Thanks Jim,

I like my builds to be a little bit different so glad you find it interesting. Hopefully I won't disapoint later on in the build!

Thanks,

James

Ok, just a quick update:

All the roadwheels and idlers have been filled as ordered! The Idlers used the Eduard set, the others were cut from PE fret.




The upper hull panel has had all it's detailling done. Periscopes were replaced with opened verlinden versions, all tie downs shaved off and replaced with tiny eduard PE ones, the external fire extinguisher switch (I think thats what it is) was thinned down and had a little eduard pull switch fitted.




I also started on the diorama side of things. This guy will be standing next to the M8A1, he's a .30 cal gunner and I decided to give him the M1919A6 version that could be used by one man. This was built using an Italeri .30cal, DML bipod and carry handle and a Tamiya stock. The figure is built from varios DML parts from their 'advance to the rhine' set and has had is head and left hand carrying a .30 cal ammo box replaced with Verlinden resin parts. His .45 pistol ammo pouch is also Verlinden and his medical kit pouch(?) is DML All his other equipment is from Tamiya. I got a bit eager and started painting him so sorry about that.






To be honest these pics are a little out of date, i'll try and get some newer ones up soon!

As always, fire away with your comments!

James

Hi James,

She's looking great! I've been meaning to comment since, oh, about the 14th

Okay, now that the salutations are out the way, time for 101 questions

1) I noticed that some ammo rounds are in the stowage tubes, others out - is there any regulation or rule as to how the ammo should be stored? Would I be wrong to depict them all being in the tubes, or all out, or half and half?

2) I note that you've painted the floor (specifically the escape hatches behind the driver) OD - so is it only the interior sides of the hull that are white?

3) What thickness brass wire did you use for handles on the rear hull?

4) What's this 'sponge technique' you refer to?

5) I understand that the outside of US tanks was baked or something, so the OD didn't chip so much (if at all) - is this not true to the interior as well? Were the interiors painted?

6) Nice work on the idler wheels - are you only closing in the one side of each wheel?

7) Road wheels - are you planning to chip the "rubber" at all?

Phew Not quite 101, but I think that's all

TIA mate

Rudi

(p.s. mine hasn't progressed much since the last update - been having fun with the PE exhaust deflector boxes - now there was some interesting contortionist bending )

Hi Rudi,

No worries about the interigation, i'll do my best to answer all your queries;

1) As I understand it, rounds were supposed to be stored in packing cases, presumably to reduce the risk of them getting thumped/hit by shrapnel etc. and acidentally going off. Therefore, I have shown most of mine stowed this way, however, I also beleive the crew would have a few rounds 'ready to go' especially as my build is portrayed as a front line AFV that will have come up against enemy armour. It also adds a little variety!

2) This colour scheme is based on other builds and common sense, not actual reference material (tut tut I know but I couldn't find any). The OD is harder wearing and more available to re-paint the floor, and also from above it aids the camouflage of the vehicle. You can copy this, go for all white, or even all OD for this rear part, but I figure this is the most logical combination. Incidentally, the escape hatch is behind the co-driver I beleive, so the area behind the driver is either stowage or access to the drive shaft im guessing?

3) 45mm wire.

4) You basically cut off a bit of kitchen sponge and dab it in the desired colour paint, then dab it on paper to remove excess (like with dry brushing) and then dab it onto the desired area of your build, hey presto random thin chipping, but practice first!

5) Yes, OD was pretty 'chip proof' but I can't comment for the interior, as it wouldn't matter as much it may not have been and simply been painted with regular white paint, hence my chipping. I don't know for sure though so I stand open to correction. I think it makes for a more 'used' looking interior though.

6) Thanks but not sure what you mean here. If you look at reference pics or museum vehicles with this field mod done, you'll see that they had one set of plates welded on the inside of the wheel. Edurad do seem to provide extras and i'm not sure why. Plates whould only be on the inside of the wheel though.

7) I have already been over them with a mini motor tool and a round burr, but I didn't go to overboard, this is often overdone I feel as people use museum AFV's for reference where the rubber has had 50 years to perish. I feel just enough to make them look used is enough depending on the build.

Phew! And I just answered your PM questions too!

Hope that all helps you mate, i've got an update on the way. Good luck with those screens, I found mine went together easily enough, there just wasn't enough surface to glue the final peice of mesh onto easily.

Cheersm

James

Some more progress now.

The hull is coming along nicely and the running gear is all done. Most of the Eduard etch has been added, grab handles all replaced with wire, and wire handles added to the central fuel caps. Weld beads and rivets applied to the hull side, and the front stowage added. I used plastic card textured with coarse sandpaper to represent a wooden board, a spare wheel from an old stuart kit was added to the glacis as often seen on stuarts, and sandbags made from milliput, again based on reference pics.
Of note are the bridge classification number disk on the left fender, and the PE parts for spade stowage on the right fender, both commonplace on ETO stuarts, and a nice change to the kit.










Here is a shot of the exhaust deflectors, some dings added for combat realism! (Yes I have removed all the rear glacis, detail as it will be covered with stowage.)



Here is a shot trying to illustrate some of the detail added to the running gear. Track skids were scratched from photo etched fret for better scale appearance. The later style idler housing detail added from eduard parts and plastic card (see Rudi's thread for detail on this), casting numbers applied and then the whole thing textured with Mr. Surfacer to represent the cast texture of the real thing. You can also see in this shot that when not using sand skirts and re-shaping the front fenders that you need to fill the rear side portion of the front fender with plastic card/putty.



Cheers,

James

James its looking superb, I really like your sandbags

Keep up the great work

Very interesting tank build! Its looking very good! I like your front sandbags and stowage. The figure with the M1919A6 .30 cal is a very nice touch!

Hi James,

Thanks for all the info, and the PM.

The M8A1's looking great! I really like the PE track skids - I'd considered doing the same, but at the last minute decided against it and used the kit parts.

You're really gathering steam on this project - I'll still mucking about with the exhaust deflectors

Rudi

looking very good James, great job on details, small is beautiful

spit

Thanks James, my first time making my own and i'm fairly happy with how they turned out, so glad you think the same.




Thanks Mark, I like things a little different. Yes I wanted the figure to be a little different (there is a pattern emerging here!) to your average GI and I thought the M1919A6 would do the job nicely.




Rudi, Happy to share my limited knowledge with you, after all thats what this site is all about!

I almost went for the kit skids too, but broke one after trying to thin it down the choice was made for me!

You may have spoken too soon about me gathering steam, construction of the kit is now about 90% finished but i've got really burnt out with it and the base i've cast up is taking forever to dry out (I'll explain this better in another post).
As a theoretically quick filler build, this has actually turned into a major project. What do you know, my finger slipped today and ordered myself a Pz II ausf D to take my mind of things for a while, never fear though I have ordered zero aftermarket and will be slapping it together pretty damn quick so I can finish this so I can finish my Churchill dio!

Good luck with those deflectors, the key I found is to glue the central louves in before finishing the 'box' so to speak.




Thanks Pawel, although coming from a guy who specialises in building the biggest production tank of WW2 'small is beautiful' is a little ironic! I know what you mean though, a great build is in the details.

Thankyou all!

James

nice work james!

Thanks Koen, appreciate you like the build!

James

Hi guys,

Its been a while but here is a little update to keep you posted.

At the minute i've been taken over to the dark (panzergrau) side, and so this OD build hasn't been getting any attention, but there are some developments scince my last post so I thought i'd but them up before Rudi overtakes me!


The Turret halves have been mated together, and the pre-painted breach masked off:



Another view, here you can see some of the interior detail from the Eduard set, and that the kit seat parts have received a coat of Mr.Surfacer to give them a more fabric/leather like appearance.



Most of the work has been based on creating the stowgae so often seen piled on stuarts and M8's in the ETO. Firstly here is the part created for the rear of the turret. It's essentially a milliput tarp with Tamiya packs (care taken to make sure each is different to avoid repitition) and a Tamiya tarp from their Churchill kit. I have got into the habit of going over styrene parts like this with a knife to pick out detail, carve out recesses, and make straps hang loose, which are often the issues with styrene moulding.



Here is the stowage for the rear glacis and is a combination of resicast and Verlinden resin items and Tamiya, Italeri, Dragon and Academy styrene parts with some lead foil for straps when neccesary, this lot should be 'fun' to paint!



One of the other additions has been the addition of a rack of Sherman gun cleaning rods to the rear deck, an addition the crew would have needed with this up-gunned variant. This overhead view shows a lot of the additions to the kit so far.



Finally a good old set of shots from the usual angles to show how the whole thing is coming together. The lower hull is very nearly finished now.









Thats all for now, am hoping to get back on this within a week or so when I finish my Pz II dio.

Thanks for looking, and all comments welcome!

James

James, nice to see some progress here I like all the extra stowage you added. I must try it one day. It gives a lot to a finished model.

keep up the good work
spit

Thanks Pawel,

Yes its been a while coming, but i'll be back on the case soon enough! Stowage does give an AFV that 'lived in' look, and is essential for a lot of allied AFV's. The Germans seemed less keen on having a lot of Stowage on tanks, though SPG's and the like often were loaded up nicely.

Cheers,

James

Dang, James, since I am about to start a Tamiya M8 build, I was following this with interest. Hope you are doing okay and and can provide a finish to this build.

Happy holidays, and will look forward to seeing more of this build.

If I may suggest, to get a much better M8 HMC you'd be wiser to kit bash a combination of the M8 turret, hull roof front plat and glasis plates with the AFV Club late M5A1 kit and then add the Verlinden M8 interior (unless you want to do that yourself.

The Tamiya M8/M5A1 hull is quite off in shape & size and the AFV CLub kit is just soooo much better in every way than the old M5A1 that it would almost be a pity to use any more of the Tamiya kit than necessary. From the AFV CLub sprues, it seems that they will also make an M8, but who knows when? If you want an M8 right now, kit bashing the two kits would definitnely produce a superior model.

Paul