Stefan,

As I will be starting mine in a week or two, shall I post it here too?

You're dead right about the MG barrel brackets not being on the rear of the turret. As for the range poles, I believe these were stowed inside the turret along one side. However, if your tank has already been used as artillery in a fire mission the chances are they are now outside, wedged behind any convenient stowage on the sides or back of the vehicle, since we all know how neatly WW2 vehicles were re-packed between missions! There should be four of them, 6 feet long, with each foot painted alternating red or white, and one end should have a metal spike. If stowed loose on the deck, I'd be surprised if they still had all four...

Tom

Sure, post right ahead! I don't mind. Seems I started an M36B1 mania on Armorama...

Thanks for the Info on the range poles, these would sure color up the stowage.

Cheers
Stef

Allright, got some paint on this one. First some black primer (Tamiya XF-1) and then some OD (Tamiya's lightened with XF-60 dark yellow). Then a coat of future, decals and some matt varnish (with a little brown).





Next up the tracks, stowage and weathering.

Cheers!
Stefan

looking great, keep it up!

Stefan,

That's looking really good! I picked up an injury a week ago, which has slowed me down a lot, but I'll be getting into my build in the next few weeks I hope. I'm looking to model that pic of the M36B1 seen in a German town, with all the crew sticking their heads out and pointing guns at the camera...

Tom

Stefan:
It's looking Great, nice start for your base colors so far. Now its looking the part..... keep up the dillagence. The finish is near.
Todd

Thank you all!

I am kind of stalled with this build at the moment due to restricted time in the cave and other projects having priority on the finish line. But I sure will finish it!

Tom, hope you're doing better! Get well soon!

Cheers
Stefan

Stefan,

Thanks for the kind wishes - I'm adapting to my broken leg now. I spent yesterday getting back in the swing with Italeri's Puma, and will have a crack at the rather more complex M36B1 build next. (It took a while to sort out hobby supplies that normally live at my workbench into a portable bag of goodies that can come to me, so the fun can begin! Sadly, airbrushing will have to wait a few more weeks when hopefully I'll get a much smaller cast that can "travel".) On the plus side I now have another Campaign entry (Axis of Armor) nearly done...

Progress & pictures to follow soon...

Tom

Hello all!

Thought I'd post some new pics just to show you I'm still at it. Now and then... Life's gotten in the way lately.

Base and detail paint, a few washes, tracks added and started on the stowage. After the stowage I'll add some mud.






Cheers and thanks for comments!
Stefan

Looking good Stefan, you might brake off some of those track extenders for a slight beat up look. Nice paint too.

Ryan

Thanks Ryan, I know what you mean but I didn't want to mess with the Tamiya Vinyl... These were issued late in the war so they were fairly new allthrough their time.

So, I finished weathering and I'm calling this one done unless any of y'all see anything that has to be done. Thanks for any comments!








Cheers!
Stefan

Hey, folks,

This thread went cold after Stefan finished his build, but he did invite the rest of us to add our own builds as a comparison blog, so here goes.

My M36B1 is the old Italeri kkit with a heap of scratchbuilt details. I find the basic kit isn't too bad, but it needs a lot of help to enter the 21st century. Anyhow, here's some shots of the turret so far. I've built the internal stuff based on several web builds. Of note is the turret floor - Italeri provided a complete basket in their turret but it ain't right, so I copied the Academy one in Evergreen plastic. The microphones idea came from a build on USARMYMODELS.com. I haven't finished with the outside of the turret yet as I don't want to risk damage when joining the halves after painting the inside...



















The ammo bins need covers, and I have some canteens to add to the loader's side (by the fire extringuisher) after painting.

(Note that I am building this for the Tank Killers campaign, so expect a little double-posting!)

Interior build to come...

Regards,

Tom

Wow, impressive scratch work there Tom! Looks like you're getting a bit more involved than I am...

Hey, I was thinking, we could do a double feature on modeling the M36B1 once you're done with it. Maybe Todd will join us? Would be interesting maybe to see the different approaches next to each other.

Cheers and keep us updated!
Stefan

Stefan,

If the turret looks complicated, wait til I post pics of the hull interior! (I should invest in Evergreen Plastics shares...)

I'd like to do a feature article on this - it would be very interesting. However, that means I really ought to do it right and invest in some tracks with duckbills instead of the vynil T54E1 track I was planning to use.

I'm beginning to worry that I won't make the deadline for the Tank Killers campaign...

Tom

Right, it's time for the latest instalment of my build. (Apologies if you've already seen these images in the Tank Killers campaign thread...) I primed the turret interior in black, then painted it in "scale" OD (75% Tamiya XF-62 OD and 25% Tamiya XF-57 Buff). Note that I masked off tthe outsides as I still need to detail it once the halves are joined. The details were picked out in a variety of paints, and the floor was washed with a grime mix before dry-brushing with Earth.








The hull also received a load of work, including a mostly scratch-built interior. (The gearbox was a resin casting from the Academy parts, and the ammo cans are Verlinden. The 5-gallon cans are from a Tamiya set, as are the M3 "grease gun" SMGs.)












This was then primed white before detail painting. A little dry-brushing with Earth and Pollyscale's Grimy Black gave it a bit of that "lived-in" look...










On the outside I added casting numbers on the hull top and the underside of the nose from Slaters 1.5mm alphabets. I also added bolt heads cut from Plastruct hex rod for the transmission on each side and bolts on the suspension mounts.




The bogies were similarly detailed with hex rod "bolts" drilled in from underneath, and bolt heads added to the skids once they had been thinned a bit with a file & knife. The final detail was to cut the axles so I could snap in the wheels after painting. (I learned this trick ages ago for Italeri Shermans. Glue up the rocking arms and bogies as normal making sure the axles are firmly glued, then cut the axles so only a small stump remains at each side to fit into the holes in the wheels. Round the stumps a bit to ease installation, which is best aided by slipping two bits of thick paper against the stumps and slide the wheel in between them to keep the paint from scratching.)






Next up is detailing the exterior!

Tom

INSANE detailing! I signed up for the upcoming Sherman campaign ... maybe I'll finally build an M36 of some variant.

It'll never be close to this! WOW, makes me feel like a true beginner.


- Jeff

Jeff,

I do have to admit I've got a bad case of AMS... Which M36 kit are you looking to build? The Academy one comes with a pretty good hull interior compared to AFV Club, but the AFV Club one comes with most of the turret details that I scratch-built. (A simple but expensive upgrade would be to put the AFV Club turret on the Academy hull...)

I came back into armour after years in the model train wilderness, where my scratch-building skills were as nothing compared to folks who built whole steam engines from brass bar stock! And I won't even talk about the ones who build wooden cars from real wood. At least plastic tends to do what you tell it.

Still, to balance the scratch-building I do have serious skills weaknesses regarding weathering and figure painting.

Tom

Tom, great work! The interior is amazing. I sure don't have the patience (or the skill) for that much scratch work. BTW, what's your method for weld seams?

I would add some cast texture to the gun mantlet, turret bustle and tranny cover, they look a bit too clean at the moment.

Looking forward to your method for the gas lid chains, you mentioned them earlier in the thread but I couldn't find a good way to scratch them.

Cheers!
Stefan

Stefan,

Glad you're still looking in on this one! I'll certainly be adding Mr Surfacer on all the cast parts once I get them glued together - I just haven't got round to it yet. (I had to paint the mantlet because it had to be installed before the halves get glued, but I'll overcoat it in surfacer & repaint with the rest of the exterior...)

As for welds, I've added some .010 x .030 plastic strip that will be softened down with liquid cement before getting "textured" with the blunt end of a needle file. I hope the results will look like the prominent welds seen on some turrets once I paint them. (Note that I made sure they will overlap the joints so I don't have to add filler!) The hull welds I'm not too sure about. Italeri provides a weld as well as a trench next to it, so I may have to remove their weld before adding a bit of rod in the trench that I then texture up. (You can tell I've been putting this decision off, can't you...)

Gas-cap chains... I have never found a decent way to do these in scale. All the aftermarket stuff I've seen is too big, and the only good-looking ones I have seen were moulded onto the hull by the manufacturer. Besides, they are so fine as to be nearly invisible in period photos, so in the past I just haven't bothered. Any suggestions?

Tom

Oops! that was Todd who mentioned it... Maybe he will chime in on that? Personally I left them off as well after several unlucky tries.

Cheers!
Stefan

Stefan:
First a Due SALUTE to your build. It turned out great!!! I love the weathering you achieved, it looks the part. I owe you all in this blog an Apology for my non involvement for my own blog in this thread. My Military duty has taken my time away from the "man Room", so my plastic smashing has been delinquent, but have faith I have not forgotten. I will hold true to my word and complete an M36 of my own. This has been an excellent venture. Tom you get a toast as well, your scratch skills are to be commended. The depth at which we build is all relative but the, results are all worth it. I will add to this thread with my own M36 and we can all compare notes. Until next time,,, keep spreadin the glue. Cheers to all!!

Tom:
I found that the best way to do the gascap chains is any PE set from Eduard. I agree they're really not 3D but the links are there in form. After shifting the connection pose, to the cap and handle they look pretty convincing after the painted finish. I use these parts on all of my sherman builds, and any type of sherman chassis vehicle can use the update. I have (3) shermans on the bench now and they are all receiving the treatment. I think Aber and Modelworks do some as well. Good Luck

Todd,

Thanks - I'll have to take another look at the PE chains. (Now that the Tank Killers campaign is over, I also need to re-start work on my M36B1...)

Hopefully I'll have progress to post soon!

Tom