Anyone built this kit? I know its OOP but I would like to hear some feedback on it. I have tried to search around but not much info on it. I am not a rivet counter but it would be nice to know what to expect etc.

I bought it at a HS in Toronto last November but have just started looking seriously at it this week.

Also was it used in the 6 Day War?

I must say I find these Israeli Shermans fascinating.

Jeff

I built this kit last year and had a great time with it! It is an older mold, so there were a few quirks with it. The bogies are a little awkward and tedious to clean and assemble, and be careful when gluing the return rollers, as they have no locator pins. I accidentally mis-measured the position for the large rollers, and now the treads barely fit between them and the fenders. There is also the occasional sink mark to fill, but not too many. I had won a set of AFV Club workable tracks in a raffle, so I didn't even attempt the kit tracks and can't tell you anything about them. Other than that and some stowage, my M50 is completely OOB. I didn't use the decals on mine, though, because the instantly disentigrated when I tried to use them. I may just be inept at decals, but I thought I'd let you know.

As for accuracy, I am also not a rivet counter, so I really have no idea how accurate this kit is. To this date, the M50 was probably one of the most enjoyable builds I've had, and I even picked up Dragon's M51 as a result.

Also, I believe the M50 was used during the Six Day War.

I hope this is what you're looking for, and I'm sure someone else can give you more details. It's been almost a year since I built this kit, so I don't remember every little detail of the build, but this covers the basics.

Always glad to help!

Chris

Here's a pic of my M50:

Thanks Chris!

Thats exactly what I was looking for in regards to info on this kit.

You have done a great build and it looks fantastic. I just love the look of these HVSS Shermans in Israeli colours.

Speaking of colours. What colour/colours did you paint it with? I have done some digging on here in regards to Israeli colours but there are lots of opinions about it. So I am curious about what you did.

I am planning on using the AFV club tracks too. I took one look at the kit supplied ones and said "forget it! This hobbys supposed to be fun"

How were they to put together?

Thanks for the heads up on the return rollers also. I was wondering why they had measurements for their placements in the instructions. I didn't realize they didn't have locations marked on the lower hull.

I am building the Academy M-51 right now in between working on a campaign so after its done I am going to sink my teeth into this one.

Thanks again Chris

Jeff

I'm glad you like my M50. It's probably the pride of my collection. The HVSS Shermans are probably my favorite tank, and I still have two more from Dragon (M51 and DX '05) in the stash and am on the lookout for the Academy kits. I also just have a soft spot for Israeli armor...

As for the color on my M50, I used Model Master enamel "armor sand." Again, not the most accurate, but it was what I had at the moment. After I finished the kit, I found an IDF modeling site! It has a color chart for a few periods. I wish I had known about this while I was building...

The AFV tracks were my first attempt at aftermarket anything, and as such, were a learning experience! Be careful taking the links off of the sprue as they can break easily. There are a few extras in the set in case something goes wrong, but not too many! I found this out the hard way, and so a few of my links are built from broken sections and are not workable.
I used super glue to assemble the links which I applied with a toothpick. After a while I had a system going where I would glue the guide horn and one of the end pieces to a link and set it aside to dry. After I had done a few of these, I would slip them together and glue the final end piece. In the end, most of them were workable with just a few mistakes. It still beat the thought of assembling the Dragon tracks!

Good luck with your M50 and the M51 campaign build! Post pics when you're done!

Chris

BTW, how is the Academy kit?

Jeff,

I have the Academy M-51sitting in my stash. How is the build?

Darryl

Hi guys,

Sorry about the delay but had dinner at mother in-laws and she is a damn good cook.

The Academy kit is pretty good. I have just finished assembling the running gear which for a HVSS sherman is very time consuming as Chris said. Lots of parts to clean up.

It has vinyl tracks which should look pretty good when painted up.

I am not an expert so I can't comment on how accurate it is but so far so good. There are a few things that I have noticed.

One thing I noticed is the casting texture on the turret and hull which seems to very overdone. If it was 1:1 some of the marks would be the size of deflected shots. I am not sure if I will just live with it or try to sand down some of the places where its worse.

Glueing the turret halves was probably the biggest problem as they don't fit together very well. I had to do alot of test fitting to get them to line up properly and clamping of the halves to get them to go together. Just a bit of filling with some putty and it should be all good.

In test fitting the hull I noticed that the front fenders sort of "float" above the hull. The box art shows them right down to the hull but the pictures of the built up kit on the box shows them floating Looks pretty easy to fix with some sheet styrene.

I have heard some people say that the muzzle brake gave them a hard time but I didn't have a problem. You just have to be careful as the parts are fragile.

I will probably replace the .50cal with one from Academys US machine gun set. (Great little set)


Thats the main stuff I have noticed so far and I probably made it sound out to be worse then it really is. It will build up into an impressive kit when done. The problems arn't hard to fix and are a great way to learn new skills.

Its not a Tamiya kit as its not just going to fall together. A bit of sanding and filling is needed but its nothing major.

Chris I have found that site you were talking about in regards to Israeli colours. Very helpful.