A little update ....

The many parts of the suspension of M4A3E8 6183 Dragon ...

Many, many pieces .... too much for my taste ...




Be careful when building the arms of the bogies:
The instruction booklet contains an error in the insertion of parts Q13 and Q14 ...
They point to the hole bottom (and largest) of the bogie arm ... and the drawing below show parts Q13 and Q14 installed properly ... see the info-graphic:


The bogie´s arms mounted ...



And you can forget the springs of the suspensions .... They just do not work ...


Stay tuned, Lads ....

Sorry Marcos I should have warned you about that,

I noted it in my build feature here as well as a few other ommissions and glitches especially if you plan on building Thunder VII

Wow...

More unpleasant surprises comes around ...

That's right, Pat ...

I didn´t know that your article ...
It´s safe in my computer for the rest of my assembly ... this will save me a lot of work and headache ..

Thank you for showing me the link ...

Big hug

First of all, Marcos, thanks for the mention of Model Club as thanks to your build I was able to do a News Report on the company yesterday:

http://armorama.com/news/7317

It's a fascinating exercise. Frankly, i'd completely discount the early DML one and (particularly) the Academy one. The later DML model isn't without its faults but it's the best on the market (at least until we see what Tasca's got to offer).

This is one of the best threads i've seen in months!

Hi, Jim...

Thank you for your words ...

The goal of this project is to test the material in the Model Club, but also to show that we can use those old kits that are becoming forgotten in the depths of our closets ...

These old ladies can still yield a good result... with low costs...

It is true that we spend a little (and lot. ..) more work and sweat, but it is one of the facets that make our hobby into something fascinating ...

Once again, thank you ...

Stay tuned ... More craziness comes around ...

TRANSLATE:
1st guy: Let's jump??
2nd: No way! On the other side, there are only crazy people !!

ehehehehehehheheeheheheheheheheheh

This looks like a great thread, but I can't see most of the pictures. I've tried with IE and Chrome. They just appear as quotes (")

Dave, check you DNS in your computer...everything right here, with images ....

Continuing the triple build , few more steps:

I just build the Dragon´s 6183 suspension ...
Many boring parts...


The "rubber bands" on the bogie wheels are separate.
My initial idea was to paint and mount separately, which would greatly facilitate my task ...
But the rubber bands of the internal wheels did not "enter" after the bogies assembled (I glued the bogies.)

So, I mounted the rubber bands in the inside wheels (red arrows) and let the outside for once painted (blue arrows):


The 6183 kit suspension assembled and aligned:


Following the tips from this excellent article by Pat McGrath (click here!!!), removed the oval covers on the back of Dragon oval and filled the cavities of links supporters, with putty...



While the putty dry, I devote my attention to the Academy's Easy ...

The plastic used (dark green) is much softer than the other two ...
As always I started the assembling by the suspension, which is much easier to build than the Dragons:


Then I discovered a little tragedy:

In my kit was missing a small return roller, one of E6 six pieces ...
Grrrrr...


Even though I have dental hydrocolloid reversible, the famous K27 ... (For those unfamiliar, please, read this article !!!)

I glued a piece of E6 as "master" at the bottom of a form of plastic, with a minimal amount of glue.
Hydrocolloid was melted in the microwave (30 sec.), pouring the jelly on the box:


Here is the Eighth Wonder of the World:


With the normalization of the temperature of the jelly, it hardens (gels):


Allowing the removal of part ... Notice that there are two small bubbles (red arrows), but they are external, will not cause problems ...


As I just cast one piece, I use self-curing dental acrylic:


Acrylic mixed and poured into mold:


And the new little piece next to the original .... My problem is over!!


Stand up!!!!:


and the other side, showing the return roller "reincarnated" in his position:


Three amigos:



And as I was working with the Academy, I built the upper hull and did a dry-run with the turret, only to settle the worms ...


Bom, Senhores...there this ( for now...)

Stay tuned because more is out there ... I just hope that I have no more surprises with missing pieces ...

Waiting for, Gents !!!!

Another advances...

This weekend gave an accelerated at the Academy....

First, I decided to improve the welding of the hull Academy, which are in low relief.
In the original, are higher ... I used stretched sprue to make volume



.. then used a electronic welder (40 W). I added the details of the hull and glacis ...


Based on this picture of a 105mm HVSS of WWII, decided to do something similar.



A rear rack, made in the field: Copper wire and welder


A small addition: the metal parts from RB Models ... beautiful thing!!


Fifty !!!


The Academy ´s Young Lady is getting almost ready:






But one thing was missing:
these girls, for wearing 105mm, bore few shots in the hull ... and it was very common these girls dragging a trailer of ammunition.

Look , again, at the actual photo above and two pics below:




I was looking in my closet and voilááaa:


A small resin kit, with easy instructions to assemble:


The parts:


But as it was a very old kit, the resin floor appears to have contracted and the floor was small ... Just do another in plasticard:


And the trailer is almost ready:


With that, we just need to finish the ammo trailer and then leave the Academy in a corner, waiting for her the other girls get ready for the "makeup time" ...

Aguardem....

That's the wrong trailer. Verlinden's kit is of a M332 ammo trailer, a post war trailer. The one you need is a M10. They are 2 very different trailers. Tiger Model Design makes one.

http://www.usarmymodels.com/MANUFACTURERS/TigerModelDesigns/tmd353002.html



M10

http://www.cckw.org/m-10_pictures.htm

M332

http://www.armyjeeps.net/m332trailer/m332_ammo_trailer_1_1.htm

Oh, damn !!!

I will try to turn the M332 in M10...

In military, things are never easy ...

Thanks, Tony !!!!!

All the best

Panzerserra

LOL, glad to see I'm not the only one who makes mistakes I'm enjoying your builds here Marcos, and I'm hoping to be able to apply some of what I'm learning here to my HobbyBoss 1/48 M4A3E8 Korean War variant. My knowledge base of Shermans is very limited at the moment and it really helps to see builds like this.

ehehehehehehehhe

As the wise old man said:


"Living and learning ..."

But like I said, I'll turn this post-WWII trailer into a WWII trailer ...


Surgery time !!!!

After use the Dremel with a certain "resourcefulness," this is the final result ....




I think the M332 was very similar to the M10 ...



Now, there are only some final details in the trailer, to get everything ready ...

Well, let´s return to the purpose of this blog: the installation of Model Club´s concrete armour in a M4A3E8 ...

I decided to use as "host" the oldest Dragon kit (9010).



As the concrete armor covers the entire front-glacis, I will not use the part of union between the transmission cover and glacis (my spare parts box say: thanks! ...)


Using super-glue;


And;


I like it !!!! The texture of the concrete is amazing !!!!


But, the .30 Browning was not cool...
RB Models metal part:


Side by side;


Well, gents...there this...for now !!!

Stay tunning !!!

WOW! That is definitiely not a mine roller!

eheheheheheh

Thanks, Noly !!!!
big hug !!

Mas vamos voltar à construção tripla...
Wells, gents, in the workbench again...


I attacked the Dragon 6183, which will do as Thunderbolt:



I glued the upper-hull and began to glue the details of the hull ...

And the three participants of the topic ... notice the trailer back there ...




Time to add the last details, before painting ...

The newest Dragon (6183) comes with metal fenders: time to fold and weld ...



Using cyanoacrylate:


.. And the girl looked like this:




The 6183 is ready for paint ...


We will improve the old Dragon (9010) ...
The turret and transmission cover do not exhibit casting texture. This defect is clear when compared with younger Dragon ...

But this is easily solved: just dilute a good amount of putty with acetone and apply with a broad and hard brush in the areas we want to characterize ...

The result is this (note that some details were added to the turret by scratch and other minor components of the other Dragon):



Othjer side:


Rear view:



The same treatment with putty on the Academy´s girl. Although the Academy present texturing on transmission cover, the turret is less clear ... we will improve it:



While the putty and the glue dries, we will further refine the ammo trailer M10. Copper wire for the missing handles and chains:




Primmer time !!


The ammo trailer:



Color base: Olive Drab !!!


All girls painted !!!


Now, time of the last detail:
Oldest´s Dragon (9010), besides the absence of texture casting (note in this photo the good characterization with putty...).. does not have the casting numbers...

Archer makes a wonderful decal to make these details.

I have my tip for this: I apply the Archer´s decal AFTER the first layer of base-color.

With this, I think the decal details become clearer and sharp.

After that I just apply a thin layer of base color, just to cover the decals and done!


Notice in this photo the EXCELLENT concrete texture of the conversion kit from Model Club:


Bom, Senhores...there this...for now...
Stay tunned !!!

Great to see so much progress on all three builds. If you forgive me one criticism- I think the spaced armour on Thunderbolt 7 as it comes in the kit is too wide. You can see what I mean in this photo of Thunderbolt 7

Yes, Pat !!!

I see your tip...

I even cut the shield, but after finding this picture (see above) on the internet, I reversed the surgery, applying a plasticard strip...



Same Thunderbolt VII, but the spaced armour seems to be more spaced than in the picture that you posted ...(note the green arrows ...)





Interesting, isn´t ???

So, I opted to leave the additional armour furthest from the side of upper hull.

Marcos, once again, you're doing a fine job here. You make it look so easy and bring over the joys of this hobby well.

Keep going! I'm watching!

Cheers!
Stefan

Thanks, Dangeroo !!!

Tons of fun with this triples Shermies !!!!

But, lets go...Last pictures of this week-end...

Ups e downs in color-base...plus a layer of Future, for the decals...


decal time:


Decal in the M10 ammo trailer:


Painting the wheeels ...a boring step, but necessary !!,

Soon, the best part: weathering!!!


Ok...there this, for now !!!


Thanks for looking, Guys !

Now, the photos of the weekend labour...

The older Dragon, with the Model Club conversion kit. Weathering start ... I made clear markings of rust on the "marriage" between concrete and armor ...


Thunderbolt VII (new Dragon)


The Dragon´s 105 HVSS Academy...


...and her trailer:


After tracks, mud and...

Model Club:



Thunderbolt:



Academy 105 HVSS:




..and the Triumvirate:


We're almost at the end of the novel ....
Stay tuned!

Regards, from Brazil !!!

Marcos, what a great build log!

I am really enjoying what you are doing with these M4A3 easy eights.

The concrete armour looks very nice.


Keep up the excellent work.

David.

thanks, David !!!!

All the best !!!

very nice.