Anyway, I've sorted through the shelves of the shed and brought together about seven Sherman kits - some of which have been with me for as long as twently years and some others parts more than 30 years.
I once managed to cobble together an M32 ARV on a Tamiya M4 hull, but I've never got around to building a Sherman gun tank ...
Some of the Sherman kits I bought new and then plundered for Australia M3 Lee and Grant projects and others came to me after they'd been similarly pillaged.
Over the years I'd tinkered, and there were a few hulls I'd built up to install acessory sets like sandbag armour.
Anyway, I resolved to build up some hulk hulls just to see what was in the stash and then consolidate all the remaining bits - Tamiya, Dragon, Italeri and Academy - to see what finished vehicles could be achieved.
In one box I found a Tamiya M4A3 upper hull I had fitted what I think was a Kirin sandbag armour set about a decade ago. I had installed the sand guard mounting strips and fitted an Italeri tub, mainly because it had sponsons, and probably because the Tamiya tub was long gone ... I do remember the resin sandbags fitted the Tamiya hull better than an Italeri one.
And so this "project" stayed until I commenced my "post night shift stupor super Sherman kit bash" ... I'll summarise the overall project in another post - suffice to say, I have another M32 siting on wheels, a couple of "Easy Eight" hulls, an M4A3 76 (W) with sandbag armour and now a late M4A3 Calliope,
Among the stash was the Italeri M4A3 Calliope ... don't remember where of when I acquired it, but what I do know is that when I delved in to its contents the bottom half of the turret was missing, but I did find the corresponding bit for a Tamiya turret in another box.
Naturally the Tamiya base - which I eventually blended to the Italeri 75mm turret top with a bit of gentle persuasion - didn't fit the Italeri hull, but I did have the sandbagged Tamiya hull, and since there's plenty of photos of Calliopes with the extra armour, I switched the bits to the hull.
I wanted to use the Italeri 75mm turret because it had an openable loader's hatch but primarily because the launcher had been specifically engineered to be mounted to it.
There are many much better Sherman kits around nowadays, so I've resolved to build them up using kit parts and whatever update items are in the stash and just have some fun while ensuring the kits don't go to waste.
Moving right along ... stickler for over engineering that I am, I decided to scratch build the mounting system for the launcher. I took this path because the mounting points for the kit parts were indistinct and to my mind too flimsy and because the pylons were shoddy - the moulded on details were soft and riddled with sink holes.
I tried to tidy up the kit parts, but finally resolved to use them as templates for replacement parts.
I started by drilling two corresponding holes through the turret wall and installing a plastic tube - which not only provided heaps of strength but also ensured the mounting points were perfectly aligned:
I then set to work on the pylons, the basis for which I created by laminating six strips of plasticard to achieve the desired thickness:
Rather than try to tidy up the kit bits, I eventally replaced the spring shafts and gun mount with aluminium and brass rod - not only because they were perfectly round, but also for strength ... Dragon crew will fill the hatches to hide that monster cross beam inside the turret:
I don't know how accurate they are (there seems to be a bit of variation in Calliope set ups) and some more details are needed, but the remanufactured pylons were worth the effort:
The launcher eventually mounted on the turret pretty well and the end result is VERY solid ... but - note to self - ensure that the distance between the base mounts match the points at which the pylons attach to the launcher ... some shims were needed to "square up" the assembly:
Overall, a good solild basis for a fun build with all of the "annoying niggles" out of the way. I'm going to let everything set soild for a day or two and then do a general tidy up before moving forward:
Now some silly questions:
1: Does anyone know how these things were wired, and were the tubes so wired when the vehicle was travelling or just when they were getting ready for a fire mission? (I wouldn't want those suckers loaded and wired when I was travelling over rough country in convoy).
2: In most photos I see of Calliopes firing to tubes seem to be facing directly forward ... these things would have had a wicked back blast, so were there any modifications made to the rear hulls stowage? I have seen big boxes on the back plate, and I would imagine any tools would have been at least charred or possibly even blown out if their mounting straps.
3: Obviously the aerial mount at the rear of the turret could not be used ... what was the solution?
Anyway, I reckon the toughest aspects of this build are out of the way, and I have a swag of bits all sorted now which will allow it to fly together.
I plan to also put some foliage on it for something different, and to cover a multitude of sins!
The end result won't be a comp winner, but is will be something different than an OD Sherman with a stubby 75 ... and there'll be one less incomplete M4 gathering dust in a box!
