¹⁄35

M3 Lee

b>The build starts - and so the error correction...

The first problem, the bogies, I solved simply and lazily with an update set by Formations (which apparently is no longer available). Next came the build of the complete interior, which involved only some minor detailing in the turret as I am no great fan of interiors myself (though they look great, personally I feel the effort for them is not worth it when compared with what can be seen through the hatches in the end).
The second major problem was the exhaust. I fashioned some new fishtail exhausts by heating some plastic rod and flattening it on one end. Several tries produced two usable examples, which were slightly hollowed at the end. Two Tamiya Sherman filters from the spares box, liberally sanded to fit under the back armor plate, and some plastic card armor to protect them concluded the matter.

Next were the storage boxes, which were scratch built according to the measurements in Steven Zalogas article (14mm wide x 30mm long). The front end received some new cast texture on the transmission cover and around the 75mm gun sponson by applying Mr Surfacer 500 and stippling it with a hard brush. The opening of the 75mm gun received some plastic card to make a tighter fit. I also replaced the light guards with items from scratch PE and plastic card.

The turret also got some new texture, but first I had to sand down that bulge under the commander’s hatch to a degree that is more appropriate according to photos. I also added a new counter weight for the 37mm gun from plastic rod and tried to build something that looks like the ammo feed used on the .30 cal. machine gun for the commander’s hatch. I used the references in Steven Zaloga’s article for that.

Stowage was built from some Tamiya parts, custom made tarps from tissue paper and gauze for the camouflage net, all fixed tightly with a piece of sewing string.