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Tamiya M26 Dragon Wagon and M4 Sherman

The M4 Sherman was painted with a Humbrol green but I cannot recall the colour. This too was to give a different perspective to the colour of the tank to the Dragon Wagon. Verlinden US stars had been airbrushed with Tamiya flat black from the metal templates cut in sections and held in place with Tamiya tape. The area for where the decals went on the tank had been gloss coated before application. Kit decals had been used and then flat cleared with Testors Dullcote.

The tank, dragon wagon, and trailer had all been painted with another coat of Testors Dullcote . This was done to prepare for the wash of burnt umber and black. The back wall and cab, winch assembly then got glued onto the chassis. The trailer guides that sit on the high side of the trailer deck also received the same paint process and had been left off for ease of painting.

Once the trailer had been painted it then had the airlines hooked up and was placed onto the turntable. The chain was painted in Humbrol metalcote before attaching and gluing the tank to the trailer There was 1 photo in an Allied and Axis book displayed a damaged Sherman going back for repairs and that stuck in my mind for this is what I hoped I could portray. I left the front bumper off. This was to allow easier application of the decals. All the areas for the decals on the dragon wagon and trailer had been gloss coated with Testors Gloss coat before the application. The kit decals are great to use. Although the colours on the cab are incorrect .The A in the square should be in white and not yellow. I refer to page 14 of D-Day to Berlin by Terence Wise ISBN 1-85409-212-X

Once all the decals had been applied to the Dragon Wagon and trailer they both received another coat of Dullcote. The weathering was a combination of pastels and Mig Pigments, applied with a brush all over both vehicles and trailer. I used Vietnam earth on the cab and trailer and was quite surprised at the colour change to the paints appearance. The M4 Sherman received the same coat but I experimented with Methylated spirits with the pigments and this brought out a dramatic worn appearance (Excellent).

The 2 figures on the back are from Verlinden and Warrior . There was a head conversion on the Verlinden guy standing on the back. This was to give variation to the figures inspecting the tank’s damage. Both boys are painted in Humbrol and Model Master enamels with oil paints for the hands and faces. Archer decals had been used for the rank and unit id for the sergeant. Pastels had been used on the uniforms to tone the colours down on the figures. I did not want to portray shiny figures in a drab enviroment.