Hi guys

some work in progress shots of my m4a1 sherman

it's being built to represent a July 1944 m4a1

based on a Tasca m4a1 early, with various details from hex rod etc. and Aber PE. Casting marks from Archer, straps are DIY from masking tape. Mantlet/barrel are Formations.

lots left to do but this is it so far...











thanks for looking
Jon

Looking good , you're doing a lot of work there Can't wait to see it finished , Bob

Hi Jon,

- pistol port is a bit proud still, great stuff.

Al

Nice job so far. Lots of extra work done & looking mighty fine.



Doug

Hi,

Great Great job! Are those grey patches putty? Did you did that to create texture on the armor?

Cheers!

Hi guys

Al - thanks for that mate, I just caught the same tip over on SMW... I'll get onto it ASAP and putty it out a little perhaps.

Bob & India11A cheers for the comments, expect to see paint on it in a couple of weeks I need to get this one off the bench lol

Dan - its not putty but a product called Mr Surfacer which works well to texture cast armour. It is stippled on with a brush to create raised areas then flattened off by sanding. you could get the same kind of effect dissolving the surface with any of the runny poly cements.

thanks for taking time to comment guys I really appreciate it

thanks
Jon

Great work, love the cast texture, will check back to see your progress.

Darryl

Hi Jon,

Thanks for the neat tips, certainly will be useful esp, when I did sometimes sand off some of the original texture.

cheers!

quick update:



I lost the kit .50cal so replaced it with a DML spare. The individual shells are Lionroar, but theyre out of scale, so the DML gun has had it's entry port enlarged to fit the rounds (the little white dot at the corner is plastic rod). The ammo can with the rounds as a result was too big, which meant scratch building the ammo can holder from brass and plastic....lot of work just for the AA machine gun

cheers for looking

Jon

well heres the latest work

Looks good to date Jon, thanks for sharing your pics.

Cheers -
Tim

Thanks Tim for your kind words

I have done a little bit more... I am adding a commander figure, but wanted some detail to be visible should anyone go looking around - just needs a blast of white now and some bits picking out, then the radio can be glued in. I have an SCR508 from DML's armored infantry (good spares in that set not to mention great Gen2 figures).

I also added fuel filler chains from the Aber set and carried on with the .50cal which is close to being assembled and finished.













the ball on the commanders traverse handle is a bit large but it's all I had and I didnt want to mess about with putty etc as I tested it with a commander figure and you can hardly see anything of the detail!! but I know its there and anyone nosey will pick it out if they look hard.

thanks for looking - all comments/criticisms welcome.

cheers
Jon

wow...very nice..with all the hardwork in there..i can't wait to see the final result. thanks for sharing.

You really have gone to town here Jon, your attention to detail is excellent, this really will be an excellent finished peice.

Keep up the good work,

James

Hi Jon,
excellent built and a lot of nice details. Very impressive work. It's time for painting now?! Thanks for sharing your pics.
greetings ro

thanks for your nice comments guys I really appreciate it, this has been a long build with lots of frustrating wire work. I have been bouncing ideas off the guys on Scalemodelworld (They know who they are ) for months, and the help I've received has been absolutely key in getting this far...

I'm left with VERY few things left to do before painting now.... just a couple of periscope guards, 1 handle and a couple of hatch clasps from the aber PE set.

Can you believe i've gone through all this crap and Tasca have just released an m4a1 mid

beautiful detailing and photo-etch work Jon...For me, working with photo-etch turns quickly into a lesson in futility as most of it ends up as tiny, useless pieces of metal super-glued to my fingers.

Charlie

Hey buddy! Get your own gripes!

hi guys

assembled and painted the .50cal













thanks for looking
Jon

Hi Jon,

Excellent work on the .50 cal, those shells look excellent.

Great stuff.

Al

the 50.call looks fantastic!!
very nice work

Your build looks great.
And what paint you use for MG? It looks very realistic.

Looking great Jon! Ditto the comments regarding your .50 cal! Awesome job! Keep at it, turning out fantastic! Great details!

Cheers -
Tim

wow...for a while there i thought its almost real. are you a jeweler or clock smith..those things are tedious to work on. excellent work on the MG,ammo and belt. thanks for sharing.

i have to agree with everyone, if I didn't know better I'd say the .50 was real Did you paint the .50 tracer rounds? Thanks , Bob