Promised these last weekend, but had some problems with the personal confuser that prevented upload. Check out four new pics in my Yahoo album: http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[email protected]/lst?.dir=/SGB+-+Formations+M4A1&.view=t

The last pic also has my Italeri DUKW -- these two may end up together in a Sicily or Anzio diorama.

I see you have used the Tamiya sprocket on the Italeri lower hull, that nasty sink mark!!!

What modifications were necessary to make that happen?

Cheers,

CDT Reimund Manneck
U.S. Army ROTC

That looks like a sweet kit.... I'm curious, what donor kit did you use? The wheels and lower hull look like italeri, but the sprocket looks Tamiya.

I have the Italeri Marines sherman, and have been eyeing the formations M4A1 - would that be a suitable combo, in your opinion?

The build looks great so far - I don't know enough about Shermans to find any flaws... but I trust that with your knowledge of the M4 - there aren't any...... :-)

Keep us all posted on your progress - I'll be interested in seeing how you plan on painting and weathering it up.

Jeff

Actually, it's an Academy drive sprocket. No sink holes to worry about with that one, plus, there is bolt detail on both sides -- unlike the Tamiya sprocket, which lacks bolt heads on the inner ring.. Mod to use either Academy or Tamiya sprockets on Italeri hull: Cut off the cylinder that sticks out from the plate that fits on the hull side, then get a piece of plastic rod to fit the hole and the new sprocket. Easy swap.




The Formations kit will go on just about any Italeri Sherman variant hull you want -- except the M7 Priest/Kangaroo hulls, according to the Formations website (though I bet it would work with just a bit of work). I can't tell you exactly what kit this particular hull came out of -- maybe an M32 or an M36B1 -- I have boxes full of mix-n-match Sherman parts from all the conversions and kit bashes I do.

I'm antsy to get the Formations M4A2 kit -- this one has been a very easy build for a resin kit. I already have the proper lower hull and suspension from an Academy Achilles kit.

I'm just about ready to shoot paint, though I'd like the weather to warm up a bit. I have some Archer blue drab registration numbers and some other Archer markings ready for it. I'd like to do one of those two-tone OD and tan vehicles from the 1st Armored Division or one of the independent tank battalions supporting 5th Army.

HOLLOWPOINT,
Looks good so far. It appears the hull has good casting details.
I need an M4A1 hull for my GB sherman too, but I havn't decided on which one to use. Im
not absolutely possative whether I need a large hatch or small hatch, as I havnt been able to find and overhead shot of this area.
Todd

Hi Hollow. How was the formations set as a whole. How was the fit? Any warpage? Hard to remove casting blocks? I have heard alot of good things about the possibilities of these new sets but nothing much on the work needed to achieve the finish product. You pictures look really well. Should be nice with a lick of paint. Are you a member of the yahoo groups sherman page? A lot of sherman experts on there with all the answers you would ever need. Most of it goes over my head.... but its cool to read!

Rotorhead67: Aren't you working on an IDF Sherman? If so, it's probably a large-hatch hull you'll need. Israel got a lot of Sherms from France -- I don't know much about IDF Shermans, but I did once build an M50 on an M4A1 hull with HVSS.

Plasticbattle: Yeah, I'm a member of the Yahoo Sherman group, but I'm more a lurker than a poster (where do you think I get all my information? ) -- some of those guys know a lot more than me. Missing Links also has some regulars that have spent a lot of time gathering info on Shermans. We're so lucky they are willing to share via the internet.

About the kit: No warpage on mine. I have a few friends that also bought the kit and all of them are happy with it, too. The attachments to the casting blocks are pretty thin and easy to cut. The only problem I had was cutting the pioneer tools off the slab. I was a little ham-handed and broke a couple handles, but once I settled down and took it a bit slower, they came off just fine. I cut the block apart with a razor saw, then gently whittled off the parts with a new Exacto blade. Clean-up was pretty easy on all the parts.

The sprue with the periscopes had a few bubbles in the corners that would be difficult to fill. I sent an e-mail to Rob Erwin at Formations and he sent me a new sprue right away and fo free. He even offered to send me an M4A2 kit postage-free. Cash was a little tight right then, so I passed, but he will definitely get my business in the future.

A few notes about the kit: The 8-page instruction sheet has big, clear diagrams if your references are a bit lacking, plus some tips. The bogies are sweet. They consist of a single-piece resin bogie truck and a resin skid plate. A piece of styrene rod is provided to attach the bogie arms. The donor suspension (use either Italeri or the DML clone) provides road wheels, bogie arms and springs. Also, I took a shortcut and used vent and fuel caps from plastic kits, but I could have used the resin parts. When you get done with this thing, you have lots of extra parts for the spares box.

I used the FineMolds PE set for the head and taillight guards. The fret can be seen in one of the pics. I really like this PE set -- it gives you enough parts to do two vehicles.

Update of the M4A1 here: M4A1

The new pics have the appealing lilac background. OK, I was looking for contrast and daggit, I got contrast.

Ready for paint.

Yes Im building an IDF Sherman, but not an M50 or M51. Im building an ARV w/ the crane on the rightfront sponson. I know its an M4A1 type hull, but I haven't been able to confirm
wheather its a small hatch or large hatch. If its a large hatch, I'll use the Italeri hull. If its small hatch......???? Im at a loss for a resource. GOT any IDEAS ??

Bob K. have you got a link to the Sherman Yahoo site? Would be much obliged to get it, (as a lurker)

For everyon else, I keep hearing such good things about Formations, here is their web-page....Jim

FORMATIONS

Jim:

Here's a link to Yahoo Groups: http://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.intl=us&.src=ygrp&.done=http://groups.yahoo.com%2Fmygroups

If you don't already have a Yahoo account, you have to sign up.My ISP is affiliated with Yahoo, so I was able to skip this step.

There are two Sherman groups on Yahoo that I know about. The first is G104 -- this is a pretty intense group that includes several members who own actual Sherman tanks. The other group is Shermantankmodelers -- a group of modelers, similar to Armorama, but the chat is pretty straight Shermans.

Hope this helps!