Hey lads
At the stage of doing all the small things to the tank; like stowage, weathering, lights, holes for sand strips etc... OH and wheels! Will fix them once I have the dirt etc in place... I cut out a small piece of clear plastic for the periscope glass. This was easier and more effective than I thought it would be...
All comments welcomed...
Brad

Another pic... Forgotten how to do more than one pic per posting!

Have used wire from a picture frame, which I think is a perfect scale to work with for the tow cable. No painting needed!

Hey Bradley,

You did a great job. The pics are a bit dark, but what I see of her, is that she's turning out nice!!
I love the texturing of the hull and the turret.
The tow-cables are spot-on also....If you have some of that wire left, you know where to find me!! LOL...

Looking forward to see her finished.

Greetz, John.

Looks good if a bit dark. The periscope glass does look effective

Very good looking, especially the tow cable! Could you please expplain what it is? I don´t understand...

Great job. I like the periscope glass and the tow cable. I used to work in a hardware store and saw picture frame kits every day. Never occured to me that I was looking at tow cables! That's a marvelous idea.

That's going to be a great looking Shermie when it's finished. All the detail you have on there so far looks very neat.

Your Sherman is looking really good ,so far Bradley.
The tow cabel looks great.

Nope, the pics don't do credit to what is a very nice piece of work - here are the pics remastered a bit....Jim

Thanks Jim!!

Much better. She's a beauty indeed...

Like I've said: Can't wait to see her finished!!

John.

Wow, great detail, I also just noticed that spring for the hatch, solder maybe? Great ideas.

Bob

Thanks lads good to get feedback, especially on all the small things!
Andreas, the tow cable is just the wire used to hang the picture frames from the rear. This I think would vary depending on the size of the frame, but you would be able to pick the size required... As you can see the wire fits the cable brackets perfectly! (They are Formations, by the by)
Tom Dave Jesper thanks for the comments- only thing worrying me is that I can produce figures painted well enough to suit her...
Jim- thanks for the touch up! Took the shots without a flash as I always seem to 'light up' the details too much...
John- Have enough cable for a Sherman left over if you want to PM me your address
Oh and kilntime, the hatch springs are from fuse wire, the thinner of the 2 types (can't remember the Ampage!) There is a great detailed pic in the Walkaround Sherman book for reference. Like the focus on these little things as they are a contrast to the OD all over!
Brad

Looks great so far Bradley, keep us posted

Got any overall shots? Those are great closeups

Excellent work...and I second the request for some overall shots to go with the close-ups, I want to see more, more, more...

Bradley, that is one great looking Sherman, I specially like the textured hull. The other small details are really bringing this baby to life. I look forward to more pics.
You may want to try taking your photos outside, on a bright day in the shade, brings out all the detail without washing out anything

Bruce

One thing to watch for is that the picture wire you use comes twisted and not braided. A lot of picture hanging wire is braided and will not look like scale wire tow rope. The stuff in the picture is twisted and it perfectly good as tow rope.

Paul

Thanks for the further remarks! Only have close-ups at the moment for the details... Been freezing here (relatively speaking;) and no sun, so haven't had the inkling to venture outside for some good shots... :-)
Heck, had our first local snow in like 20years at least...
Sorry I'm digressing... Have completed the holes in the sand strip attachments, and am ready to paint the headlights. Threw a couple of hands on my tank commander figure, but have a query. He has the leather 'skull cap' tankers headwear on, and was wondering if this would be suitable for a commander or should I portray him with a steel helmet over it? I want to portray the tank stationary, and have the driver waist high out of the hatch facing the barrel with his arms crossed over it. The commander will be gripping the hatch ring in front with his left hand whilst draping his right arm over the periscope. SO basically it is to be a relaxed setting, with their gaze fixed in front of the tank on ???
Brad

Here's the only photo I could scramble at the moment

i thought i built a lot of shermans you got me beat to date i have a total of 23 one of every varient and its sub varient

Hi,

your model looks great.

Can I ask what technique you used to texture the hull ?as it looks fantastic and I'd like to get mine looking similar

also - what kit did you use as a base?

I bought the Italeri M4a1 as it was so cheap I couldn't turn it down!!!!!

cheers

Hey Jon
Thanks for your feedback
The kit is the Dragon M4A1 early, that was re released earlier this year. (Late last year?) It comes with some texture already, but I accentuated this (with the use of photos as reference) with Revell glue, which I would spread on the turret side for example and then even it out further with my finger (don't try this at home!) This makes it dry quite quickly, and it also becomes tacky. You can then use a fresh finger to smooth it again. I then finely sanded the surface, so it apeared more 'pitted' as opposed to lumps sticking out of the surface. There are also some casting 'flaws' which I added with thinly rolled milliput once again using photos as reference, and then carefully scraped away small parts to make it irregular... Hope this makes sense!
Brad
P.S. Don't know what the Italeri one is like...

thanks brad, it seems melting the surface with poly is the way forward.

The DML kit with texture, if it's anything like the T34/85 is probably close to sufficient as it is and would only need enhancement like you have done.

The italeri kit however is totally smooth and shiny