Constructive Feedback
For in-progress or completed build photos. Give and get contructive feedback!
For in-progress or completed build photos. Give and get contructive feedback!
Hosted by Darren Baker, Dave O'Meara
Tasca Sherman M4A3E8
Plasticbattle
#003
Joined: May 14, 2002
KitMaker: 9,763 posts
Armorama: 7,444 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - 07:07 AM UTC
Really nice and clean build Dave. The paintwork looks great so far. Not really a fan of shermans, but this one looks nice.
retiredyank
Joined: June 29, 2009
KitMaker: 11,610 posts
Armorama: 7,843 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - 08:39 AM UTC
This build has settled it for me. Very well done. If ever I build another Sherman(excepting the M4 w/T1E1), it will be a Tasca kit. I've built two from Italeri and one more by Revell. Compared to your work one this one, my kits are trash. Did you use Vallejo Natural Wood for your tool handles? Is the bare metal ring on the barrel, next to the mantlet used for gun recoil?
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - 09:11 AM UTC
Thanks Stanley, much appreciated. The Tasca .50's are a gem, didn't really see a need to add a metal barrel to them at all. Also, as a further example of Tasca quality take a look at the front fenders. They are from the kit and are rendered in styrene and are just about as thin as the PE ones from Aber, Voyager etc. Really nice I must say. In fact If you look at the fenders on the newer Tamiya Super Sherman they are even thinner then those.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - 09:15 AM UTC
Quoted Text
Really nice and clean build Dave. The paintwork looks great so far. Not really a fan of shermans, but this one looks nice.
Frank, thanks very much for the kind comments. I am attempting to build a base for it and will post it shortly. I really like the way you do your vignette bases so hopefully you can provide some feedback on it.
Cheers,
Dave.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 - 10:08 AM UTC
Quoted Text
This build has settled it for me. Very well done. If ever I build another Sherman(excepting the M4 w/T1E1), it will be a Tasca kit. I've built two from Italeri and one more by Revell. Compared to your work one this one, my kits are trash. Did you use Vallejo Natural Wood for your tool handles? Is the bare metal ring on the barrel, next to the mantlet used for gun recoil?
Hi Matt, thanks for checking in. Your comments are much appreciated.
My philosopy on some of these kits is that I don't get as much modelling time as I would like so I would rather build a quality, accurate kit that goes together well rather than fussing with poorly fitting parts or having to hack it apart to make it accurate.
For the tools I used Vallejo buff for the base and Windsor and Newton Burnt Sienna for the grain. They look a bit bright at the moment but when oils dry they dry to a slightly darker colour. Also future washes should tone them down even more. For the metal parts I used a base of Vallejo German Panzer Uniform black and Vallejo black for the darker highlights.
Yes. The bare metal on the barrel is due to the paint being worn away due to the barrel recoil.
HONEYCUT
Joined: May 07, 2003
KitMaker: 4,002 posts
Armorama: 2,947 posts
Posted: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - 02:35 PM UTC
Hey Dave the build really reflects the time and effort you have put into this project, not least of all in photography. No better way to highlighting your work than with nice clear shots.
Pretty much great work all around! You definitely have the multi level skills with different components/materials to have them all work well together.
On that note, you'd hopefully appreciate a couple of nit pick points, namely the crowbar point. (Formations tools?) This appears to be all one piece, but the rectangular 'receiver' the bar tip rests in should be flush with the shoulder of the hull there (ie. welded in place on the tank) and the crowbar would have to conform to how the receiver was permanently positioned... In a nutshell, I'm saying it needs a weld seam to appear a part of the hull, not removable with the tool itself. The shaft also looks to have a slight bow in it, possibly forced up by the mattock/pick handle tiedown under it? I have replaced the crowbar shaft with brass rod before; just drill out front and rear resin ends to receive the rod.
Also, the tow cable appears to be hovering towards the rear? Has it just popped out of its small hook behind the turret rear there?
Look forward to how you get this thing weathered, and wow that tarpaulin looks most impressive for the material used. Would never have thought you'd get it looking so real from plastic wrap essentially...
Great stuff
Brad
Pretty much great work all around! You definitely have the multi level skills with different components/materials to have them all work well together.
On that note, you'd hopefully appreciate a couple of nit pick points, namely the crowbar point. (Formations tools?) This appears to be all one piece, but the rectangular 'receiver' the bar tip rests in should be flush with the shoulder of the hull there (ie. welded in place on the tank) and the crowbar would have to conform to how the receiver was permanently positioned... In a nutshell, I'm saying it needs a weld seam to appear a part of the hull, not removable with the tool itself. The shaft also looks to have a slight bow in it, possibly forced up by the mattock/pick handle tiedown under it? I have replaced the crowbar shaft with brass rod before; just drill out front and rear resin ends to receive the rod.
Also, the tow cable appears to be hovering towards the rear? Has it just popped out of its small hook behind the turret rear there?
Look forward to how you get this thing weathered, and wow that tarpaulin looks most impressive for the material used. Would never have thought you'd get it looking so real from plastic wrap essentially...
Great stuff
Brad
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 - 11:59 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Hey Dave the build really reflects the time and effort you have put into this project, not least of all in photography. No better way to highlighting your work than with nice clear shots.
Pretty much great work all around! You definitely have the multi level skills with different components/materials to have them all work well together.
On that note, you'd hopefully appreciate a couple of nit pick points, namely the crowbar point. (Formations tools?) This appears to be all one piece, but the rectangular 'receiver' the bar tip rests in should be flush with the shoulder of the hull there (ie. welded in place on the tank) and the crowbar would have to conform to how the receiver was permanently positioned... In a nutshell, I'm saying it needs a weld seam to appear a part of the hull, not removable with the tool itself. The shaft also looks to have a slight bow in it, possibly forced up by the mattock/pick handle tiedown under it? I have replaced the crowbar shaft with brass rod before; just drill out front and rear resin ends to receive the rod.
Also, the tow cable appears to be hovering towards the rear? Has it just popped out of its small hook behind the turret rear there?
Look forward to how you get this thing weathered, and wow that tarpaulin looks most impressive for the material used. Would never have thought you'd get it looking so real from plastic wrap essentially...
Great stuff
Brad
Brad, Thanks very much for the comments about the build especially the constructive ones regarding the tools. In fact they are a good segway into some additional pictures of the tools.
The crowbar is indeed from formations while the rest of the tools are from the kit. I chose the formations crowbar because it was much more accurate versus the kit part however, for this tank it is not completely accurate either.
The forward end is accurate but he rear cover piece is open to the outside of the tank and from my reference pictures this end was enclosed on three sides and open on the bottom. After cutting off the strap which I didn't like I cut the rear piece off and rotated the open end to the bottom and glued it place then mounted it to the tank. There is indeed a bow to the shaft and this is due to me gluing the end of the crowbar too high on the end piece. To fix this I am going to cut it off and glue lower to the rear piece in order to get it to lie flatter. As for the the top of the crowbar needing a weld joint thanks for catching that. I will add this and give it a quick spray with my airbrush to finish it off. I am going to try and make look like this.
As for the tow cable it popped off the retaining hook halfway down the hull and just needs to be glued down.
Regarding the tools and their leather tie down straps my references for doing them were Steve Zaloga's book modelling the M4 sherman. I used lead foil and aber buckles to make the straps which I think look much better than the formations ones. This is the reason I didn't use the other formations tools on the kit. The sledge hammer is also suppose to have a leather strap tie down but I didn't do one there as it is going to be covered up by the tarp I am going to add. Yes call me lazy.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Thursday, August 04, 2011 - 12:15 AM UTC
I have also been working on the tarp for the rear stowage of the tank. The tarp looks like a very large one that was laid out flat on the rear deck of the tank then the stowage placed on top of it then folded around the stowage and tied down. I had attempted to use apoxie sculpt to do this but could not get the look close to the picture. Perhaps its just me but trying to do multiple folded results in the apoxie sculpt splitting on the edges. So I decided to use a thick plastic bag instead to try and replicate what appears to be a canvas tarp. The kind I used was fairly thick and is similar to the bags one gets when they buy a pair of shoes or clothes from a clothing store. A zip log bag would probably also work.
At any rate I built it up by laying out some saran wrap on the rear deck, adding the stowage and gluing it together with Elmer's white/pva glue. Once it was dry I removed it and cut my tarp accordingly from the plastic bag. I then laid it out on the rear deck, added the stowage again and proceeded to make my folds. Once it was done and glued together with the white glue/pva glue I cut thin strips off some of the bag material and added these to the some of the edges of the tarp in order give it the look you see in the picture. I then sprayed it wiith a 60/40 mixture of XF-62/XF-60. Again no primer was used. From a material/look effect I think the thick plastic bag gives a good replication of a scale canvas tarp.
At any rate I built it up by laying out some saran wrap on the rear deck, adding the stowage and gluing it together with Elmer's white/pva glue. Once it was dry I removed it and cut my tarp accordingly from the plastic bag. I then laid it out on the rear deck, added the stowage again and proceeded to make my folds. Once it was done and glued together with the white glue/pva glue I cut thin strips off some of the bag material and added these to the some of the edges of the tarp in order give it the look you see in the picture. I then sprayed it wiith a 60/40 mixture of XF-62/XF-60. Again no primer was used. From a material/look effect I think the thick plastic bag gives a good replication of a scale canvas tarp.
stansmith
Joined: July 18, 2010
KitMaker: 611 posts
Armorama: 584 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 06, 2011 - 05:39 AM UTC
that stowage looks so nice, i will definately use it on my next build!
Dangeroo
#023
Joined: March 13, 2009
KitMaker: 2,058 posts
Armorama: 1,656 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 06, 2011 - 09:53 AM UTC
Dave, great work so far! The tarp looks very convincing!
Cheers!
Stefan
Cheers!
Stefan
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 - 04:32 AM UTC
Stan and Stefan,
Thanks very much for checking in and posting your comments. They are much appreciated.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about using the thick plastic bag but as I started working with it I began to think that it could be a good scale represenation of a canvas tarp. I think the canvas material of these tarps was pretty thick and did not take to having a lot of folds.
Thanks very much for checking in and posting your comments. They are much appreciated.
Yeah, I wasn't sure about using the thick plastic bag but as I started working with it I began to think that it could be a good scale represenation of a canvas tarp. I think the canvas material of these tarps was pretty thick and did not take to having a lot of folds.
mharris79
Joined: March 22, 2011
KitMaker: 51 posts
Armorama: 42 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 09, 2011 - 07:49 AM UTC
Looking great. Subscribed!
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 - 09:03 AM UTC
Mark, thanks for checking in and posting your comments.
Take care.
David.
Take care.
David.
Big-John
Joined: August 12, 2010
KitMaker: 731 posts
Armorama: 711 posts
Posted: Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - 02:22 PM UTC
Dave,
Very nice looking build. That is one impressive paint job!
Very nice looking build. That is one impressive paint job!
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 - 12:51 AM UTC
Thanks John,
Glad you like it. I am back to work on it now. Just doing some stowage and getting the star painted on the rear engine deck.
Glad you like it. I am back to work on it now. Just doing some stowage and getting the star painted on the rear engine deck.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011 - 04:10 PM UTC
Progress shot.
Got the tracks on as well as the star on the rear deck. I also added a wood plank over the final drive for holding stowage. Not sure if I will keep it as yet though. For the tracks I used a mixture of Vallejo Black, Silver, Gun Metal, Flat earth as well as Mig Pigments, Standard rust, European dust, dry mud, dark mud and Gulf War Sand. For the star I used the Eduard Stencil set and sprayed it on using Tamiya White XF-2. I still need to do more weathering on the tracks but I think this is a good start.
Oh and BTW the track tension is weak. I still have to adjust them but its not a problem as I can easily do this with the rear idler and drive sprocket.Tasca really thought this through here as I can actually rotate the tracks and wheels while doing this as the tracks are fully workable. Nice.
Got the tracks on as well as the star on the rear deck. I also added a wood plank over the final drive for holding stowage. Not sure if I will keep it as yet though. For the tracks I used a mixture of Vallejo Black, Silver, Gun Metal, Flat earth as well as Mig Pigments, Standard rust, European dust, dry mud, dark mud and Gulf War Sand. For the star I used the Eduard Stencil set and sprayed it on using Tamiya White XF-2. I still need to do more weathering on the tracks but I think this is a good start.
Oh and BTW the track tension is weak. I still have to adjust them but its not a problem as I can easily do this with the rear idler and drive sprocket.Tasca really thought this through here as I can actually rotate the tracks and wheels while doing this as the tracks are fully workable. Nice.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 01, 2011 - 12:54 AM UTC
Hey Dave,
From Eric Rains.
Really nice finishing so far. Since I'm not sure what your finishing plan is all I can suggest is to take it slow and easy, think through and plan out the remaining finishing steps. BTW what did you use for the tracks?
I'll keep checking in and following along. And just between you and me, I primered (is that a word) my E8 this past weekend and should have an update soon
Keep up the great work!
Eric,
I am posting a response here as Dave O'Meara converted by constructive feedback posts to a blog as most of the build is here.
See above information on what I used for the tracks.
FD3S20B
Joined: April 27, 2011
KitMaker: 255 posts
Armorama: 250 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 01, 2011 - 02:47 AM UTC
looks great. 
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 01, 2011 - 01:02 PM UTC
Craig,
Thanks very much for checking in and taking the time to post your comments.
I will try and get some progress shots up shortly.
Regards,
David.
Thanks very much for checking in and taking the time to post your comments.
I will try and get some progress shots up shortly.
Regards,
David.
errains
#045
Joined: September 23, 2005
KitMaker: 362 posts
Armorama: 350 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 01, 2011 - 01:49 PM UTC
Thanks Dave I forgot to check this page when I asked about your tracks.
BTW are you still planning to displaying the E8 based on the photo you posted earlier in this thread?
She's still looking sweet!
BTW are you still planning to displaying the E8 based on the photo you posted earlier in this thread?
She's still looking sweet!
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Friday, September 02, 2011 - 01:35 PM UTC
Eric,
Yes I still plan to do the the tank in the picture I posted earlier. I am working on the turret stowage and will get some shots up this weekend.
In regards, to your comments about taking it slow I certainly plan to do that. I ordered the below set from AK Interactive USA for this build so hopefully I will get it right. BTW Ian Hamilton at AK Interactive provided outstanding service throughout the ordering process.
Yes I still plan to do the the tank in the picture I posted earlier. I am working on the turret stowage and will get some shots up this weekend.
In regards, to your comments about taking it slow I certainly plan to do that. I ordered the below set from AK Interactive USA for this build so hopefully I will get it right. BTW Ian Hamilton at AK Interactive provided outstanding service throughout the ordering process.
errains
#045
Joined: September 23, 2005
KitMaker: 362 posts
Armorama: 350 posts
Posted: Friday, September 02, 2011 - 02:30 PM UTC
Outstanding Dave!
I was looking at this weathering set just the other night and was wondering if maybe I should pick one up. I'll definitely be interested on your thoughts regarding this product and can't wait to see it applied.
I was looking at this weathering set just the other night and was wondering if maybe I should pick one up. I'll definitely be interested on your thoughts regarding this product and can't wait to see it applied.
Big-John
Joined: August 12, 2010
KitMaker: 731 posts
Armorama: 711 posts
Posted: Friday, September 02, 2011 - 02:35 PM UTC
Quoted Text
I'll definitely be interested on your thoughts regarding this product and can't wait to see it applied.
Ditto, I'm interested to see how the set works out for you. I might have to pick one up for the Cobra King build.
collin26
Joined: March 24, 2007
KitMaker: 317 posts
Armorama: 259 posts
Posted: Monday, September 05, 2011 - 10:15 AM UTC
Dave, this is looking real slick do far my friend! I am not the biggest fan of the Sherman but you have made it look REAL sweet! That thing has a lot of open surface area for different weathering effects for sure and I think you picked up the best all around set for this subject. You will find that the "Dark Wash" will realy help make all the fine details pop out very nicely.
You have influenced me to consider building this beast one day, Thanks Dave.
You have influenced me to consider building this beast one day, Thanks Dave.
Totalize
Joined: February 04, 2009
KitMaker: 743 posts
Armorama: 549 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 06, 2011 - 11:01 AM UTC
Ian,
Thanks for having a look. I am looking forward to using the AK interactive products for the first time.
Regards.
David.
Thanks for having a look. I am looking forward to using the AK interactive products for the first time.
Regards.
David.
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