Oh Lordy! I move and move and still he he finds me!

Howdy Tony, welcome!

I'm doin' an M4A2.

G

I looked at the links and they are identical. What might have happened is that the first time you were not logged in and that's why the Enlist button did not show up.

Tony,

Excellent work on that 105! I've got some pics to take before I can add the shields on mine, but I have to say that even dry-fitting hasn't made it clear where they join up... Oh, the fun and games!

Tom

First of all Tom PM sent sure hope you can make heads and tails of it.



Next I turned my attention to the lower hull and you can see how well the parts fit is. Tom has already cover the transmission and drive housing in his build blog so again I won't go into that.


From studying the instruction sheet I saw right off that this was a very good candidate for sub-assembly construction therefore I just jumped around from place to place and in no certain order.

You might notice that I went ahead and glued the casement side walls to the front. I did this to insure that I had a good tight seam where the pieces join. Be sure to keep everything square as you can if you do the same.

The PE is from a Eduard set that I bought for a future Academy M7 build but since I hadn't obtained the Academy kit yet I figured waste not want not. The storage boxes on the rear deck are just tacked in place and I may use the PE units to replace them so I can leave one of them open.

The ammo storage boxes are nice enough but it sure would have been a step above for the boxes and the ammo tubes to be separate items.

Time for a break and a fresh cup of coffee.
Tony the Mutt

Break time over,are you ready to get back to work?

Added some components to the rear plate and I also bent up a few more PE goodies. Not knowing anything about the M7 or Shermans for that matter,That ammo locker may or may not be suitable for this series M7. The kit has a shelf and a drawer part that fits up in the right hand forward corner of the casement but i've also seen pictures with this type of ammo storage box in about the same position. Can anyone of you Sherman gurus throw some light on the subject???

The two items to the left of the ammo box is suppose to be canvas bags for the crew to store the M-1 carbines or tommy guns in. There are 5 of them,two on the right side side wall and three on the left but they look too big for scale to me.
That's the seat for the right side under the 50 cal,seat belt and all up there on the corner of the engine deck,there's another for the left side too.

More PE built up and put to good use.

The kit has PE engine deck screens but I used the Eduard screens because they have a little better detail. The PE grouser storage frames give you more options to play with as the kit frames and grousers are molded as a single unit.

The mg pulpit and 50 cal added along with the headlights, siren or horn and the drivers vision port hatch cover.

Pictures show some sort of prop or strut to hold the hatch cover open but there was nothing I found in the instruction to indicate one to be installed. What I did find in the kit was a short brace (not used for this kit) from I think the Dragon towed 105 kit,it was a perfect fit to serve the purpose.

I just thought German running gear was boring,just look at all those parts that have to be cleaned up.


While dry fitting the units together I noticed that I had to apply a good bit of pressure to close the gap at the joint seam on top of those boogie housing halves. I found the problem and here is another one of those tips to make life easier for you.

The central shaft on the right is larger than the cup it fits in on the left so I opened the cup up just a tad with a drill bit and now all is right with the world again.
In order to get a good scald on the paint job all the parts need to be sprayed individually ,assembled and then fill the joint seam and touched up to make a clean job or just slop mud all over everything and call it good.

Well people that brings you up to date as of today. I'm about to the point that I need to paint some of those hard to reach areas before I can start to put some of these assemblies together and move ahead.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to join this group build. Looking forward to the other projects being built here as well.
I'm sure you folks know more about these than I ever will so sing out with any suggestions or corrections that are needed before I get to far along.

Hoping you have a productive weekend.
Tony the Mutt

@ Tom - three build ? You've a lot on, but they are all very interesting and diiferent. Keep up the great work !!

@ Tony - Welcome mate ! Lovely, lovely work on that M7 ! And thank you for the great posts and tutorial ! Much appreciate Tony !

@ Jim - glad you've sorted the enlisting issue out, your builds are always very good, so looking forward to this one

Cheers

Paul

Paul, those three are just a start! I've got plans for a few more before we run out of time.

And Tony, excellent work! Your PM about the gun cradle was spot-on - I'll be quoting you in my blog! I like what you're doing with the PE, especially the grouser bins. You asked about the MG ammo storage - what comes in the kit is a shelf for two wooden boxes to reload the 50-round square can attached to Dragon's MG. The PE set builds the later arrangement for 4 steel boxes as used in the later ammo cradle seen on many WWII vehicles where the whole box comes off for replacement. So, if you use the PE you also need to use a different ammo holder on the MG cradle, and it is then likely the vehicle was upgraded perhaps for D-Day? The two weapon holders are meant to be metal scabbards, not canvas - the gun was held in with spring clips. Those look like the big ones for the M1 Garand rifle, but for the M7 you need ones for either the shorter M1 Carbine, the Thompson SMG, or the M3 grease-gun. I still haven't decided what to do for mine...

Now if I can stop going out shopping this weekend I might get round to some building of my own!

Tom

No problem Paul and Thanks.
I thought those scabbards looked out of scale for carbines Tom.
Tom are you saying that the PE ammo storage box is wrong for the M7 Dragon is trying to represent? No big deal if it is i'm sure I can put it to good use somewhere.

Your "Snap" post has just given me a new outlook concerning those bogies,Thanks heaps.

Tony the Mutt

Tony,

Yes the PE ammo rack is wrong for the kit configuration, since Dragon supplied the gun with the early square 50-round ammo box attached. I know they later went over to the more common 50-cal mount where the ammo came in the long removable 105-round metal cans we are familiar with, at which point the rack you showed was installed. Obviously the later 105-round cans were easier to use, as the ammo belt did not need to be transfered to a new can in the heat of battle, so it made sense to move away from the earlier 50-round can that was fixed to the MG cradle.

I'm not sure when it happened in relation to production phases, or if it was retro-fitted to existing vehicles. The old Italeri kit (which is a late version) comes with the later four-box rack. I think given how long the "mid production" phase lasted you could get away with the new rack as long as you also upgraded the ammo box on the gun mount. (Let those who know better chime in...)

Regards,

Tom

OK Tom Thanks

On Stand By
Tony the Mutt

Paul and everybody,

I just added another instalment to my M7 blog, covering the gun. Special thanks are due to Tony for showing me why I couldn't figure out the gun shields! I won't double-post the images here...

Tom

(blog is at: My M7 build

Thanks Tom - Subscribed

Paul

Ok, I got back in town and began the finishing touches to Demagog. I'm thinking some dust, but other than that I'm calling this one finished.

I'm pleased with my first Sherman.













Enjoy

G

Rookie question: I've got the Tasca VC Firefly with cheek armor (cute box, I had a chines friend translate) I'm planning to do. I'd like to take a shot at using a PE upgrade set. However, these all say they are for the 35-009 (Aber basic and fender sets e.g.). Are these appropriate for this kit - fit and historic correctness?

Well Gman I didn't know what happened to you but i'm sure glad I found out cause your OD on here is what I see in my minds eye as OD.

Your first Sherman huh? If I had to drive one of these turtle tops I would want a factory fresh one too.

SPGs Forever
Tony the Mutt

Yeah Tony I haven't been online much any more. I had this one kit of a Sherman I just couldn't wrap my head around. Then this campaign caught my eye so I bought three more!

I gathered some references that pointed to Marine Corps tanks being painted a more green shade. The add on armor was done by unit and definately painted a diferent shade again.

This was fun, so I'm starting another.

G

Started work on the M4 DV Baldwin hull this weekend. The antenna pot and front mg port need to be replaced (welded items instead of cast).
This is the hull out of the box:


First I cut the cast antenna pot off with a combo of razor saw, chisel, files and sandpaper (Mr. Surfacer applied and sanded when cured to remove over-zealous filing!):


It was shaped with needle files to the appropriate shape. The hull mg port was drilled out and filed to fit 1/4" tube:


The start of the new antenna pot, 5/16 tube with a .010" laminate on the inside to thicken it up. I'll cut it in half horizontally and add on strips to make the 'U' - shaped profile of the new pot:


Now to finish the pot and install, then add the welds.

Jim

Well, I got a bit of a start this weekend on the M4 DV (Baldwin) hull.

Upper hull out of the box:


Using a combo of razor saw, chisel, files and sandpaper removed the cast antenna pot:


Cleaned up the resulting hole with files to accept 5/16" Evergreen tube and drilled out/filed the mg port for 1/4" tube:


The new welded pot starts out as 5/16" tube with a strip of .010" laminated inside to thicken it up a bit. I plan on cutting it in half horizontally and adding strip to create the 'U' shape profile of the welded item:


Jim

@ Wayne - lovely work mate, less it more (weathering) IMO

@ Tony keep up those great posts, I LOVE your work !! SPG's ? They're Ok, but give me a "Turtle top" anyday

@ Dave, I'm not sure about the Tasca PE, however I know that those Tasca Sherimies also come out VERY nicely straight OOTB I have two here I will be starting on (VC "less" cheek armor, and the V) adn I think I'll build them the way they are. Hopefully someone can answer your question.

Cheers team and keep up the great work !!

Paul

@ Jim - nice start ! I always get nervous when I get the 'saw' out !!

@ Wayne - another build would be great... any ideas on what it may be ?

BTW: Tasca has just taken my pre-order payment for the ''Easy 8' I think they'll be shipping on Wednesday

What the...
Sorry for the double post, I figured something was up when my first message didn't show after 10 minutes or so. I figured it timed out while I was getting the message ready and tried posting again. If someone could delete the second post of mine that would be swell. Where'd the edit button go?
Edit - really weird - this message has an edit button, while my above posts don't?? Kitmaker is haunted tonight...

Jim

Great work around here lately!!!

@ Tony- The 105 on that Priest sure is a looker! Awesome stuff.

I'm completely stalled on my build. I forgot how much I hate PE. I'm going to finish up a JS-2 that I'm building, and then I'll get back on the Sherman. Until then, I'll just browse, comment, and drool over the fine builds I'm seeing!!

Hey Jim
Your photos seem to echo my last bit of work mate!

I remove my antenna pot by drilling holesaround it's perimeter so as I have no razorsaw. How are you going to fix the bow mg port?


The reason your current message above had a edit button and the originals didn't should only have been a time issue. I think you have limited time with which to edit your post befor that option disappears

Brad

Jim,

Like Brad says, you only get a short time to edit posts before they become set in stone. I think it's about an hour...

(There was some trouble early this year that saw a long-term member delete all his old posts and pictures before "resigning" from the site, so Jim S decided to set the time limit to prevent similar melodramatics. The guy had issues, but he did post a lot of very useful information about German heavy tanks that is now of course gone.)

So, the secret is to get your posts right "on the night", since that edit timer is always ticking!

Nice work on the radio pot, by the way...

Tom

This one will be a proper M4A3 from Iwo Jima with all the add on wooden armor, PE hatch screens, chicken wire and sandbags.

I will use the old Tamiya kit as little of it will be visible afterwards.

G