Greetings all,

some progress on the Mk IIs.

Early

Stowage and lights done added although I'm awaitng some light guards. My thanks to Ian at Friendship Models for the lights which he kindly donated. Nice one Ian, many thanks.

Decals still to be sorted, antenna and .50 cal added.











Mid

This ones done - again .50 cal and antenna needed



Late

Have added some cross bars between the wings. Again .50 cal and antenna needed and I might change the fig to one with a helmet.









Comments and suggestions welcome.

Cheers

Al

Wow Al
These are great!
The finish on the early looks the part, and the stowage spot on... Is that a flimsy in the front bin? The tow cable looks very authentic.
The mid looks excellent also, but may look more effective with the raised chevrons a leeeeetle bit cleaner, to show a contrast? Just a thought...
Now the late presents one gripe. That being the long bedroll(?) on the rear left in the 3rd last pic. It seems to look too rigid on the angle it is; more suited to placement on a flatter part maybe... Love the cheekbulge and the fender stowage 'bins'...
Have to say that all the figures look beaut too!
Cheers
Brad

Hi Brad,

Thanks for your response and glad you like them. Thought for a while these were so well camoed up no one could see them lol, lol

Corrrect Sir, that a flinsey in the bin.

Had thought of making the chevrons a bit lighter so similar thinking on that one. There will be a subtle change in the landscape between desert and scrub so I can blend it in at the time.

Good point about the bedroll, I'll switch it for something softer, or might just put a pile of additional shovles/picks in or some food boxes.

Cheers

Al

Good work,
Like the additional touches you have added to each model, such as the missing chevrons from the track on the late model. Would agree with Brad on the bedroll too.
Get them .50 cals on!

James

Hi James,

Consider the bedroll gone. Thank for the feedback.

Cheers

Al

Looks good!

A nice little family of Shermans you have there.

Thanks for sharing

Hi Jasper,

Glad you enjoyed them, thanks for the feedback.

Cheers

Al

Al,

Nice! All three look great. Very well done!

Hi Thomas,

Thanks, seems to be a bit of a Sherman morning this morning . Lots of kits to look at.

Cheers

Al

Hi Guys,

Last opportunity for comment/suggestion before this post slips into oblivion.

Cheers

Al

Hi Alan
Nice work
A few comments
The Desert Pink isn't pink enough for me
What I mean is that the worn and grimy areas are too dark I would think thnat desert sand would have a scouring effect and would constantly clean the tank to it's surface paint. If you don't already have "Codename Swallow: British Sherman Tanks at Alamein" by Denis Oliver then get it- I'm sure this won't be the last desert Sherman you'll build.
What figures are those with the second Sherman -Cromwell? Any close ups?

The NWE Sherman is my favourite of the three. I like the stowage and the Crew-Resicast or Ultracast? Whose decals did you use?

Hi Pat,

Thanks for the reply. Yip the Pinkie's front turned out darker than I wanted. I was experimenting with some Filters and things got very dark . I might try and lighten it up a bit, I really wanted it more like the burnishing on the mid, yet at the same time not PINK as I've seen, just worn and burnt looking by the sun, wind and sand. I'd agree on the too browish, I'll see what I can do at least to the front.

I've got Op Swallow but didn't want the early to have a camo scheme although it's most likely that they all did even if it was only on the skirts, evidence seems to point that way but a worn Pinkie was what I was trying to achieve.

Re figures and Decals, The crew of the Pinkie are Warriors, the crew of the Mid are 1 warriors, 1 Doug's Originals and one Old Italeri figure. The crew of the late are commander and drivers Ultracast and the sitting chap Alpine. Decals are a mix from Echlon, Fingerprint Design and others.

These were great fun to do and I've gotten a lot from the builds. Again thanks for the feedback.

Cheers

Al

Very nice Shermans. Just one small thing. The long tool on the right side edge is a heavy metal pry bar. I can't tell from the color, were these painted rusty? Nice job on the indy tracks.

Hi Randell,

Thanks and glad you enjoyed them. I'm showing it as a matlock which is what I believe the British stowed there, and in truth it look a lot more like a pick handle than a crow bar although I realise what your saying.

Cheers

Al

I see what you mean. I'll have to look at my kits! I wonder if some thing was left out.

Hi Randell,

Only my opinion but.....

Some pics I took last week at IWM of a Sherman Mk V.





Cheers

Al

Alan,
When I said I wondered if some thing was left out I was talking about the DML M4A1 kit. This model uses some of the parts from the M4A4 that are a little poorly done. I have an affection for the M4A1, and the model is still the best early kit on the market. It was, and is a pleasure to see your three.

I had a look at an M4A1 I have. The pick handle is labeled as part A20, and it looks a bit odd which is why I was a little confused. The big pry bar I was refering to is part H27. I do not use the DML tools as I have a resin set that I made up years ago. The tools in the new Sherman III are very nice also.

Great pictures. The tools are unique, British pattern? The details of the hull welds and the welded on metal loops to secure the tools show up nicely. This is a detail that I often over look.

Tks,
Randy

Hi Randel,

Yip, the parts could be labled wrongly or something left out. I don't have a British stowage diagram for the M4A1 but I know the rear tools were positioned differently. This is mentoned in the Osprey M4 SHerman Modelling Manual in relationship to the tools on the rear hull above the engine.

Dpending on how you inturpret the part it ciould be either lol, lol

I used the diogram from the Op Swallow Book by Dennis Oliver and on the last page it gives a Top view showing the tools on the rear RHS and this shows a pick shaft. Strangely no pick head though lol, lol. No sign of the crowbar either.

There's a further query which I couldn't find an answer to and that is the fitting of a Helmet Rack. This is not the railings along the hull side but something else. However, it remains a mistery lol, lol

The addition of a crowbar appears on the Mk III but sitting much further forward, with the matlock beside it on the inside and the remainder of the tools including the shovel stowed on the rear RHS.

Pick shaft workes for me though, the shape seems wrong for a crowbar.

I'd agree this is a grand little kit. I'd like to do a deep wading version so I hope they re-release it with some upgrades as I have some great pics of them being landed in Normandy.

My thoughts anyways and thanks for the feedback.

Cheers

Al

Edit: Re the tools, those are the standard British Army digging tools that I believe have been around since WW2.

Good ay Alan. Nice Shermans. The only nitpicks I noticed are the vehcle markings appear to be very clean compared to the base chassis and on the M4A1 mid the seam for the cast- in cheek armour stands out . Love the M4A1 mid variant with the high bustle turret w/loaders hatch
All nicely done,

Doug .

Hi Doug,

Thanks for the feedback. Still a little work to do then lol, lol.

Cheers

Al

Nicely done, Alan. Great weathering and the stowage is well done. I like the figures also, which ones are they?
Now for some groundwork, amigo, for this beauty.
Ironmike

Alan,
The Hunnicutt book has some pictures of the early British M4A1's and I do not see the pry bar on any of them. On these early tanks it was right on the outer arc to the hull. It could be that this was a poor location so the bars were removed.

As I am planning a few British M4's, I have looked for the mysterious helmet rack, and have also come up empty. Could it be one of those good ideas that never made it to the field? Or maybe the crews thought it was a waste of time and did it their own way.

Did you pattern the tank with the stowage rack after the one in the Osprey book? I have always liked the tank on page 23 of Vangard 15.

Cheers!

Hi Mike,

I've lightened the early a little to loose some of the brown!!!

The crews are:

Early - Warriors (the ones for the Stuart I think)

Mid - Guy with hand on hips - Doug's Orignals
Guy with spanner and rag - Warriors
Guy smoking - Italeri

Late - Commander and driver/co driver Ultracast, sitting figure Apline

Cheers

Al

Hi Randel,

The Pinkie in the Osprey book gave me the idea, just didn't want one so pink lol, lol. The Helmet Rack is mentioned in Op Swallow as one of the external Field Mods that was considered necessary to the tanks but ........
I have yet to see it, so it may have been an idea that was dropped.

An update on the Pinkie, a little more work on the turret required to blend it in.



Have fun and enjoy the builds.

Cheers

Al

Edit: Well I look at it and looked again and thought NO. So I've staretd again on this one it just didn't work for me. Oh Well, we live and learn.

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appeaciated.

Al