Hmm...

Seems like I've gotten kinda stuck here in the dark zone. Haven't quite got the inspiration to build a car model after being done with the StuG IV.

So I decided to do some more armor, this time the choice fell on a subject from the "good guys", a Sherman M4A3 105mm HVSS from Dragon. I haven't got a clue when it comes to Shermans, like I didn't have with the StuG IV either, but I'm gonna give it a shot anyway, I've always liked this tank.



Started searching the web for some refs and found quite a bit, so I guess I'll pull this one off.

The progress so far are the bogies, idlers and drive sprockets. The bogies in this kit were kind of a kit themselves consisting of 28 parts per bogie. Kinda pita to put togheter but I think they turned out allright.



Nice cast numbers on'em too.



When checking some refs I found that the road wheels lacked the grease nipple. So I drilled a hole in each of the wheels inside the nipple housing, which was present, and added a tiny piece of brass wire to simulate the nipple. I actually dunno why I bothered doing this on 24(!) road wheels since it definately won't be visible when the model is finished. But anyways now the nipples are there. You can barely see it in the pic.



Here's everything so far, with the wheels sprayed in a rubber color ready to be mounted after the O.D. color is sprayed sometime in the (near) future.



Got some more weld seams applied to the front and rear. Made a bit more texture to the upper hull with some Mr. Surfacer 500, great stuff btw.. I also got some PE and tools mounted.



Small detail on the rear lamp here too.


I had to move the gun travel lock fasteners a bit down due to the fact that they were molded to high up for an M4A3 105mm


PE weld under the lifting eye.


Some tools...


This thing was kinda tricky to put togheter, because it is supposed to be movable. I had to make sort of a split rivet out of brass to make it work. But I got it togheter and it moves.
I also found out that the Sherman's got loads of tie downs, this unit alone has 8 of them, and they're really tiny and a p.i.t.a. to mount.



This is the underside of the stowage shelf with the gun cleaning rods.


Feedback are always welcome...

Good grief ! And I thought I was a detail nut. Per-Erik, you have either a very good magnifying glass or exceptional eyesight. I realise you will probably have thought of these items, but a few points anyway:
1. The bunds around the fuel caps usually had a drain hole to prevent accumulation of rainwater, and the caps themselves were locked in place by means of a locking pin, which had a retaining chain so they didn't get lost.
2. Gear such as shovels etc were also retained by means of a webbing strap

Have fun - look forward to seeing it when it's finished.

regards

Rob

Per-Erik,

For not having a clue it looks like a darn nice build so far. The PE work alone is very impressive, at least to me. Keep up the fine work and the progress posts along the way.

Very nice work so far Per-Erik, especially on the PE . The only thing I would be careful of is the texture. Welded hull Shermans have fairly smooth texture. Don't judge by restored or museum exhibits as the texture is often made up of 60 years worth of paint.

hi per-erik, nice build..keep it up. love the PE parts thanks for sharing. ed

Nice build. I will follow this one.

Per-Erik, you have certainly got some control over PE!
Any chance of some close up shots of your work?
The Aber set can really try ones patience. They should make a little set including only such things as the taillight details etc. The details Rob stated are included in the set; the small chains are present to use on the fuel filler caps.
And as Pat said, the armour plate is relatively smooth, being a welded hull as opposed to the one-piece cast hull of the M4A1 and derivatives... The one piece transmission housing can definitely be roughed up though...
Good stuff
Brad

I did the Thunderbolt kit and know what you mean about the bogies!!!

I'll be following this post to see what improvements I can make on my next one.

Des

Nice work on the PE starting to look really good.

Al

Thanx for the nice comments on my build so far! Highly appreciated!

Pat: Thanx for the tip regarding the texture, I'll tone it down a bit.




Thanx for the nice comments Rob!
Let's say it's a combination of good eyesight and a magnifyer...

Drain holes are drilled per ref. photos from primeportal.net, thanx for the tip.
Yup, I'm aware of the chains supplied in the Aber PE set, they will be applied.
I'm gonna apply all the tie downs once I have all the tools mounted, guess I'll use lead foil for the straps, or maybe just use the PE ones from Aber.

Thanx!

Outstanding photo-etch work Per-Erik. Can't wait to see more!

Charlie

Been kinda slow progress on this Sherman for a while now due to too much sunny weather up here in Norway. And sunny weather is show'n shine time for my 1/1 car.
But I've gotten some more PE applied, nothing much but I'd call it progress...

Some straps and buckles, a drain hole drilled is also visible in this pic...



I need to clean up the glue around all those tiny tie-downs and make'em look like weld spots.
Tedious work but I think the end result will be worth it.

Started the PE periscopes...



Added chain and a handle on the fuelcaps, drilled a drain hole and added a weld seam on the inside of the armor protecting the fuelcap.


Here's the fuel cap and drain hole on the other side...


Hopefully more progress in a while cause they say the rain's coming...

Nice work so far Per Erik,

you have done some excellent work with that Aber PE, that stuff really is a PITA as you put it!

One note though, I could be wrong but aren't those gun cleaning rods the type for a 75mm gunned sherman? I think the 105mm had less rods, but I could be mistaken. Im sure a quick reference check or one of the sites shermanaholics will soon put you right!

James

All looks good to me , Shermans are great eh !

Per-Erik,

Nicely done, like what you're doing so far! And this is your first Sherman? All I can say is...

WOW! Amazing!

Looking forward to the updates! Cheers -
Tim

nice work!! lovely detailing going on.

I too used the PE tiedowns, I used a dab of mr surfacer to "weld" the tiedowns to my m4a1

love the replacement locking pins on the fuel caps too it's all looking great

I'm impressed , just the fact that you can work with such small PE is amazing , great job Bob

The PE work is quite amazing and extremely well done, but what surprised me more is that you have sun in Norway!

Outstanding stuff. I am envious.

-YL

Thanx for the kind words on my build so far, guys!
It's really inspiring and makes me wanna continue this build since it's been kind of dry and non-inspirational in my hobby quarter lately.

Thanx again, and Yoni Lev we do have quite a bit of sun in Norway actually.

Details, details...
I used the PE fenders that came with the Dragon kit. Banged them up a bit before I mounted them. In addition I used some fender parts from the Aber set to complete the fenders, the profile on the transcover and the vertical profile on the fender. I this pic you can also see the front tow cable shackle.


Various protection on the front of the hull.


The fenders on the right and left side. To complete the fenders I just have to mount the fender support braces.



I filled the gap between the "bolt strip" and the front glacis plate, and I also gave the transcover a Mr. Surfacer treatment for some serious structure.


Nice little hook for the gun travel lock...


I chose to have one hatch closed and one open to show some of the detail inside the open one.
The closed hatch with the periscope in the upper position.


The open hatch with the periscope removed from the "holder", and some additional details.



Protection on the rear lights and a little wire for detail.


Last pic tonight is the shackle for the tow cable in the rear.


More will follow cause I'm in da groove...

Amazing work I can't wait to see this one finished.Keep it up , Bob

Looking good.

Superb! What kind of tweezers, magnification and adhesive are you using?
thanks
DJ

Thanx for the cudos guys! Highly appreciated!




Thanx!
I'm using Tamiya flat and angled tweezers, Tamiya PE bending pliers, a couple of small needle and flat nosed pliers, for magnification I just use a head magnifyer. Adhesive I use consists of ZAP-CA both the quick curing and the gap filling, I also use Apoxiesculpt to fix some of the smaller details. When using this product you get the advantage of mounting the part and making weld seams around the details at the same time.

Thanks for your response. Absoluetely superb work. Great job
DJ