i recently posted some progress shots of a sherman. i have completed it. so let me present it in the way i had intended.
i have been thinking a lot of my grandfather the last few months. you see he was a ww2 vet. he was wounded on saipan. but he also participated in two other battles in the pacific. one of those was okinawa. about two months ago i chatted with robert about building a saipan sherman, i had just sent in an order for a usmc sherman from italeri. robert told me that i would not be accurate for saipan with the version i had ordered. however, he told me that the version i had ordered was accurate for okinawa.
i do have some regrets on this build. my grandfather passed in the early sixties, i never met him. i will never know if he would have liked this build.
after much chatting and much additional research i settled on which sherman i wanted to attempt to replicate.
this is the pic robert showed me.
this is the closeup for the sherman.
you have seen the progress shots so i will not repost them. however i did not share some information. the paint i used was a mixture of model masters olive drab, testors olive drab, and tamiya olive drab. i used pastel chalk to try to weather it a bit. i also used alum and black drybrushing. the mud is a mixture of sawdust, white glue, water, and testors brown. the kit is italeri usmc sherman, 1/35.
so for my grandfather, PFC Joseph E. McCaslin,
i need to say thankyou to some individuals who were a tremendous help to me, and to whom i will be forever indebted. robert, dean(scubaboy), and rob(lobbie). i cant repay you for all the help you have been.
Super job Joe. You’re becoming a true treadhead. Thanks for the story of your Grandfather, he fought in some big battles. Yes, you would have made him proud.
Simply awesome. I too, have a couple of kits that I’m doing for relatives, or for family members of relative who have passed on…I think that’s partly why I got back into modelling. You did your grandfather proud.
You surely would have made your grandfather proud. Display it with pride!
Have you thought about how you’re going to display it? Just an idea…perhaps a nice finished wood base with a small plaque engraved with the campaigns/battles he fought in with a set of service ribbons might look really slick. Do you have any of your grandfather’s service records or know what medals or awards he received?
carl, my granfather was in the 27th infantry, army. but i thankyou.
matt it is kind of depressing to finish this one. you see i was named for him. my biggest regret is that i did not have the opportunity to meet him.
david when i display this one i will be doing so in a dio. based upon okinawa. i have two others to do before i can feel i am satisfied with the work. and yes i have all his ribbons and pins. i also have his purple heart, dated june 21, 1944, saipan. something i will cherish for the rest of my life.
mike, rich, duke, eric, chris, trevor, dean, and dan. thankyou for the kind words. my biggest regret is i will never get a chance to meet him.
[wow]Outstanding job joe and a worthy tribute to your grandfather and all those who fought in that campaign. It’s very obvious you put a lot of loving attention into this kit and it all paid off. I’m sure when set in the dio it will absolutely stunning.
Excellent work, Joe! A fitting tribute to the memory of your grandfather.
I’ve been to Saipan twice, and there’s a very poignant scene right off the beach near the airport of a Sherman that didn’t make it ashore. All that shows above the waves is the turret, hatches open. Every time I see it, I wonder what story it has to tell…
I’ll see if I can post a picture of it.
looks great, i too had a gradfather i didnt get to meet. he fought liberating France and after the war he became depressed and died before i was born. im sure he would of loved it, it is a good build.
