And here is a tank 90% complete in terms of weathering.
I still need to add a little more stowage, especially inside that rear stowage container. I would like to add something colourful, like fruits.

Wow-- incredible work. You could sell the barbed wire for big bucks if you wanted to manufacture it! Your M48 makes me want to go grab a Dragon kit to replace my dated Tamiya kit. My only suggestion is to move the wire to the rear deck, as it will make it awkward (and painful) for the loader to "unass" the tank as we used to say. But it still looks good. Nice job on the turret searchlight hanger too-- others here might be interested in how you did it-- I don't think it came with the kit-- right? That's one of those items missing from most M48 kits.
VR, Russ

Thanks!
It took me about 2 hours to create that barbwire which has a length of... 15cm? Im going to need some serious help if Im ever going to sell that haha. Plus, its a rather simple task for any modellers. I think people would be more interested in buying the jig for the wire.
Its rather difficult to hole the wire with just enough tension on it.
Barbwire was only temporary placed there for the photo shoot. Im planning to hang it from the travel lock on the rear.
The searchlight mount indeed came with the kit. Dragon actually does a family good job with this tank ^^

Such a very clean build. Keep it coming!

great work on the build ,the paint very cool right down to the jungle boots .

Thanks guys

Somebody mentioned Jungle boots, so here it is



The shoelaces are made out of thin metal wire, drilled and attached to the boots. They were first painted using Vallejo range, and hung from one of the turret hooks.

Russell mentioned a rope being of a frequent use by the tankers, so I made then as well. 3 copper wires were twisted and merged to achieve a rope like texture.



Ive also painted a uniform and helmet in jungle leaf pattern.

Looking great Luftan, the rope really adds a lot to that empty rear fender-- if you can find some tools like a small hydraulic jack or grease gun, you could throw them in the open box. As I recall our small jacks were painted red, and had a metal tube detachable handle. Some of the grease guns we used were natural metal, of course they were very greasy, so there wasn't any rust. They had a long flexible extension on one end, and a long lever on one side. The jack was simple too-- it had a small square base, the main casing was a large cylinder, and the piston was a slim rod that came up the middle-- with a separate disk for a metal pad-- oh, and we always kept a couple of blocks of 4x4 wood in the box for chocks or to support the jack. You could also include a loop of WD-1 commo wire, or even a reel of WD-1 (came in a donut shaped container) if you still need stuff for the box. We kept WD-1 on our tanks so we could interconnect through the phone box on the right fender when we were in a "lager"-- a tactical term for a defensive perimeter of tanks at night.
VR, Russ

Luftan, this has to be hands down one of the best builds I have seen in a long time.

Lovely clean work, super detail, I'm looking forward to seeing this finished.

Luftan -

Just a fantastic build that just gets levels better every time you post an update. Incredible amount of details that make it really come to life. Your response to feedback and incorporating some much it in your build is exemplary. That really brings out the best of what this Site is all about. If your entry doesn't come into consider for a 'Best of Show', then something is wrong. Keep them super updates coming and best of luck.

Mike

Love the way you did the rope, would never have thought of it. Nice looking and no little thready thingies all over it.

Fantastic work Luftan, I really like the "feel" of it, looking forward to the rest of the build!

Thank you very much guys

The only result I get by searching "Grease gun" is about the SMG. Im guessing its something shaped like a sprayer?
I have ordered a 1/35 tools set from Dio-park to put some inside the rear stowage basket. It should arrive tomorrow.

Hi Luftan great build the detail is amazing really life like keep up the good work was browsing the net and came across this site which may help with regards to tools and stowage it covers ww2 but I'm sure the practice of stowage didn't really change that much. Here's the web address...
www.theshermantank.com
Regards Anthony

I know these aren't 60's era however this is a grease gun.

I'm sure the ones from the 60's would be similar

GreaseGuns

They were the only images I could come up with also until I stumbled upon the sherman site, I know it's WW2 but I'm sure a grease gun (not the smg) from WW2 wouldn't have changed much by Vietnam

Luftan-- That's it-- Gareth nailed the grease gun in the attached link. Ours didn't have the red grip on the handle though--it was probably lost somewhere along the way-- it was just a straight lever. The jack was also small, it wasn't intended to lift the whole tank, just to lift a roadwheel suspension arm or to assist with a replacement road wheel or a torsion bar. Here's a link to a standard wheeled vehicle Basic Issue Item page from a manual, there's a drawing of the jack- the handle is detachable.

http://constructiontractors.tpub.com/TM-9-2320-270-10/img/TM-9-2320-270-10_283_1.jpg

VR, Russ

Hello. Thank you all for the information/links and pictures.
Now I have a clearer idea of what a Grease gun looks like. Sort of like a glue gun.

Quick update before I go for work

Diopark`s tools set arrived yesterday, and Ive painted them today.



Simple coat of gloss black -> silver -> weathering.
I was able to find an object that looked quit similar to what Russell described. I think this is the hydraulic jack he was talking about. There was a slightly bigger one, but I chose the smaller so it would fit better inside the stowage case.

I also added some more details to the entire model. More dirt, fallen leaves and shell casings. Im not sure what to do with 50cal links. I might scrap some PE fret and try to replicate them as well.




And yes, at this point, I have given up on finishing the diorama by 17th.

Super detail as always. The tools fit in great.

Who are the .50 cal shells from or have you scratch built them?

Luftan-- you've nailed it-- that's the jack for sure, and it looks just like the inside of one of our M60A1 fender boxes-- filled with "stuff". I'm not sure what the round handwheel is doing there-- it doesn't match any tank equipment-- but, tank crews pick up all sorts of stuff-- some crewman might have picked it up thinking it would be useful for something. As far as .50 links go, you could try wrapping thin brass or paper to form three "loops" then glue two of the loops onto either side of the third loop. You wouldn't need many to get the idea. I'm actually working on a diorama of a 1/16 B-17 waist gunner (done completely in brass, except for the figure)-- and I'm using Aber's1/16 scale .50 ammo and link sets-- trust me, even in 1/16 scale those little buggers are difficult to get together. Aber gives you a "Y" shaped brass part you have to bend the two prongs on upper part of the "Y" one direction, and the lower part in the other--- I suppose you could cut some paper into tiny "Y"s and try and roll it. Three or four is all you'd really need.
VR, Russ

Hi. Thanks for your comments!

For 50cal ammunition, I simply cut the smallest brass tubing and weathered it using pencil powder. I think they look ok.

I thought of your way of replicating the links Russell, but I ended up making a simply 8 shaped object. Its less than 1mm small, so I though I could get away with a little bit of laziness.

Hi.
Been a while since the last update. I worked hard on the model to be at least some what presentable for the AFV convention on the 17th. I managed to fix up the wheels, and pint the metal tracks.







As expected, the model didn't win any prize. Sad, but I shouldn't expect much from a rushed incomplete model.
There is another model expo coming up on the early November. I am hoping to finish the diorama and showcase this M48 there.

Thanks all!

Excellent work! Thank you for sharing Luftan!

Your ' rushed and incomplete model' is far better than a lot of stuff I've seen built. If this didn't place I'd be interested to see what did.

It's given me a lot of ideas for a Vietnam build I'm working on. Can't wait to see it finished.

Luftan -

Superbly done! Thanks for sharing and providing such an exemplary inspiration for building my own Vietnam M48A3.
Your quality craftsmanship and outstanding attention to the many special details you've added make this a top place winner in my book. It's a shame your AFV Convention couldn't properly recognize the talent shown here.

Mike