Hi guys--I am just starting my build of the Dragon kit mentioned...I plan to include figures from Dragon6378(US tank riders) and Warriors35156 (US tank crew no.1)..
I have finished cleaning up the road wheels and am starting on the suspension now. I still have to chew up the rubber on the wheels as I plan to make this vehicle pretty beat up.....
Does anyone have any interest in following my build? I admit Im slow at building, and I have several other projects on the go...but I wanted to take pics as I go and incorperate them into an article for the site ..does anyone have any interest/feedback?

sure we do!

Yes please - let's see it

Jim,

I would be interested in following your build. I do wish however there was an easier way other than subscribing to an e-mail notification.

Darryl

DT, you may just want to bookmark this thread (at home and work?) then check it every so often.

Mike

Im really pleased to see you guys interested in following along ...I think this should really cover alot of interesting aspects of building and finishing. As I said before ..I have alot of projects on the go right now(pre-dreadnaught campaign on MSW) and am NOT the fastest builder in the world but I promise NOT to drop the thread as lond as everyone is interested.Please also understand that I am not a "shermanaholic" and Im sure many of you will know much more about the variants than I do. I have a camera and will show as many pics as possible. Perhaps the editors of this site can assist me in understanding how I can get my pics up for this thread and still maintain my commitments to MSW without maxing out my pic allotment.

Im no expert on this,but if i set it up as a build log then it stays upat the top of the page so you can find it really easy

I just started this kit also. So far I have the lower chassis built.
I found that the rear Idler wheels (V-18) do not fit very well. The axle has a nub on the end that misaligned the wheel with the other wheels. The shaft has a very loose fit. Did you cut the nub off? I found another set of rear idler wheels with a hole for the axle nub on tree D-21(not used). It fits with no misalignment issues, and there is an axle cap on d-22 (not used) to cover the nub.
How did you solve this issue?

I am currently working on the bogies..distressing the rubber to show appropriate wear pattern..I am using my dremel and a no.11 blade exacto and then brushing liquid cement over to soften the edges..I am updating my post here to tell of my findings re:rear idlers. You are right, Plethman, that there seems to be a confusion in the instructions. I currently have 4 little part baggies and 1 big headache.
To use the idlers suggested in the kit,it seems we need to use partsA54,55 which are NOT recommended for use in the instructions. I attached parts D20 and D26 and found they did NOT align at all, causing me to beat a hasty retreat from that approach.To continue with D20 and D26, you seem to be corrrect in using idlers D16,D21.

To summarize: I am currently thinking that I will proceed with partsA54,A55,A49and do a bit of fudging.the shaft fit on this combination of parts is quite good...Im not completely sold on this approach yet and Im taking a break from uncivilized idlers and looking into some civilized Scotch.......................cheers and onward to Berlin!

I have found in my reference a good article on this kit featuring an in-depth discussion on building and the foibles attached to this kit .MODEL MILITARY International magazine Dec 2006 has a great article describing omong other things these idler problems. Indeed the use of the other idler wheel and seperate cap is the recomendation of the author of this article. Also mentioned regarding the suspension is the oversize track skids located on top of the bogies. The author used sheet brass rolled and bent to shape attached with crazy glue. I plan to follow his advice on this matter.
I am currently in correspondance with the editors of the site to learn how to post more pics, as I have more than one "commitment" on the site. I feel the 30 that I am allowed does not do justice to either this thread,nor the campaign I am involved in on MSW.Please be patient and once I know how I will be posting pics of this build for us all to discuss.

Thanks Mike, will try that

Darryl

Thanks Jim, I'm going with what I discussed and use the wheel/ cap combination. I figure that If I'm careful I can glue the cap on and the wheel can still spin making the painting easier.
So issue with the skids are that they are too thick?? Too late for me, I had installed them already.
Thanks for all your help. It's nice to know there is someone out there to discuss this sort of stuff and to know I didn't mess-up something. Again Thank You

Steve Zaloga's book "Modelling the US Army M4 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank (Osprey Modelling) " published by Osprey, has a chapter devoted to this kit. It's quite good, and shows the various tweaks needed on this kit. I'm updating mine to a 1945 vehicle with the later turret shell (courtesy of the M4A3 Premium kit). The book is available discounted from Amazon.

Hi Jim ...I just had a thought ...why don't you just get a photobucket account and just copy and post the pictures here after that ..That's what I've been doing for many years and I've still got room ..(Just a thought) Kinda ancious to see some pictures here !

Rick

Ditto! For both the photobucket account and getting photos here...
Brad

here is my first photobucket image guys!...the extent of my progress on the kit

success!...now to share with you some closeups on the bogies ..I added wear to the rubber roadwheels as a tank like this would be driving over bits of congrete,rock,metal,etc that dont agree with rubber

this look was achieved by first cutting random chunks out with a no.11 blade exacto,then running a dental burr over them using the Dremel,then coating the wheel carefully using liquid cement to remove unwanted scruff.
And here are the drive wheels
This is where the advantage of digital photography comes in ...I didnt even see that ejector mark on the drive wheel till I posted the pic!
I will also show you guys pics of the figures I plan to use ....eventuall this model will be used in a vignette (with 8 figures?...mabe the proper definition is diorama...Im unsure on the cemantics)

Here are the figures to be used in the project.Dragon kit

and Warriors US tank crew no.1

I like the casting on the warriors set...very fine in my opinion...

and I plan to use the Archer set to give them all rank......its all in the little detail,right?

As I said I plan eventually to do a vignette with this piece..I have a US army photographer with an old Brownie camera I want to include along with a scratchbuilt movie camera on a tripod I plan to build..(eventually....lol)

im in ! =] ive taken a massive shine to ww2 allied armour ive got an m20 and m8 amoured cars to do with dragon paras =]

keep it up

I agree with you James ...at one time I said Id never do a sherman because (a)everyone else does them and(2) how much can you do with olive green?..
I have refined my painting abilities a bit since then and as you see Im doing a Sherman.
I think that alot of finesse is required to get a good finish on a single tone vehicle. Depth of finish is important in seperating a decent finish from an AMAZING finish. I really hope that in this thread we can discuss several aspects from building to finishing and weathering to figure painting.

indeed jim some painting/weathering techniques would be cool to discuss on this
build =]

i think i might blog my m20 ive started to build it already

this is the effect well be looking for on the shermans bogies once painted. well weathered and dirty looking like it is near the end of its operative life

jim thats impressive you should explain what you used and how you created
the worn and weathered effect

the first step I use is to paint the basecoat(flat black), then colourcote(green)...then after this has cured I add mud mixture with a toothpic randomly...and logically...places where buildup will occur...the mud mix consists of plaster,birdgrit, carpenters glue..and oregano..and a bit of dirt from my floor in my basement..(I live in a VERY old house ).. Once this dries I then use arcylic flat earth and dab it very randomly and VERY carefully/sparingly....
I then go back and remove some of it partially by dabbing acrylic thinner over the earth areas...
Once this dries I go back and do pinwashing using burnt umber/black oils....
Go back over and pick out boltheads ,etc with flat earth,sometimes lightening this with desert yellow....
the key is : RANDOM and VARIETY OF TONE but TONE is TIED TOGETHER

The other thing I find important is to know when to stop. Yhats purely subjective and visceral. I usualiy take the conservative approach and go back and weather 3 or 4 times before Im satisfied...I build it up bit by bit...weathering is the FUN part !(this is an earlier Stuart ,by the way)