Well, I finally stared construction of the M4DV from Dragon that I reviewed here. So far fit of the parts has been excellent. It appears a lot of little tweaking has been taking place. On the actual vehicle the antenna pot and bow MG plate are rolled steel welded in place. On the kit they are cast items. I didn't want to mess the kit up by trying to correct it, so it will stay as is. The only issue I have encountered in the build so far is the fit of the bogie halves. The mating surfaces between the return roller arms just doesn't fit well. I ended up filing it down and putting a piece of white card stock in. No one will ever really notice it but I wanted to see what I could do with the kit.











Test fit of the upper and lower hull parts was pretty good. I'll see how it is after I do the rear hull plate. Any tips and corrections are welcome. I'm not a Sherman expert, just a guy who likes to build them.

Off to a great start on this one, Russ. I haven't built a Sherman as of yet, nor know much about them, so won't be any help, but I'll be following this with interest

Hi Russ, off to a goof start.

Al

Looking good Russ.
Check here to see if anything can be added.
http://paulbudzik.com/tools-techniques/Sherman%20Construction/sherman-construction.html
Keep it up will start soon myself.

Gentlemen, thanks for the kind words of interest and support. Jeff, that is a great link. I might have some time today to sit down with the boys and model together, and get some more done.

Good start Russ ...The problem with the Dragon kit is that is more of a mishmash of different M4s but there were M4s with that type of front end but it doesn't fit with the 90 degree back plate . Not much you can do with the kit to fix it unless you feel like cutting the back of the hull off and regluing it at the right angle... I know I wouldn't bother with it ..
Good job on the wheels ..some nice details there ..Keep up the good work.

Rick

With a sick baby, foster kids going nuts, and daughter's birthday, I haven't had time to do much. I put the rear hull plate together.



The weld seams for the tow points are larger than the part itself. I saw this on the M4 composite as well. Minor detail to fix, or cover with mud.



I also cleaned out the exhausts so they don't look so flat. I should have checked reference photos first, but here they are.



I started cleanup on the upper hull. There is a mold seam running across the front where the DV front meets the main hull body. There are also small seams on the DV ports and rear hull deck.






Now the big part. If you're going to screw up, do it in front of everybody. Those that can't help can at least enjoy the show. The instructions said to attach the bolt strip to the transmission housing before attaching the upper hull. I have never done this but I thought "I'll follow the instructions for once." I had my doubts, but did it. I shouldn't have. There is quite a large gap, and you need the upper hull to set the strip at the proper angle (see the link Jeff posted above). I had to carefully remove it (and it still broke) so I can properly handle the gap. It may be that the lower hull is still the same length as the standard M4 but the 90 degree upper is clipped a bit shorter at the rear. Anyway, I have to fix the gap, which was about 1mm, and either repair the bolt strip or scratch a new one. I'll have to touch up the upper lip of the transmission housing as well. Here is the damage.



In the meantime, I'll start working on the turret and finish clean up on the hull.

Hi Russ,
Nice build so far. But I noticed you have attached the air cleaners on the rear plate upside down! The round end should be pointed toward the idler wheel mounts,while the pyramid shaped end is under the upper hull overhang. Hope this helps.
Regards,Bob

It's happened to all of us, I promise. On my Tasca M4, i had a large gap above the transmissions bolt plate on one side. To solve this problem, i carefully sliced off the bolts and puttied the gap. Lots of careful sanding with bits of sandpaper finally got things right. I then sliced new bolts off of a spare part and superglued them in place. Just relax Russ, take your time, and think before you act.

Robert, thanks for catching that. I get a little dyslexic from time to time. I had them right side up, it was just the rest of the kit that was upside down. It's easy to fix that end. Also forgot to clarify. The seams at the rear of the turret base are placement lines for the last bits of the splash ring (?) and complete the rear portions. They still have to be removed as they are much larger than the parts to be installed.

Jon, thanks for the advice. Fortunately, if I have to go the scratch route, there are lots of spare bolt heads, both on the sprue sides and on unused parts.

Nice work, Russ! Always good to see more Shermies.

The fit of the transmission cover and upper hull is always a problem. I'm currently working on an M4A1 DV which I combine from several different Formations sets I had in the stash. The fit of tranny and upper hull is quite a problem. The plastic card and putty are currently drying... I'm not looking forward to the next step... I guess it also involves a bit of warping on the upper hull and sponson floors which only increases the problem...

I feel with ya! I'll be watching!

Cheers!
Stefan

Managed to get a bit more done. Upper hull attachments are pretty simple and go quickly. Fuel caps and armor. Still need to clean it up a bit more.



The fit of the rear access panels was pretty good. The etch screen looks really nice but is almost completely hidden.



I used a piece of blue-tac to place the small screens and keep them from sticking to my fingers.



I fixed the air cleaners and attached the upper hull. I used a piece of card stock under the plates for the engine deck as recommended in the link Jeff provided to preserve the joint between plates.



For the transmission cover on the front I used the extra bolt strip for the late hull tanks. I carefully sanded down the details so it was mostly flat. The bolt heads are a little more recessed than on the strip they replaced, but it looks ok to me. It was a perfect fit for the gap. I then began to carefully carve and sand away the upper edge to match the hull, leaving a lip at the top edge of the bolts. Still needs a bit of work, but it seems to do the job.





While I was waiting for that to set up, I also started on the turret, fixing the seams.


Lots of little things to do still, and I'm back to work tomorrow, so I won't have as much time to work for the next few days. Thanks for all the input and support.

I've spent some time looking for specific vehicles. Here are a few I'm thinking of copying or immitating from this site

http://752ndtank.com/M4M4A1.html

I sent an e-mail to Robert Holt when I first recieved this kit but he hasn't responded. Bob Card stated he lost contact with him as well so I hope he is well.

The text contains quite a bit of information regarding how thte tanks were painted and marked. I'm going to assume the M4s were painted the same as the M4A1s. My guess is that "Catch It", pictured about half way down the page, is three color as the two lighter colored sections appear to be different shades, maybe brown and OD? I haven't been able to find photos from any other location of tanks from this unit.

I'll be back on the build in a couple of days, maybe sooner.

Managed to get a bit more done on this. I put Mr Surfacer 500 on the front seam to fill it, smoothed with a q-tip soaked in 91% isopropyl alcohol. Added the headlights, guards and fender parts. The angle part on the front hull is listed as MA9, which is a wider flat etch part. I believe the correct piece was MA9, which was also scored down the center for the fold. Headlights received an undercoat of aluminum and periscopes were painted. The color listed as 2,2 (in GSI Creos Aqueous color and Mr Hobby color) is black, but is not indicated on the paint color chart. I also added the tools to the hull, but will add the straps later.






I then moved on to the turret. The main gun was assembled and the small rotor shield without armored tabs was put in place. Photos show the shield over the coaxial MG so I used that. I started to clean out the clamp bracket for the .50 cal. Photos also show the applique cheek armor, which I used. I added the Voyager antenna mount. Everything else is from the box.





Here it is all together.



As always, let me know if I need to correct anything. The kit has gone together quite well. Placement of the lifting rings on the hull front and turret rear is by guestimate, but I think I got them all right. I'll place the suspension after the base coat of paint. Photos of the 752nd show what appear to be T54E1 tracks in use. I have a set left over from the M4A2 I can use in place of the T51 included in the kit. I'm still working on the proper paint scheme. OD, black and desert yellow is what it appears, but correct me on that. Thanks for any input.

After a little more cosmetic work I applied a primer coat using Krylon ultra flat OD green. This revealed a few more spots that needed more filling and sanding. Another coat over the fixed areas and this is what I have now.







This will work as the bast coat. I forgot the casting numbers on the side of the hull, which I will add, and paint the road wheels and idlers. Now I have the camo bands. Black is one of the colors. I have read desert yellow for the other for tanks in Italy. Is this correct? Also,d does anyone make a set of "gently used" US style cans? I have seen the burnt out cans, but it appears most of those are smashed beyond use. I just want some that are dinged and bulged. Any help is much appreciated.

Well, after careful study of black and white photos and information from the 752nd website, I painted the tank in OD, with US red brown and US special tan. I added some color modulation of prussian blue, alizarin crimson, yellow ochre, titanium white, phalo green, sap green and cadmuim yellow light. I then did washes with burnt umber, yellow ochre and cadmium yellow mixed, and a pin wash of lamp black. There is still some weathering to do, and I need to fix the tracks as well, which were placed just before the photos. Most early vehicles from this unit did not carry any insignia and few other markings. I'm still trying to decide what to add. Here she is.









As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated. I only had the right side view of "Catch It", which was the tank I attempted to copy for the paint scheme. I need to decide on a tactical number, and try to determine an appropriate registration number, since no good photos exist that I can find. Robert Holt, the owner of the 752nd website, was a regular contributor at this site in the early days. If anyone has any suggestions, it would be of great help.

Hi Russ- not seeing the photos for some reason.

nah, me neither

The ones posted on the 24th and then the ones from yesterday are all not showing for me. Everything else looks good.

I fixed the photos from yesterday. I can't find the photos from the 24th. I had originally uploaded them (I thought) to my kitmaker gallery, but they are not there. Just imagine the same views in ultra flat OD green.

Had a scare. I got called away from the table for a moment, and when I returned my 3 year old was "helping" me by painting my tank. Must remember to put everything away. Lucky it was just paint she was using, and she wasn't hurt. Had to clean up the kit, repaint a bit, and weather. I decided to make the kit personalized and named it after boy #2. The red 6 is based on markings from the 752nd, which used red for 1st company vehicles, white for 2nd and blue for third. 6 would have been the commander, 2nd platoon of the first company. This unit initially didn't use any bumper codes and the hull serial number was not seen on all vehicles, either. Some vehicle names began to appear on the vehicles as time progressed. The tarp for the stowage was a completely different color from the tan camo. She is nearly complete.








Still need to add the .50 on top, dust with pastels, and make a base. Anything else needed, let me know, and thanks for looking.