Hi chaps,
I have put some paint down and wondered what you thought. It seems a little dark to me but colour pics are hard to find. And some are different anyway.
The 'luggage' also I am not sure what colour it should be. I believe the British decided to do everything in OD after 1944 but thought some difference would be more appealing. Same with the boxes. Different wood-different colour.



The colour in pics 1 and 3 are neared to real life.
Please critique/advise.Nothing glued down yet!
Many thanks.
Tony

Hi Ton,

I haven't yet studied this version so can't advise too much. This looks like the Tarawa version with the welded hatches, which is fine.

What transmission did you use? They appear to have had the rounded one piece transmission, but I've only looked at a couple of pics so probably had the 3 piece as well!!!!

My advice would be to take a look on IMW site and get a few reference pics to study.

You could add some fittings for spart track on the front, There appears to be a small gap between the transmission and the hull so a little filler there and also on the front fenders.

There's a good picture of 'Aggressor' belonging to A Sqn Staffordshire Yeomanry in British Tanks in Normandy which looks to have the welded hatches and shows several spare wheels on the front and a row of track along where you have your boxes (p62) Check out the picture on IWM B7555),

You cold add a jerry can to the rear LHS and a first aid box to the rear RHS. Agressor seems to be mounting a cabel reel to the top LHS of the drivers hatch. Tow cable and maybe a tarp or some rope to hold down the kit on the rear.

Re: colour of kit, faded OD and cardboard brown for some of the rolled stuff and wood for the boxes with metal bits if appropriate.

Thanks for posting, it made me stop and look up a few things which is useful as my kit arrived to day and I also spotted an M4 Firefly of 1NY which can join my 2 Mk Is lol, lol.

Which unit are you modelling it on. Agressor looks good to me, I might use that one. The 13/18 Hussars also had Mk IIIs.

Sorry I have to go back to sawing resin, hope that helps a bit.

Cheers and Merry Christmas.

Al

Alan,
The transmission is one piece but I am told either is possible.

Vehicle is based on this pic:-

It's a poor photo but from Sherwood Rangers. Stuart Hill's book 'By Tank Into Normandy'.
4 Troop, 'C' Squadron, 8th Brigade, 7th Div.

Good idea about the tarp on the rear. I believe thay also had aircraft markings' for identification' painted on these. Don't know what symbol or colour right now though.

Good luck with your new kit and Happy Christmas.

Tony

Hi Tony,

Had another look through British Tanks in Normandy. Shewood Rangers would be AOS 996 on a Red Square with a thick white line underneath. 8th Armd Bde Div Sign was a Red Fox on a yellow background with a black circle around it. The div sign is shown above the AOS in a yellow rectangle with no black circle.

Re air recogination markings, doesn't show any pics for 8th Armd Bde but the for other divisions it was a white star with an unbroken circle on the top of the turret to the left of the cupola.

Most seem to have carried at least 1 spare wheel on the front, some of them have two and others have jerry cans so a mix of anything is quite possible,

Hope that helps a bit.

Cheers

Al

Thanks Alan
I have seen decals with the White star as you describe so I can get some of those.
Jerry cans etc will come out of the scratch box.

The gaps in the fanders and glacis plate you mentioned have been fixed.

Many thanks

Tony

Gday Tony
She looks the part thus far!
I don't have a problem with the colour; I think it is quite fitting and will lighten enough with some weathering...
A couple of things I'll mention, as I'm up to them myself...
Have you drilled any holes in the petrol cap splash rings? Takes a small drillbit and some care but can be done... And also some tie-downs for the pioneer tools?
I agree some variety with the stowage colours works too!
The split hatch on the Sherman MkIII kit is superbly detailed with extras not seen in a plastic kit. Am I to assume the same is said of the M4A2 Tarawa? Was going to have my buttoned up, but after seeing the detail decided to model it open...
Keep up the good work!
Cheers
Brad

Hi Brad
Good idea about the tie downs and the splash guards. I will leave until later today as it's 02:25 here. Tired eyes don't do a good job.

As far as I know the hatches are the same on both models.

The stowage could look really boring if done in OD, All of it I mean. There is a great photo in 'The Sherman Tank in US and Allied Service' bySteve Zaloga of some engineers painting a Sherman in OD and Black. Painting all of it, sandbags and all.

Have fun.

Tony

Looking good. I can't tell from the rear pictures, but are the 10 bolt heads on the rear plate? They go where those round indentions are. DML had these as part of the photo etch fret. So far all the welded drivers hoods M4A2's I have seen have had the cast nose. I have no doubt there is one with the 3 peice out there some where.

Hi Tony,

Bison Decals do a set that should fit you needs

http://www.hannants.co.uk/search/index.php?CATEGORY=&DIVISION=&MANUFACTURER=Bison&CODE=&TYPE=Decals+%28military+vehicles%29&SCALE=1%3A35&KEYWORD=&NUMPERPAGE=25&order%5B%5D=arrived+desc&order%5B%5D=code+asc

Hannants stock them.

Pat did a really good review of the kit here on site. Probably a bit late now but might be worth having a read through.

Look forward to seeing the finished kit.

Cheers

Al

Hi Alan,
Thanks for the link. Georg at Decalomaniacs is putting together a set specific to this vehicle/regiment. We have mailed each other several times to get it right. It is looking really good.

Randall,
Yes the bolt heads are there. I could not even see the etched parts well so I did them with superglue. Much easier. Some of these etched parts are so small these days an old fart like me has real problems !!

Thanks for all the help.

Tony

Some of these etched parts are so small these days an old fart like me has real problems !!

Tony[/quote]

Tony,

I know what you mean, and not just in the phot etch. These new models have parts in plastic that I have a hard time with. I plan on getting a magnifier this week!

I also know what you mean, but I had problems trying to get the darn things round! They are too elusive for me to hold onto them whilst giving them a careful trim, and with a drop of CA on the dots, I thought to myself maybe the CA would do the job instead as you did... But no. So 10 mis-shapen rivets later...