G'day guys
so ive decided to have a crack at my first sherman, well, second considering i built this model about 8 years ago, but have decided to strip the paint, disasemble it, and try again.
Needless to say 8 years ago was not my best stage of modelling :-) this kit was mostly covered in glue, and the paint job was a flat, unweathered OD :-)
So this is the one how it is right now, and i know what your thinking, because im thinking the same..."boy, what a mess!"



Now, i wanna know a few things.
Which M4 is this, youll see around the gun mantlet it is lined with these fat rivets, i havent seen this before.
also, would it be acceptable for me to add some extra hull armour to the sides, to protect the "dry" ammo storage, or was that only on certain versions of the sherman?
another thing, would it be acceptable for me to give this kit the OD with Black stripes camo scheme?
Well thats it, i will keep you all posted
oops, nearly forgot, its 1/72, i believe the maker is either Revell or Airfix, i lost the boxtop years ago.
Cheers

For all its worth,why dont you buy a new one,after all it looks like the front gun mantel has melted.

i agree with Karl, buy a nice new kit add some PE and other aftermarket stuff to it

How about keeping that Sherman for a dio, use the already melted mantel as a kill shot and use it as a destroyed Sherman? Work around it, build it up and weather the snot out of it and could be a good 'dead' tank in a dio possibly. Just my thoughts...

DONT LISTEN TO THEM! lol, ive took the challenge of doing soemthing okay outa an old t-72 my little brother built 3 years ago, and it was a mess, but its looking kinda good now, with the base coat on

so dont give up, and try something new on it

Frank

:-) well guys, the mantlet aint melted, dunno why you would think that.
And yeah, i aint gonna be throwing this out :-)
any kit is a good kit, you can make the most of anything, and i intend on doing so with this!
Add aftermarket to 1/72, baaah now way! :-) ive made it some brass wire grabhandles, thats enough for me.
Anyway, if anyone could answer the Q's i asked regarding the type of sherman, the camo etc.. it'd be much appreciated!
cheers

if its not melted, whats that to the bottom right of the barrel? doesnt look normal to me

Must just haver been a shadow or something coming off the MG barrel....it's not melted

I agree great tracks but awfull kit!
Shermans are cheap???
Taking paint off generates heat which can melt
things!!
Ron

:-) :-) :-) struthe guys, it IS NOT melted
anyway ive started painting it, should have more pics soon.
hmmm, ive gotta say the tracks SUCK big time, they are snapped into 5 pieces, the kit is what i would say is the better part.
Shermans are cheap, and yes, i could buy a new one, but thats not what im trying to do here, what im trying to do is make the most of a very old, and very cruddy kit.

Good on you Dave, no need for AM. Good luck with your restoration process. I think what Karl and Shain refer to is the hole in the front of the turret, not the mantlet. In the pic it looks very much like a hole. I don't think it's a shadow either. But your the one looking with the MK I eyeball, so we'll take your word for it.

Cheers
Henk

:-) Mk 1 eyeball, i like that!
well yeah looking at this pic it looks like the mantlet is very distorted, either a hole or melted, but, in the later pics youll see there isnt a prob there at all.
So im waiting for the base coat to dry, then im going to put on the tracks and weather the thing, then the decals, and it should be done, ill take pics once this base coat drys.
cheers

Whew! It looks like you have your work cut out for you. It's hard to see the rear deck in your photo, but, to me, it looks like it might be an M4 early. We can eliminate the M4A1 because the hull isn't cast. I "think" I can see the cover on the rear deck right behind the turret which would make it a radial engine powered M4. If it has mesh screens on the rear deck then it is probably a Ford GAA V8 powered M4A3 early. I don't have a clue what braile scale Shermans have been issued in the years gone by, but would doubt if there was a diesel powered M4A2. An M4A2 would also have screens on the engine deck but smaller than an M4A3's screens.
I believe the early, low bustle turrets had screws all around the gun mantle. I've seen plenty of Sherman models over the years with the applique armor plates, including early M4s, early M4A1s and early M4A3s. I kind of get the idea that any of the small hatch, dry stowage hulls could have the armor plates installed.
Sorry, can't help you with the paint scheme. man, it sure looks like a hole in the mantles lower left corner.(lower right as you look at it from the front) It also looks like the main gun shield is on upside down. I think the tall portion should be on top. With it on the bottom the main gun can't even point straight ahead, much less depress below the horizontal.
hope this helps, good luck.

shows how good i was 8 years ago, good enough to put a gun on upside down :-)
no hole guys, lol, take my word, there isnt even a slight distortion there.
Yep its got the cover, no mesh screen over the engine, so M4A2 then hey...where were these used?
not a sherman expert, im jsut starting to get into the things

cheers

Oh god, we may already be to late.

PUT THE TANK DOWN.......STEP AWAY FROM THE SHERMAN......

naah, we've lost him. Another Shemienut.. :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Cheers
Henk

Quick, i need help, someone organize a UH-1 flyover, get me an M60, anything!!!! :-) :-) :-)

ok second lot of pics are up, you will see, NO HOLE, NO MELTED MANTLET :-)


Link to 2nd lot of Pics

Good to see you have finally done a sherman be it a 1/72 one lol. :-)

If it is an M4A2 (and I am by no means a Sherman expert, in fact I am the farthest thing from it ) then you basically have the choice of making it a Marine tank from the Pacific or a British/Commonwealth tank from Italy and NWE. The US didn't up the M4A2 at all in Europe. It's also possible you can use it as a Russian lend lease but I think all those were 76mm tanks (again not sure).

If you want colorful I would consider Marines since they did camo their tanks. NWE ones were I think mostly all OD.

Hope this helps. Good luck with the restoration project and please do post some additional pics.