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Sherman V OP

Turret

The turret comes with the formations conversion and is very detailed with casting marks, and all the required parts. I added the MLM smoke dischargers from their excellent set (which are unfortunately OOP at this time) and detailed these with wire run up into the commanders hatch so they could be remote fired. It took some research to find out how these were setup but I think I got the look of it done correctly. I added some details on the connection of the stowage bin to the turret as well as scratch building a British style antenna base using plastic and wire of various gauges. Karaya .30 cal MG barrel was added as well as the .50 cal from the Academy set. Blast provided me with a basic pack which can be seen hanging off the external sight and I added the strap attachment from lead sheet.

Painting.

I painted this Sherman in a faded Olive Drab color after some research and discussions with Canadian Armour experts on various message boards. I used Tamiya Olive Drab which was heavily lightened with yellow. I made several mixes and randomly sprayed several coats to simulate fading but subtlety since these tanks were not that old at the time the photo was taken. After this I sealed the tank using Future and then applied the decals which I was fortunate to find from Quartermasters. I was very concerned about the huge turret star but an application of Mr. Mark Softener and leaving it alone overnight proved to work and the star looks like it was painted on. Hull side stars were airbrushed on from a stencil (these are not upright as Canada tilted the stars to the side for some reason unknown to me). After all these had dried I airbrushed on a matt coat and did some highlighting with a thin oil wash applied to various places paying particular attention to the areas around the fuel caps. Once I was satisfied with everything I decided on a 90/10 coat of Tamiya Buff to give the tank a very dusty appearance and I concentrated this heavily on the lower hull and running gear. Some light dry brushing completed the process.

Display

I decided early on to display the model on a simple Base and since it would be traveling to a show I wanted to secure it rigidly to that base. So I drilled two holes in the lower hull and base to accept two bolts which had the nuts epoxied to the inside of the lower hull This ensures me that the tank will not fly off the base and it allows people to examine the tank easily. As a last detail I added a brass name plate to complete the project.

Conclusion I found this to be a very enjoyable project and it stretched my skills in many areas that I had not tried before. I hope everyone enjoys the finished product I enjoyed the research and building of it. On my work bench for future Canadian builds are a Sherman III and a Leopard C1. Stay tuned.

References: The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps, an illustrated history. John Marteneinson & Michael R. McNorgan Published 2000