Hi All,
I'm back. The theme for the upcoming AMPS International is "Tanks on Film." With that in mind, I've decided that I want to build something from a classic sci-fi flick, "War of the Worlds" (the 1953 version, not the new one). I did some trawling on youtube and found the following images:





From the looks of them, this is a garden-variety M4A1E8 from the California National Guard (they got used for all sorts of stuff in Hollywood). Since no one makes a kit of this beast, I'm going to have to kit-bash one. This won't be too terrifying, mainly DML's M51 Isherman (for the running gear and lower hull) and Academy's 76 mm turret (not for any other reason than I have one in my stash). While the tanks are supposedly Marine vehicles, the serial numbers on the hull side clearly say "US Army." I'm going to mark it as a 49th tank battalion vehicle (the TB assigned to the California NG). With that in mind, here is the parts load-out:



All for now. Merry Christmas!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I'm back again. They say the longest journey starts with the first step. Here's mine:



The punched out styrene in the middle of the frame will become the bolt head for the backs of the idler wheels, as DML did not include any on the kit parts. They aren't alone in this, but it would have been nice. More later.
Regards,
Georg

Georg, unless the kit comes with a "not for use" M4A1 engine deck and rear hull you're going to need to get one from somewhere.

The movie tank doesn't have the armored covers for the air cleaners, so that makes it from the first batch of M4A1(76) HVSS. It looks like the registration ends in 777, if so your number is either 30125777 or 30126777.

KL

Great subject matter as I built a 1/16 after them... just haven't placed any markings on it yet!




Jeff

Kurt,
Nah, why bother? It's a movie tank, no one will notice anyway! Kidding aside, I swiped the engine deck parts from the DML M4A1 early, as I'm going to cannibalize it for another project. I've got a really cool conversion to build a Brazilian composite Sherman ca 1960 (I've got a Formations composite hull rolling around without a home). Thanks for the info on the registration numbers. Merry Christmas.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
With the Christmas holiday rapidly disappearing the rear-view mirror, I was able to get more work done on the Sherman. First off, was detailing the back-side of the idler wheels. I did this using the punched styrene disks I showed in the last sequence of pictures. Here's what they looked like when completed.



There were other parts cut from the sprues, too:



Finally, I began to assemble the HVSS bogies themselves. There are about 12 parts per unit, so it is slow going. this is progress so far:



Little by little, it will come together. Now, off to the workshop to make more progress. Happy New Year everybody!
Regards,
Georg

Looks like a really fun project. I've been getting the itch to do the same tank, in IDF trim, for a while now....

Hi All,
I've been able to get more done on the WotW Sherman. First off, I got the suspension units and return rollers mounted.



I then moved on to the bogie units. They went together OK. I was expecting a much bigger fight.



Next up was the rear plate. I needed to modify it back to original production configuration. This entailed removing the lower "skirt" and then filing in center raised portion.



All for now, more later! Happy New Year!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
The work continues! I was able to fully assemble the HVSS bogies. They were not the horror show I expected. It did take a while to sand the roadwheels into something resembling smooth.



My next big hurdle was the engine deck. I needed to backdate it to the original configuration (for the redial engine). First, I needed a donor. I originally planned to swipe it from the DML M4A1 early kit, but the hatch was too narrow. I found and purchased a replacement from DEF models designed to back-date the Tamiya M51 kit. It is coming from South Korea and I did n't want to wait. Sooooo, I cut one out of an Italeri M4A1.



With the appropriate massaging, I got it to fit. It also has the later filler cap on the deck itself, which the DML kit does not.



I'm going to need to texture the rear part of the Italeri part, but I have to wait for everything to dry.
Regards,
Georg

Looking good, so far.

Are you going to scratchbuild a tripod?

There is a 1/48th scale Martian war machine kit available from Pegasus. Recommend Tamiya dark copper paint for the war machine body.

Could be a good start for a 'over the shoulder' view from the M4 tank lining up to shoot at the invading Martians.

I did a HobbyBoss Korean War M4A3E8 Sherman kit with the Martian war machine, but the tank did not come out too well (problem with the tracks and idler wheel); does give a perspective of size of the two combatants.

Hi All,
Steve, I hadn't planned on doing that. I had planned on displaying the vehicle by itself with the movie poster under it. Something to think about, though.
Progress continues! I was able to get the suspension on and reasonably lined up. I also changed the glue to Tamiya Superthin and I am pretty happy with it. I probably won't put my methyl-ethyl-ketone to pasture just yet, but it is good to have a reliable substitute. Anyway, here's the suspension:





While this was drying, I began to detail work on the upper hull. I ended up using the Italeri engine deck parts and a couple of other bits. I'll probably pirate the air cleaners and various rear hull parts, too. I plugged the holes for the tools as the reference vehicle did have tool hasps and mounts, but no tools. I'll be replicating this with the Eduard PE set, but I'll leave the tools off. I also contoured the engine deck on further.



All for now. More later.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
This has been a really busy week, so I was only able to get to the bench last night. But progress was made! First, I was able to attach the upper and lower hulls.



I was also able to add the lifting hooks. I pirated a set of the front lift rings from an old Italeri kit.



I also removed the stretched sprue remains to fill the locating holes for the tools.



I attached the air cleaners, but I messed up the bolts, also one moved before the glue set. So they needed to come out and be redone.



All for now, more later.
Regards,
Georg

Nice work Georg, you always have interesting projects!

Very nice build and topic.

I have copied the following images of the tanks from the first battle with the aliens. I hope they help

I always enjoyed the mechanical walking tripods used in the Classic Comics version of "War of the Worlds".

THEE number 1 Sci-Fi flick (in my opinion) and built several kits, including the battle scene with these tanks! (also another favorite)


Looking forward to more progress.






Jeff

Hi All,
With the completion of my Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank, I am returning to my War of the Worlds Sherman. I did a little today, mainly filling the spaces around the lift tings and the gap at the rear of the hull. I've also tried something I'd only read about: attaching small details like brush guards to some styrene strip before gluing them onto the model with regular glue (you glue the PE part to the strip with CA glue). I'll have some pictures tomorrow to show how it went.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I'm back in the saddle with this project. This is going to be a race against the clock. If I am lucky, I will have this one ready for the AMPS show at the beginning of April. If not, it will have to wait.
Here's how things stood after this evening's session.I sanded the putty job from last night on the rear plate. I was also able to to putty the joints where the lifting rings met the hull, front and rear.





Work on the turret got into high gear tonight. I acquired a Jordi Rubio barrel and my friend Dennis Riva gave me the mantlet dust cover form the DML M4A2 Red Army Sherman. I got the Tiger Model Designs Sherman cupola and glued it into place. Most of the other turret details were from the Academy M4A2.



The grab handles came from the old Italeri Sherman and the brush guard are from Academy.



I'm going to need to spend some time massaging the dust cover onto the new turret.



I needed to putty the shell door a little better to blend it in.



Ahh, progress!



See you soon!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I got more work done on the Sherman this evening. First, I received my Formations "Easy 8" idlers. These were different than the VVSS brethren as they were not "handed," but just rotated 180°. But the kit parts needed to be removed. I had to go from this:





To this to get the part to fit:





I used the steel cutter on dremel tool to remove the plastic in a hurry and replaced it with the resin update part (I'll have the pic tomorrow).

Next, I moved onto the turret and got it 99% built. I added the spare MG barrel brackets on the back of the turret. I ground down the end of the gun barrel to take the muzzle break to finish that area off and I super-glued the mantlet cover down to the turret shell. I topped off the turret with a Formations antenna.





All for now!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Things got a little crazy last night, so I didn't have time to post my progress. So here goes. First, here's what the new idlers from Formations look like:





The definitely are an improvement over the kit parts and will be adjustable. While They are not recommended for rubber band track, I'm going to take my chances.

Next, I finished off the turret with the machine gun clamp. It's kinda blurry, but I went with the kit part, rather than the origami provided in the Eduard set.



Staying at the rear of the hull, I installed the attachment points for the rear blanket rack. The center bracket moved out of place before the glue dried, so I'm going to have to break it off and re-orient it.



I worked my way forward and installed the brush guards on the hull hatches. These were pirated from the Academy M4A2 Sherman kit.



Last, but certainly not least was the blanket rack itself. The Eduard part is pretty simple to get together, if you take your time. It is not workable, but having built the Aber one, I like this one much better!



I hope to have some free time to do more work on this thing this weekend. Remember: kill network TV, build a model!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
Not a huge update today, but really fine work, by any measure. First, I got the "blanket rack" done and installed on the hull rear:



The different colored PE was from Aber's M4, M4A1, M4A3 set, as I trashed the Eduard parts.



I saw that there were mounts for the travel lock in the Aber set, so I took advantage of that and added them, too.



I adjusted the mount after I took the photo.
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
I've been really busy this week, so while I have been working on the model, I have not had time post pictures. First up was to get the idlers secured. I think they look really good.



Next up was a really important visual part of the model: the extended fenders. I used the Eduard fenders because they look much better than the plastic parts in the kit. I did run into a snag, though. Being that there is no kit of an M4A1E8 out there (yet), I was using the fenders for an M4A3E8. The M4A3E8 had a square, as opposed to a rounded hull. This became an issue because of the front fender stubs.



I had to remove them from the kit. While doing so, I launched one of the headlight brush guards to the netherworld. I'm not sure what to do about it just yet. I did find a solution for the missing fender: a glued on a small piece of sheet styrene and sanded it down to blend with the PE part.



I'll need to Mr. Surfacer the divot for the first fender stanchion, though.



The next night, I made up the new stanchions from styrene rod. The reason for this is that M4A1E8's used a stanchion. Instead of the flat-sided, bolted part, M4A1's used the threaded rod. You can see them easily in this picture from Aberdeen Proving Grounds:



So, with my trusty Chopper and some 0.030 in rod, I made my own. I think they look pretty good.





Somewhere in all of this, I added the PE screens over the grouser boxes. I'm hoping to tackle more on this beast tonight. More later!
Regards,
Georg

Hi All,
After I posted the last bunch of pictures, it back to the workshop to work on the tool mounts. Most of the pictures I have from WotW shows the tanks pretty empty of tools. So, PE to the rescue to show all of the mounting hardware without the tools themselves. I'm going to be doing alot of footman loops once these are done!



Upon closer inspection, I'm going to have to straighten out the mounts for the rear rack.





Finally, here is a better shot of the grouser vents.



With luck, I'll be able to get more done tomorrow.
Regards,
Georg

I'm following this build with interest even if it's only because of the subject matter. And the movie is one of my favorites as well, along with Forbidden Planet, When Worlds Collide...

Keep up the great work!