Hey guys, seeing as I’ve got a nasty flu my wife went and got me this kit to work on between naps.
I’ve got a few Q’s about it though.
The tank tread is a long piece of rubber… apparently this is common but I’ve never seen it before. Do I paint this before or after I put it on the model seeing as the stretching will breakup the paint (I’m guessing)? Also, I read about gluing problems and saw that DS (which the kit has) is suppose to fix that–how should I go about cleaning up that connection? The dry fit looks like a pretty large step/lip will be formed.
There is a long thin part that is suppose to be glued under the fender that I don’t think I’ve seen before. http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10054498 has pictures of the instructions and it’s on the 2nd page, step 4, part number B62 (somewhat bolded in the instructions as well). I sneezed while sanding some small flash off it when I compressed it into a crazy zigzag shape with a break in the middle–not sure it’s worth trying to save or care about.
The decals have markings for a tank from 13th Armored Div. that has the name “Andy” by the star. Does anyone have more info on this tank? I spent a whole afternoon searching google for it but couldn’t find any other pictures. I’m interested because it’s my name and would be fun to have that on my shelf
Lastly, anyone build this model and have advice for it? Things to worry about and what is nice about it as well would be nice to know
Thanks in advance!
** oh yeah, almost forgot… any reason to use the metal gun barrel? It looks less detailed than the plastic one (no grooves on the inside).
The DS tracks can be painted first if that is what you want to do, I have had no problems with paint cracking while handling them. I didn’t clean up the connection at all and the glue worked fine. I simply placed the join under the bogies where it couldn’t be see very well. One thing though, my tracks seemed to be a couple links too long so I had to alter them but this may have been due to the position of my rear idler, something to watch for though.
If you destroyed it I wouldn’t worry about it, it’s not the easiest thing to see when done, it does belong there though so if it is easy enough to save/scratch a new one . . . it’s up to you.
Can’t help you on that particular tank, although I have seen it modeled on another site and no one has challenged it’s accuracy yet. The markings I used for mine on the other hand are wrong and I have caught flak for it from a few.
The bogie assembly is very fidgety, I didn’t use the springs and I glued the brass tube to one side.
and some of the parts placement in the instructions is wrong. see here:
I used the plastic barrel because of the reason you mentioned, it has the rifling while the metal one does not. Other than that from what I recall it was a great kit. I did use Eduards PE sets though so I can’t comment on the kit PE.
And by changing the suffix to ‘reviews-cookies.htm’ and ‘reviews.frank.htm’ , you can get reviews by Cookie Sewell ( a good input about Shermans) and Frank De Sisto.
1 Glad to hear about the tracks, I think I’ll still try to clean up that connection (when I first saw the rubber tracks and movable bogies I thought to make the wheels operational :P)
2 That weird thing under the fender was fixed (kinda, I glued it back upside down…) but I still don’t know what it is. I did notice a funny indent on one end… so maybe it’s an air line or something that vents the cabin… can’t be an air supply since it almost exits on top of the exhaust!
3 Yup, I drove myself nuts looking for info on it. I even ran across the other links from MECHTECH (thanks a bunch btw!). One of the links confirms that there are pictures of “Andy” but his list of references is pretty long and I own ZERO tank reference books–so I might have to try the library in a few weeks. Of course I might just change the markings to a Polish set I found on the web.
4 The bogies are pretty cool, but also a little disappointing to me. The spring system seems way too weak and doesn’t actually compress in a nice/real way. I’m still thinking of ways to fix that (possibly not gluing the spring housings and installing smaller (so they fit better) and strong springs (not too strong though…) which would let the spring assembly just float between the two pins (which I’m guessing the real life counterparts did).
I’m sure everyone has seen plenty of shermans but if I do anything cool, I’ll post a picture or two
Hey, I’m feeling a little better and picked up my kit again and restarted my search for info.
In the Frank review link he lists a lot of refferences… and I was wondering if someone had those already and could help me out with info on the “Andy” sherman–the review stated that he saw proof of it in photo form so I’m betting it’s in one of these books
“Sherman: A History of the US Medium Tank”, Taurus, by R.P. Hunnicutt.
“The Sherman at War”, Concord 7001, by S. Zaloga.
“The Sherman at War (2)”, Concord 7036, by S. Zaloga.
“US Tank Battles in Germany 1944-45”, Concord 7046, by S. Zaloga.
“The Battle of the Bulge”, Concord 7045, by S. Zaloga.
“The Sherman in US and Allied Service”, Osprey Vanguard 26, by S. Zaloga.
“US Armour Camouflage and Markings 1917-45”, Osprey Vanguard 39, by S. Zaloga.
“M4 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank 1943-65”, Osprey New Vanguard 73, by S. Zaloga.
“Sherman in Action”, Squadron 2016, by B. Culver.
“Walk Around M4 Sherman”, Squadron 5701, by J. Mesko.
“M4 Medium (Sherman)”, AFV Weapons Profile #29, by P. Chamberlain & C. Ellis.
“US Armored Divisions, the European Theater of Operations 1944-45”, Osprey Battle Orders 3, by S. Zaloga.
“US Armored Units in the North African and Italian Campaogns 1942-45”, Osprey Battle Orders 21, by S. Zaloga.
“US Tank and tank Destroyer Battalions in the ETO 1944-45”, Osprey Battle Orders 10, by S. Zaloga.
“Tank Battles of the Pacific War 1941-1945”, Concord 7004, by S. Zaloga.
“Modelling the US Army M4 (75mm) Sherman Medium Tank”, Osprey Modelling 35, by S. Zaloga.
“Modeler’s Guide to the Sherman”, Ampersand, by P. Harlem.
I’m willing to expand my library in the future, just not ready to with my current living space so I need help
