Hi,

the newbie has been plodding on... here are some work in progress shots of my Italeri m4a1 76(w) sherman which is to form a "side order" for the main course of Tiger in a diorama I'm working on.

I haven't damaged it up yet, but it will have a shell hole in the drivers side upper hull.





Hull was textured with polystyrene cement and a paintbrush, pistol port was blended with 2 part epoxy, weld lines around hull fixtures are being added with 2 part epoxy putty too. Sandshield was thinned and bent, with a mix of emery boards and a rotary tool.

I am not going to remove the stepped barrel as I am not particularly that interested in going nuts with the model, I've really enjoyed building it and that's what counts for me.

In the diorama the Sherman has been KO'd and as such, the crew are legging it. With the hatches open, no matter where I put it in the diorama there's a chance you might see inside, so I scratchbuilt a pretty rough interior with card, styrene and stretched sprue. The only bits I had in my spares box to help were the backs of some halftrack seats.









before the bolt counters point out all the horrific inaccuracies, it's only purpose was to look like the tank had an interior if anyone looks in the hatches. It was an awkward job and it was my first time scratchbuilding anything like this, I just hope it has turned out ok enough to do the job.

oh that photoetch fell off by the way :-) I need to reattach it tonight.....remember....must remember

ah well thanks for looking and listening to my noise!!

back to the modelling you lot..

Looks good so far Jon....
I'm still a firm believer in "Creative Gizmology".

This is my favourite Sherman kit and yours looks good. The step in the barrel is easily removable with sandpaper, if you're going to the trouble of adding an interior, which looks great BTW, why not go that step (no pun intended) further.

I never thought about it like that.

i assumed there would be more work involved than merely sandpapering the step away. Is the plastic inside thick enough to remove such a large portion of it's diameter ?


thanks for your kind comments. I have been a little bit hesitant at showing the interior as I am by no means a competent scratchbuilder and this was my first attempt at anything complex.

Good job on one of my favorite Sherman tank models. The interior looks good to me.

That interior sure looks good. Nice scratch-building. Looking at the exterior, I noticed the turret machine gun is upside down.

You have done a very fine job on that interior Jon, I've seen worse interiors in resin... .
One thing to keep in mind, if there will be a 'hole' at the drivers side, this would probably have had some effect on the interior... . Might be worth considering what kind of hole and ordnance killed the tank (driver?) and what damage that would have caused.

Looking forward to your progress Jon

Cheers
Henk

aahhh there's always someone on here one step ahead of me ... :-)

The dirt and grime is in place, but I've also started introducing some black into the weathering inside....to represent the soot from the blast. I am at a loss for reference for the kind of shrapnel damage that the impact of an 88mm might cause with only a partial penetration/detonation of the tank. Obviously if the Tiger hit it close enough it would have made much more of a mess than I'm willing to model !!

I was going to convert a dead driver, but I thought better of it... instead I intend the blast to have missed the driver and being directed all over his unfortunate assistant who is now being dragged, injured and rather upset about the whole ordeal, out of the top of the tank.

Verlinden's figure set looks like a likely choice, though Nato308 has given me advance warning over their scale issues (as well as more motivation than I could shake a sprue at)

Thanks for the comments. I have learned lots about scratchbuilding in this first attempt...I'd like to build a better attempt next time. I like the Italeri sherman enough to have another go at it with a full works of aftermarket stuff and another interior to build myself.

Good job. It really looks good.

DML are bringing out an M4A1 but if want the fun of dresing up the Italeri kit here's a tweak list.
http://www.usarmymodels.com/MANUFACTURERS/Italeri/italeri225.html

I think its great. Alot of people would be too afraid to try what you have done so far.

The only thing I would do would be to lose the sand shields as they wern't very common.

Keep us posted on your progress. Look forward to seeing how it all comes together.

Cheers

Looking good so far Jon.
The scratchbuild interior looks pretty good.

I wish I could scratchbuild something as 'rough' as that!
Exer's right about the barrel- might as well sort that out.
MC

The thing is, you don't really get "partial penetrations" with HE filled AP rounds. The shell goes in (and wreaks havoc) or it doesn't (no havoc, just a ding on the outside). An 88mm APHE round would make a real mess out of the entire driver's compartment if it entered up high. You are probably best if you pop a hole in the differential cover in front of the ass't driver. That way there _might_ be something left of the poor sod to pull out of the hatch (but not likely much below the waist).




The distance the Tiger is away from the target makes no difference to the damage inside. It does change the likelihood of the round penetrating, but once it does, it's game over, all round.




The only way to "save" the driver is to have something _big_ between the explosion and the driver. Like the tranny & differential.


BTW the level of scrratchbuilding you are doing is just right for this sort of dio. Well done.

HTH

Paul

You are doing a swell job externally and internally (although I'm not an OD fan, I like what you did). I would love to see the finished product.

BTW, if it would help...I saw a documentary in Discovery channel about Sherman vs. Tiger-I. They interviewed two English Sherman tankers who survived a Tiger-I hit. According to them (driver) they were hit on the side and was lucky because the shell passed through the tank -- it exited near the first bogey. They just sustained minor injuries and run like hell out of the tank. If I recall correctly, one of them even claimed to see the shell passing in front of him...must be sheer luck.

Cheers

BigJon
Forge on, brave man! Doing an interior is something I deliberately steer away from but you have nailed it from the POV that it will be an extra and not part of the prime focus. As Paul stated, I think a hit to a different part of the tank would be more suitable for your needs... So long as it fits in with the viewing of your dio...
Good job mate
Brad

Wow this is the first time I've had a lot of minds to call on through a work in progress (rather than looking at a finished product) and I have to say I'm bowled over!!

Thanks for the great tips on the damage and location of the hit....those were EXACTLY the kind of thing I had been looking for and without the budget at the moment to buy the books and DVD's I'd like to (hehe I have been eyeing a few up ready ) I've been at a loss for good info.

I will be re-assessing what happened to the tank to knock it out with your info in mind...it keeps getting better and better so thanks for all the help.

Honeycut - I like the sound of that :-) shame I'm not building a British sherman or that would be a lot of fun to build...especially as an "aftermath" diorama with the confused Tommy's looking at their vehicle.

and no before anyone says it I'm not converting it to a british tank :-)