Hi Matt,

First off, the construction and paint job look very nice. The weathered olive drab looks convincing for a Marine M4A2.

I do have some feedback:

M4 series tanks were NOT prepared with red primer. The olive drab paint was baked right onto the metal, forming a very durable coat. You can certainly use primer red as an undercoat, but you would never see primer red paint showing through worn olive drab. For US armor I prefer black as a primer, as olive drab is made by mixing black with ochre.

The "drainage holes" on the bogies are actually mounting points for a return roller arm. The bogies on both sides of the tank are identical accept for the return roller arms and skids. The return roller arm could be mounted on either side of the bogie. The skid could be oriented either way depending on the roller arm arrangement.

US tools were supplied by many different manufacturers, sometimes in overall olive drab, sometimes with bare wood parts, sometimes with black metal parts, sometimes with olive drab metal parts, and sometimes with bare metal parts. I suspect that any parts delivered in bare metal were quickly painted. To my knowledge they were never delivered in primer red.

US machine guns are gunmetal, not primer red.

US periscopes had clear glass with a mirror at the back.

The round thing on the left front fender is a siren. It has a big sink mark in the center, and should instead have a grate pattern.

I do not think "Destroyer" had periscope guards but I am still looking for a picture.

The road wheel and sprocket piece look fine, but without straps or angle iron they would fall off.

The tail lights were as follows: upper left clear dark red; lower left clear black, upper right clear black; lower right clear black. (Though not actually black, that's what they look like.)

I only offer these comments as suggestions. You should build the kit however you see fit.

-Doug

Hi Matt,




I have no issues with you or your model. I was making a sincere attempt to offer helpful information about US equipment and constructive feedback. There is and was no malice on my part.




Okay. Your pictures do not include that information so I had no way of knowing that was the effect you are going for. The rust wash looks a lot like the rust primer.




Again, that's fine. You can prime in any color you want. The red primer shows through inside the bogie trucks, thus my comment.




That's good, but hard to tell from your pictures.




Steve Zaloga on US WWII tail lights:

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/message/1123348412/Combat+Zone+Safety+Lights




Matt, I offered information about the M4A2 tank as used in WWII, specifically information about those vehicles at variance or seemingly at variance with your model. I could have brought up more, but I left it to things you can modify at this stage of the build. I did not want to overwhelm or discourage you. In the case of the wheel and sprocket, I cannot see the mounting hardware in your pictures. I did not bring up these points to tear you down, but rather to help you build a more accurate model. You may choose not to act on the information--that is your choice as the model builder and perfectly fine. You should build it and paint it as you see fit.

Your model looks great, keep building, and keep posting. I have nothing but good wishes towards you and you model building efforts.

-Doug

at the risk of seeming heavy handed, any Marine who allowed his machine gun to get that rusty would probably have found it easier to face the Japanese than to face his Sergeant. Aboard ship that stuff was often packed in cosmoline, specifically to keep it from rusting. Should be an easy fix. Other than that I really like the "dusty" weathering.

THERE IS NOT ONE IMAGE DISPLAYED OF THE PAINTED REAR OF THE VEHICLE,HOW DO YOU KNOW THE LIGHTS AREN'T PAINTED CORRECTLY?????

Rust on the gun Aircooling wrap caused by excessive firing and heat, could be better blued i guess.

Yep loose the rust on the Barrels.
Even in the field plenty of water ,snow ,rain and salt and firing never saw a rusted barrel on any MG or rifle.

Matt, there is no need to yell (and using all uppercase equals to yelling in usual “netiquette”, not to mention the bold font). As the matter of fact, there is a picture of your model from the rear in the first post. I can understand it shows unfinished painting job, but even then I don’t understand the fuss - if it's not done yet, you can nail it right off hand. You’ve asked for feedback and comments. From were I sit, it looks like you’ve got few pretty educated and constructive ones...

I like your work, especially the painting and weathering. My only comments would be regarding the periscope glass and red primer showing in the suspension.

HTH

-A-

i'm having a bad day, nearly walked out on my wife.
Sorry All.

Matt

Matt,

Your responses make some sense now....never a good thing to be PO'd with/at SWMBO.

Anyhow, the job you're doing so far is really good...yep, few things to take care of...no biggie. My biggest thing would be the periscope coloring....too bright and no translucence? And rusty MG's is a big "no-no" unless it's a derelict.

There is a pretty big and repeating pet peeve on Armorama about the rear lense coloring....comes up quite often. The picture that Dave posted is (originally from Gino?) one I have saved...so I don't make the color mistake!

Keep it going....lookin' good.

Mike

Hi Mike,
All sorted, Got to recollect all my clothes from my parent's house later on.

Well I've touched up the suspension bars so no red primer can be seen.
I've painted the periscope lenses with some clear green and smoke, its all i can do without stripping all the layers back.

Taillights are now matching my reference pics of museum restored vehicles.

Tracks are awful, the fruil ones are crap , I've tried glueing them and soldering them, but they have too bigger gap in the links.( I'll use them as addition armour on my Brit Normandy Sherman).
I've glued together the kit's DS tracks and test fitted them.

Tools and MGs have been repainted with washes of gunmetal and smoke, I also did the exhaust pipes at the same time, wasn't sure about the silencer boxes??

Will take some photos later as doesn't look like i've got a job interview tomorrow


Matt

Finished.

Matt

I like it. I especially like the overall weathering and i really like the color you used for the tires. What color is that. Only critique i have is the tracks look a bit bland. maybe a wash and some sand/ dirt? Not 100% sure but i think they should have black rubber pads?

good model
Jon

Hi Jon,
XF63 for the tyres as rubber doesn't stay black for long .
Rubber Laminated track pads are on the later ones so not to damage Road surfaces when they were moving them around .
Not going to do too much damage on a beach though.

Matt

The Sherman is now in a small display case.
Finished.

Onto the next Sherman mk3.

Matt