Hi Guys, Now that I finished off a batch of German tanks I decided to build some more American tanks. First will be this old Viper Sherman Hull and turret that I recently acquired in a trade.



For those of you who are un familiar with the Viper Sherman it was an all resin and fiberglass early production M4 Sherman that was released in limited numbers back in 2003. The Model itself is a scaled up copy of the Tamiya 1/35th scale early production Sherman. The model came with a two piece upper and lower hull, non functional VVSS suspension, and lots of crew equipment that would be inserted into all of the holes that are drilled into the tank's surface. The problem with these models is that their resin construction made them very fragile and prone to damage. They also became unpopular because of their weight. Viper soon folded after the release of their Late Tiger I kit that was very un popular because of the same reasons.















I always liked their M4 and I have built two of them when they were released. After building my two Shermans I saw room for improvement, and in making the tanks more rugged and robust.







One problem that the kit has is that the lower hull doesn't have the hull sponsons. The hull is also molded that the hull wall is lower than the sponson by 1/2 an inch. Because of this there is a huge gap that can be shows through to the other side of the tank.



To correct this I cut several pieces of 1/2 inch plywood to construct the sponson and hull wall extender. I used this thickness of material because I wanted to use a material that was the same thickness of the tank's hull, also because it gives me a stronger point to attach fasteners. The sponsons had to be very strong because they will also be used to attach the top hull and the bottom hulls turning them into one solid piece. This alone reduces the fragility of the tank immensely. The sponsons were attached to the tank via fasteners, then they were treated and reinforced with fiberglass cloth and resin.






Prior to in the upper hull installation I reinforced the entire upper hull with more fiberglass cloth and resin. The tank does have cloth imbedded in its casting, but I felt that the thickness was too thin and the extra cloth and resin was a good measure. The Hull now sounds more "Solid".



The upper Hull was attached permanently to the lower hull with fasteners, fiberglass cloth, resin, and epoxies.





I will not be using the stock Viper VVSS suspension. In it's place I will be using my own functional VVSS suspension. Because of this I plugged up the holes for the kit supplied suspension with casting resin. I also used the casting resin to plug up all of the equipment holes.





The tank came with a few tools and other accessories molded in shovels, fenders, head/ tail lights...ect. These were all removed and new ones will be added in their place







The tank's turret also had it's extra armor molded in. The problem was that the kit has the armor placed too low and had to be removed



I will also be tooling up some new Resin components, as well as updating some of the older ones with newer tooling.

Thanks Guys, Compared to the Jag this build will be a vacation for me . I have some progress on the tank. I also have some parts in the molding phase and will be ready and on the product line shortly.



On the tank's engine deck I engraved the tank's engine hatch and engine access lid panel lines. I also severed the engine hatch armored ring from the tank's armored ring.






The tank's molded in air intake grill was removed. a new netal mesh one will be added soon.

I decided to reinforce the tank's upper hull roof. The hull is pretty sturdy, but I wanted to put extra reinforcement to eliminate the chance that the heavy turret could warp the hull over time. To reinforce the tank's upper hull roof I used three lengths of a hollow PVC pipe. The hollow pipe was then epoxied into the tanks hull. The hollow column gives me the maximum amount of strength with the minimum amount of added weight.





For the tank's rear wall the kit was designed that the rear wall and the tank's upper hull would be connected via two fasteners. Instead of using fasteners I used two segments of Aluminum rods that were sanded flush with the rear wall.



Resin and epoxy weld seams were added. There are still more welds that are needed; these will be added down the road.









On these vipers the early three piece transmission cover has molded in bolt details. The molded in bolts are simple round nubs with no fastener detail. These molded in bolts were removed and new metal fasteners were added. I added two seam lines to the transmission flange, giving the illusion that the transmission is in three pieces. Cast texture and the grease fittings were also added to the transmission cover.

Replacement bolts were also added to the final drives, idler mounts, and side wall. In addition to the bolts a circular disc was also added to the final drives.















On these Vipers where the Upper hull and the lower hull meet at the bolt strip there is a severe warp that leaves a large hole. To fix this I used a scrap piece of 20 gauge sheet metal left over from the jag. This plate was bolted to the upper hull with counter sunk fasteners. These fasteners were sanded flush with the tank's hull and are no longer visible. The other part of the steel plate is connected to the rivet strip with the rivet strip bolts. This plate forced the gap closed.





I'm now complete with the hull fragility improvements. The tank's hull is now not only more "stabile" and rugged, but is also easier to pick up then before.

The tank's fragility was easy to fix, but for the weight the only equipment that I know of that will fix the problem would be a set of these tools :lol:

I have added a new component to the US AFV poduct Line. More parts are to follow. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm
Resin M4 Sherman Bow 30.cal canvas mount ring





I have also assembled and installed the tank's functional VVSS Suspension. On this model I went with the Mid production VVSS skid rail. I also used different styles of swing arms, and road wheels for the "in field" mix and match look.









One weak point that these kits had were their suspension. The stock VVSS suspension was made out of the same brittle resin that the tank was constructed out of. The stock suspension was also ridged and non functional. This made the tank very unrealistic when placed on an uneven surface. Another problem because of the ridged and fragile combination was that when the tank was placed on an uneven terrain all of the tank's weight would be focused on one or two pressure points, giving the potential for the swing arms to snap.

With the new functional VVSS the tank now has a natural look on an uneven surface, and the tank's weight is distributed thought the entire suspension safely.









Now that the suspension is out of the way the tank's progress will be more rapid.

Beautiful work!!

Jesus.....how much does a kit like this run

When these tanks were released they were priced at $400.

I have made more progress on the model, and I have added some new parts to the product line.
http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

M4 Sherman Exhaust manifold set. This style of exhaust will work on the Viper M4, M4A1, M3 Lee, and the M7 Priest.













Early 60 degree M4 frontal additional armor set. Set includes port, starboard armor plates, and one 30. cal canvas ring. This set will work on Viper and Armortek sherman tank Kits.









M4 rear Sponson access cap set.





On the tank's rear deck I completed reworking the large air intake. I also made the recessed wells for the fuel caps, which will be added soon. The two angle pieces are mounts for the retaining bolts, which keep the large hatch locked to the rear deck.











For the tanks sprockets I modified a set of Panzerwerk VVSS sprockets to fit over the Viper sprocket mounts.



The origonal kit came with two cast resin early spoke sprockets. These sprockets would be bolted onto metal studs that protrude out of the tank's transmission hub.



To make the Panzerwerk sprocket mount to the Viper stud I had to first widen the original bolt hole to 1/4 of an inch. I also extended the hole to run through the entire stud. This will be for mounting a 1/4 inch shaft that will be connected to the sprocket.



The panzerwerk sprockets were modified be first having a 1/4 inch hole drilled all the way through the sprocket. This will be for the 1/4 inch steel shaft.





Half way through the sprocket the 1/4 inch hole was bored out larger to the diameter of the viper stud. The 1/4 inch shaft was then glued in it's place. This allows the sprocket to spin freely, and with plenty of support from the stud.





More progress to follow.

I have completed more new components for the M4 and the M4 family. All of these new items have been added to the product line.
http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

1. Resin M4 Sherman Family Lower Hull Lift Hook set.









2. Viper M4 Sherman Idler Mount Quick Fix set. Set comes with two resin Hex heads, and two plastic discs. This set is a simple quick dress up kit for the Viper Idler Mounts.



Stock Viper Idler Mount:



Modified with the dress up kit:





3. Rear deck Armored air intake. This part will work on all 1/6th scale M4 Sherman on the market.







4. Resin M4 Sherman Rear Engine Air Filter canister set. This set will work on The Viper M4, M4A1, M3 Lee, M7 Priest, and M12 SPG. These sets will not work on the Panzerwerk, Armortek, Plastic Panzer, and JD M4A3 Sherman. The Air filters are hollow and come with a removable top, and air filter. These sets would be perfect for a maintenance diorama. This set also comes in two options, One as a kit form, the other as a pre built set.













On the tank I completed the tank's rear firewall details.




I have also been working on the tank's front armored plate details including a travel lock, side view mirror mounts, and front antanna mount cover plate.









On the tanks top deck, new tow cable cleats and a new fire extinguisher control box were added.

hi there .
just wanted to say this is one hell of a build , i'll be watching this as you progress ,i realy like large scale ,,and your detailing is top rate ,,keep up the good work ,,

It is great to see you building more of these! Watching with great interest

Rich

Which room will display this monster?

Thanks for the compliments everyone. I have been working on some more parts to finish up the tank's hull.
http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm
1. M4 and M4A1 Resin Engine air intake set.













I have been working on the tank's replacement hatches and will have them up on the product line very soon. Here is a sneak peek of the new hatch





I have also been re tooling many of the older parts with newer molds. The first is the folding Comb wire cutting device. This new tooled version is easier to produce then the first version.





The tank's hull is mostly complete. The front head light and Horn brush guards have been added. New sheet metal fenders were also fabricated and installed.







The functional gas cap covers were installed. The cover's hinges are made out of a copper tube soldered to a brass hex bolt. The whole unit is then screwed into the tank's hull. The retaining pin chain mounts were also added. The tank's fuel caps will be machined out of alluminum and will be installed after the tank is painted.













For the engine air intake mounts to be installed I needed to drill out the positions that the intakes would be mounted to. On these shermans the intakes are also counter sunk into the rear deck. To do this I engraved the counter sink with a dremel.







The intakes now have the proper height and seam around their base.

I have completed the last parts for the hatches and they have been added to the product line.http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

All of the components that are included with my older hatch upgrade kit have been included and molded into these hatches. The hatches also come with pre assembled spring loaded hatch retaining latches. The hatches don't come with the bottom portion of the periscope. A superb set can be purchased through Panzerwerks, and Armorpax.













The tank's lower hull is mostly complete. All that needs to be added to complete the lower hull are the tool mounts, cast numbers, and side view mirrors.





To install the hatches some modifications were made to the tank's hatch wells. Slots were cut into the wells for the hatch handle, and the counter spring arm. Panzerwerk US periscope bottoms were added to the hatch, and mounts for the pad lock and foul weather driving hood were also added.













The spring hatch retaining latches are functional and actually lock the hatch in place.



Here is the new hatch compared with the original kit supplied version





I also installed the tank's rear idler wheels. The original kit supplied idler wheels were a solid cast resin wheel, with nice molded in detailing. When I acquired the tank hull the running gear was not supplied so alternative wheels were used. For the replacement wheels I used a set of Hollow Rotomoled VVSS idler wheels from Plastic Panzers. The wheels were reworked and modified to fit onto the viper idler mounts.



To solidify the wheels I filled them in with casting resin. Now that the wheels are solid I can begin to machine them.



The molded in hub caps were removed and Grease plug inlets were milled into the wheel. Replacement hub caps will be added shortly.



Like on the drive sprocket I had to modify the viper wheel Axel, by drilling out the threaded hole to 1/4 of an inch.



The new Axel was made out of a 1/4 steel rod. The rod had a hole drilled into it and a lock pin and washer were added. This keeps the licked to the Axel, but also allows it to spin freely.

On the tank's front driver's hood I replaced the molded in bow periscopes with a set of my resin ones.

I have also started working on the tank's turret. It has been brought to my attention that the front of the stock viper turret is too blunt and needed to be reworked.

BEFORE

AFTER

The Mantlet drum was reworked. The seams where the drum meets the turret were added along with the slotted screws. The Stock M34A1 Mantlet is too thin and the shape is not very accurate. The stock mantlet is missing the holes for the slot screws, Coax 30 MG, and Gunner's scope. The Mantlet also has it's 75mm gun attached. The problem that I noticed from all of the vipers thatI have seen is that the solid resin main gun is warped. This gun will not be used and a new one will be machined soon.



I made a new M34A1 Mantlet and added it to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

To show the scale of this model here is a size comparison of the matlet to a 1/35th scale tamiya M4 sherman.



The stock mantlet was installed by screwing in two screws with that were attached with nylon washers. The nylon would "in theory" secure the mantlet to the tank. The problem with this method was that the barrel would be too heavy for the nylon mounts and the gun would sag. The other problem was that the resin mounts were the mantlet would attach were very week and can break. The technique that I developed replaces the nylon with two pieces of PVC pipe. The smaller PVC gets inserted onto the mantlet and the larger PVC pipe. The larger PVC simply rotates inside the mantlet drum. Extension springs could also be added to prevent barrel droop if necessary.



The tank's turret is a smooth casting, too smooth. Casting marks were added.

I'm now working on the masters for the tank's turret hatches. more images and progress is to follow.

It's been awhile since I had some progress posted. I have been working on the tank, but I was spending most of the time focusing on the retooling of the tanks copula and other parts, which are now complete.











I have completed the last of the large components. These parts have also been added to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

M4 Sherman VVSS Idler Wheel Hub Caps.




M4 Sherman turret Spent Shell Ejection Port.










M4 Sherman Late War Commanders Copula. I have replaced my first copula with this new advanced version. The copula is offered in two versions, one without the interior periscope detailing, the other with the interior periscope detailing. Both versions feature the interior detailing on the Copula's hatch.

























I installed many of the tank's turret details. Including the Gunner's scope slot screw details, Gunners scope guard box, folding 50.cal travel lock, 50.cal folding Pintle mount, and smoke grenade launcher.





















I also added many of the 50.cal storage equipment to the tank's rear turret bustle.









The tank's new machined PVC gun barrel was installed onto the mantlet.











After adding the gun the barrel was too heavy and caused the gun to droop. to fix this I added a single extension spring to the inside of the gun permanently fixing the drooping problem.





These were the last of the big parts that needed to be patterned and molded. Now that they are complete I can steam ahead on the model with full steam to completion, The tank should be ready for paint in one week.

I have completed the last of the new and retooled parts and have added them to the product line. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm

1. Metal M4 VVSS Sherman front fenders. After starting this project I have recieved many requests for front replacement fenders, and I decided to add them to the product line.







2. Early M4 sherman "shark Fin" range finder.







3. M4 sherman / US AFV Late style range finder. This component has phased out the metal version that was previously offered on the website.











3. Retooled US AFV Pivot able searchlight kit. This revised and retooled component is offered in two versions. The first version has a solid resin light bulb lens. The second version has a hollow search light mount, and comes with a vacume form clear plastic insert. This version can be made with a bulb or LED inside.













The tank is now almost ready for painting











The tank's turret details have been installed and completed


On the rear of the turret, the tank's MP-48 anntenna base was added alond with the 50.cal barrel clamp was added.





The Antenna's tip has the knurled antenna connector added to the tip. This part will be added to the antenna that are offered on the product line with no added cost.





The 50.cal barrel clamp was scratch biult out of sheet steel. The spring loaded clamp lock is functional





Brass periscope brush guards were installed on all of the exposed periscopes.







I also re worked the tank's spare antenna base plate, by added 5 hex bolt heads replacing the molded in round nubs.

As a side note I have seen many 1/6th shermans that have the 50.cal pintle mount mounted on this position. Many people miss identify this location for the pintle mount because both the pintle mount and the aerial mount have four holes drilled into them. This Position was never intended for the pintle mount and was only for the use to install a second aerial base. Typically most M4's had only one radio and the antenna would be run through the large antenna well. Since the other position was not in use a plate was bolted over it.



I also added the tank's side view mirrors. I made the mirrors fully telescoping and functional, and real mirriors were used.













The tank is now getting it's tool posts. Once they are complete the tank will be ready for painting

beautyfull work!

Got a crew lined up for it yet ?

Cheers.
Todd.

Thanks guys, I don't have much figure wise. for my needs the stock out of box figures work well for me.

I added the tank's tool clamps, the tank is now complete and has been painted in it's base coat. It is now off to the next step .

Final Prime











































Base OD

Wow that is one Big tank and a great finish and build.

At $400.00 for original not bad for a static display at 1/6 scale.

But with the added parts makes it a better piece.

Thanks for sharing.

wow ths realy is an ore insiring build ,, hats off to you

I applied the tank's pattern and markings. All markings are hand painted. The model is ready for the next step.

The tank is now 95% complete. All that remains is to install the tools and turret mounted M2HB 50.cal











The tank weathering was completed, the fire extinguisher box handles, and grease fittings were all painted red, the tail lights were painted along with the insulator for the MP-48 aerial base.















































The mirrors were installed into their frames. As a side note, the side view mirrors were used for transport driving. These parts would be prone to damage so when in battle these would be stored in side the vehicle.







On the tank's copula I installed a Panzerwerk periscope and periscope mount. To fit the periscope mount I had to modify the stock panzerwerk piece. To make the part fit I simply removed the base plate and installed.



























The other periscopes were also painted and installed.











A panzerwerk Bow 30. cal and 30.cal barrel was added.







The tank's tracks were also assembled and installed. The original Viper came with a set of Plastic T48 Rubber chevron tracks. The problem with these tracks was that they were very inaccurate. The track teeth were molded into the track pad, and the inner portion of the track pad had a large channel molded into them. On top of that the plastic material that they were made of was brittle. In their place I used a set of Panzerwerk ABS plastic T-48 tracks. These links are far superior to the kit supplied tracks and are worth every penny! The tracks come with the end corner Duck Bill connector.



A small angle is molded into the tooth. For added track flexibility these angles were removed.







The tracks have a nice articulation and the tank rolls very niclely.

The last of the parts were added and the tank is now finished. To quote Queen "Another one Bites the Dust!". Over the weekend I'll be shooting an out door dio, and make the tank's gallery webpage. Once the gallery is complete it is off to the next one











The tank's Tools and "funiture" were built and completed.









I have added to the product line a Set of US AFV tools. I have had these tools since I built the M10, but I never got around to adding them to the website. http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/ustankparts.htm



The tank's gas caps were machined out of aluminum, and their retaining chains were added.





Chain was also added to the tow Hitch and the tow hitch mount.



For the tank's AA 50.cal I used the Dragon 1/6th scale Plastic 50.cal kit. The kit is an excellent detailed 50.cal. The kit also goes together very nicely, but needed very few enhancements.



The gun has a functional bolt and charging handle, but a spring was added to make the bolt return.



The gun's barrel has sveral notched molded into onto the ring. Due to the way the parts were molded the notches are absent on two sides of the ring. So the two notches were added to the ring.



The gun's top ammo hatch is functional that has two molded notches. These notches are too small and the plate is held in place, but the door tends to fall out. To fix this I drilled out the notches and used a small wire brad to hold the plate on keeping it's functionality.

STOCK



ALTERED



For the Gun Cradle, I used the Armorpax white metal kit. The Armorpax kit is also a very nice add-on. To make the cradle pivot I used two micro slot screws that were screwed into the guns pivot points.













The gun comes with a nicely detailed ammo belt, but the problem is that the ammo Belt is made out of ridged styrene, and is not flexible. DS styrene would have been a better choice for the ammo belt material. The kit also comes with a nice ammo box, but the ammo box is not for WWII. The Kit's tripod is also excellent, but is not going to be used on this model.

For the ammo I used a DID cloth and brass ammo belt. The 50.cal shell casing were left natural brass, and bullet heads were painted copper and tracers were added to every 5th round.

I will start the next tank over the weekend and I'll have some progress posted by early next week.

As for Dynamite, I filmed the tank's out door diorama with a few of my other US armor. I have many more images, which I will post soon along with the tank's gallery website. Enjoy!

The tank's gallery webpage is completed, and I have all of the diorama images posted.
http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/tnt/dynamite.htm[/url]