness, I bumped the truck door and…wham. The dio busted up and the model did a few bounces. Argggg...

In the new home I decided once more to do it again.