this is just something to keep me going in between the PE madness and the PZ.IV paint job. this is a really nice kit, with crisp details on all parts. less hectic then DML's kits, with less sprues, but with all the quality one can expect from a kit. going on well, and i'm really enjoying this one.



I do wish more companies will release instructions like these (a booklet). much more comfortable then the folded one sheet instructions.


contents: 5 sprues, 2 vinyl tracks, a decal sheet, metal gun and a spring for the recoil bit:


the idlers' mounts supposed to be movable to allow you to play with the tension of the tracks. a bit tricky this part as you don't glue the idler itself and the arm connecting it to the tension part:



the next are these parts - mind how you cut them (they are all the same, and the cut divides them to left and right side)







the pick's end is blocked, so i have drilled it open and expanded it:



that's all for now, enjoy!

I have the Academy one, I want to see your model!

Regards, Alvaro

the interior is a bit disappointing, the driver and hull gunner apparanlty just sit there doing nothing



some upper hull work was done - the rubber band is to hold the rear lights panel

I started this build with my 9 year old. It was a bit too much for him. I'll be getting back to mine soon. This looks good. I'll keep following.

you should, it's really fun.

btw, is it me, or is this tank really small?

It was indeed, very small. The M18 was the only TD to really fulfill what the Tank Destroyer Command had in mind when they envisaged a small, swift, heavily armed vehicle that could outmaneuver and kill heavier tanks. The US Army embraced the TD concept rather than deploy a true heavy tank, a position that wasn't reversed until the last weeks of the war, when the Pershing arrived (it had been developed as a medium tank, but it was called a heavy when it was introduced--indeed, it was 50% heavier than a Sherman, so the title seemed appropriate).
Unfortunately, by the time the M18 was ready, the 76 mm gun was already ineffective against the heavier German vehicles. Tests showed it could carry the 90 mm turret from the M36 (though with less ammo onboard), but no conversion program ever took place.
In hindsight, the whole TD concept was too restrictive, since they were intended to be used only against tanks, and had insufficient armor protection for the assault role, and no machine gun under armor to protect themselves against infantry attack. In practice, no divisional commander would keep half of his armor assets in the rear areas awaiting some hypothetical tank breakthrough. So, the tank destroyers ended up being used exactly like tanks, supporting the infantry, and suffered for it. The problem was summed up in a postwar report. What was needed was "not tank killers, but killer tanks." The tank destroyer command was eliminated after the war, as were the vehicles themselves.
There are tank destroyers today, but they are lightweight missile armed vehicles that supplement rather than replace tanks.

You dunnit. Now I want to start mine as well. I love the Hellcat!

Same here. I've got the running gear together on the Acad kit, this may get me going again on it.

overall paint job + future. again, looking for comments and tips on preshading.

G'day Matan !

I really like this kit, I have it ready to build sometime with Fruilmodel tracks .

The M18 is a beauty, and I've loved it since I saw the TankOverhaul epeisode in Season 1.

I'm interested to know what you have in mind with regards to preshading, seeing you have coated the model with Future and also done the base coat.

This is normally done prior to the base coat I thought.

ie: prime, paint shade areas witha black or a dark coat of some sort, then base coat.

Are you thinking of this or perhaps of doing something with Oils ?

Cheers

Paul

erm, I have already pre-shaded the model, (pretty much as you said) and I'm looking for feedback on the result. I guess from your comment it's not apparent enough or maybe I should take better pictures

Ok..

No you're right I can't see any shading - perhaps it's the lighting. Maybe it's my Laptop


Maybe some closeups of the areas you believe are darker / lighter will be better ?

I think after seeing Chris Jerret's Leopard 2A4 in Green, I've become a fan of color modulation and post shading.

Paul

added some rust and mud

WAY too much rust.

Mark

thanks for the input, I'll try to tone it down

This is cool kit - one thing if you are not too far along... the roadwheels are poor and do not resemble the real thing - Jaguar makes a set for about $10 that have the correct look but when assembled are spaced too far apart, front part of wheel vs back part of wheel - quick fix is to file down the plastic spacing the two apart - the finished wheel pair should be about the width of the track - check photos of the real thing on the Internet... HTH and good luck, my partial build is still in progress in the box...

Great work so far. Looks very promising!

I have to second the opinion expressed above on the amount of rust, quite much for an operative vehicle.
But how did you do it, if I may ask? Especially the accumulation of rust on the glacis plate looks very convincing with the multi-colored, flaked effect.

And another thing, what paints did you use for the OD, the shade looks nice.

Having been keeping an eye on your progress makes me want to pull that kit from my stash and get building too.

thanks! Yeah, i'm rubbing some of the pigments off with a q-tip and tamiya acrylic thinner.
what I did is as follows: first I dabbed around irregularly with some burnt umber (oil paint). after about 45minutes while the paint is still wet I did second layer of dabbing on the previous layer with burnt sienna .
giving the paints some 1-2 hours to dry further, I added small amounts of mig pigments standard and light rust, and with the brush, added a drop of artists oil thinner on it. hope it helps you

p.s: I used a 000 brush