Rther than clutter up the M51 thread, I thought I’d break these two out since they’ve really got my attention now…
Squirrel!
In order to stay straight on what I was building, I did the engine decks and under-hull radiator areas along with the respective exhausts. The Dragon hull will be a very early M50, built from the M4A4T, extra-rare due to the cast final drive cover but not unheard of, while the MP hull will be an early Cummins engined M50.
Still plugging along here, doing lots of hear scrtching and page flipping. The Lion And Lioness of the Line book has lots of good pics and drawings, which help. I also need to order a couple more of the series, after the first of the year though…
I’m just slow. I did the infantry phone on the green hull, took me about two hours… and how in the world did I not notice I have this topic double-posted?
Okay, I’m a dork. I’ll use “this” one from now on, Mods, if you’re watching, can you delete the other one?
The cast FDA on the early tank was bugging me. Although it was not “wrong”, it was unlikely on such an early M50, so I dug out the last MP 3-piece cover I had and swapped it out. Sounds quick, but it was a whole evening and a fair amount of putty, scrap and super glue, with MrSurfacer the final touch.
I feel better now. It’s not that all M4A4 hulls kept the 3-piece covers throughout their long service life, quite to opposite actually. But an early M50, still with the Continental engine would most likely still have had the 3-piece cover.
Not shelved! Having an abundance of time while at home, waiting for my mandatory off-work break due to Covid, I pushed ahead with these two while tinkering with a few more Shermans. I’m still finding a high degree of parts interchangeability between different manufacturer’s kits, very helpful. The two turrets are moving along nicely, as well as some glacis detail on the “Bet”.
At this point, anything that fits and is appropriate is going on. I was surprised to find that Tamiya loader’s hatches fit perfectly in both turrets, which is good 'cuz that’s all I had.
I’m waiting to do any more on the M51 until I get the SabingaMartin book with the Gimel tanks. Right now I think I need to use the rear stowage bin instead of the folding rack I have on it, and maybe a couple of other things.
Moving right along, turret fittings, empty smoke launcher brackets, tools, hull-side grab handles/tie downs and a lower barbed wire bracket on the Cummins tank.
I’m still debating on stowage, but the tanks themselves are done, next step would be primer if I decide to do them “naked”, but I’ll probably add some crew personal gear first.
IMG_4562 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
IMG_4563 by Russel Baer, on Flickr
