Love the tank, hate your football team[:D]…Kenny
LMAO! [:D] Cheers Kenny!
Ben [:)]
Good evening folks,
I’ve made good steady progress with the M26 today-she’s coming along nicely. Turret and upper hull are now assembled with base coat of hull colour applied.
You’ll notice I’ve omitted to fit the spare track links and other small bits on the turret for the moment, purely to aid the fitting of some of the decals which will sit behind them.
The hull painting went well and the Humbrol 155 looks perfect. As usual I wont get any chance to sit down during the coming week due to my hectic work schedule (grumble) so next weekend I’ll be fitting the decals, getting the other small parts fitted and having a crack at painting the crewmen and .50cal along with the various small ammo tins and k ration box. Depending on how good my figure painting is will decide if the turret hatches will be open or closed!
Still a fair bit to do and I’m planning some pretty heavy weathering but I’m pretty chuffed with her so far.
Only minor gripe is with the nasty gap that is left between the top & bottom halves of the turret on the RHS-what do you guys use to fill small seams and holes etc? This gap is clearly visible in the final photo, not good!
As usual, any tips or advice really appreciated…
Thanks to everyone who has given me help on this build so far! I’ve only been building models for since July (being an armour enthusiast it was bound to happen eventually) and this is only my third ever piece but you guys have taught me soooo much in such a short time [bow]
Ben [:)]
I like the looks of the Pershing and have been considering purchasing one, yours is looking really good!! I use Bondo brand Red glazing and spot putty for autos. It dries pretty quick in the small amounts we use it in. I’m not sure if they have the same across the pond but I picked mine up at the local auto parts store for ilke 3 bucks.
I use Zap-A-Gap for those kind of seams, a little light sanding and viola, no seam[tup]
Cheers guys,
It really it a quality kit Jester-highly recommended. Compared to my previous 1/48 builds she’s a big beast-I think I’ll be sticking with 1/35 from now on, I much prefer building and painting on this slightly bigger scale and the moulded-on tools on my 1/48 kits don’t look too great imo.
I was thinking some type of putty to fill that gap-I’ll ask in the LHS to see what they suggest-the guy in there has been very helpful.
ATVB
Ben [:)]
Good evening guys,
The M26 is coming along very nicely indeed. Today I picked up some epoxy putty and plugged that nasty gap-no more gap!
Second base coat applied all over the Hull and turret, .50 cal assembled and painted along with K ration & ammo boxes.
I’ve bottled it with the figures, the tank is going to made with hatches closed. The figures will go into the spares box-I had a crack with one but I’m just not good enough yet. I’ve got a King Tiger upstairs which I’m planning to build over Christmas and with that I’ve a 6 crew accessory kit so I’ll get plenty of practice with them; at least I’ve got plenty of spare arms and a couple of heads and a helmet.
As for the stowage I’m not sure what I’ll be doing with that yet. The ammo boxes will probably go into the stash too but the two wooden ration boxes look good-there are decals to go on them which I like-I might see if I can ‘rope’ them down on the hull somewhere along with the helmet.
Unfortunately I’m working from home tomorrow so I’m planning to get the decals fitted and that’s about it. Next week the fun stuff begins with the washes, weathering and mud effects.
Please let me know what you think so far, personally I’m dead happy with this piece, the kit is great and has been real value for money-I’ll definately be sticking with 1/35 from now on. Any suggestions or advice greatfully received!
Enjoy & ATVB!
Ben [:)]
Looking Good!
I’m right with you on the color, keep it coming.
One nit pick if I may?
The M2 .50 cal machine gun is backwards in the mount. The angle of the arms is such that the gun can point straight up if necessary to shoot at those pesky winged things. The way it is now won’t allow the gun to elevate properly.
Whoops-well spotted!
It was on the right way when I first assembled it-I quickly put it back together for the photo after the paint on the handles dryed; luckily it isn’t glued in place!
Any thoughts on how the vented engine covers should be looking when it comes to weathering-would they have been painted with hull colour on the real thing or in a different colour?
Cheers ,
Ben [:)]
Looking great Ben especially for only your third build. Keep chipping away at it and I’m sure that each update will show even more progress.
P.S I was reading through your other post and noticed the Tamiya weathering products. I’ve never seen them here but am looking forward to seeing how they work out for you.Regards,
Terry.
Coming along very nicely…seam cleanup looks good
Wayne already told you about Ma duce…keep on plugging
Rounds Complete!!
Cheers guys,
There has been a small disaster with the .50 cal MG mount. I went to pull it off the tank this morning to fit it the corrct way round and it did come off-leaving the little snib on the base of the mount that fits into the hole on the turret behind [banghead]
Luckily I managed to remone the snid and clear the hole AND there is an unused part in the kit which is basically the same MG mount but it’s not on a post. I’ve put the .50cal back on but obviously it doesn’t sit high up where it should be, it’s now more suitable for a marine of VERY small stature.
Have a look…
What do you reckon?
Ben [:)]
She’s coming along rather nicely Ben. Your paint work looks a lot smoother and more evenly applied this time arond, compared to your Firefly (Perhaps it’s the larger scale that makes a difference). Very good for a vrush-job.
Shame about the MG mount - you know, if you’re up to it you could easily make a suitable “stub” by stretching a length of sprue and cutting to the required length.
Remember to paint in the periscope windows, but don’t use blue as the Tamiya instructions may suggest.
Cheers Phil,
I honestly don’t know what to do re the MG mount at the minute-tbh I’m pretty pi55ed off about it!
The original mg mount was the same or similar diameter to the smaller sprue with the kit. I suppose some nifty superglue work might do the the job?
The periscope windows-I asume you mean the oval ones around the big hatch-what colour do you recommend? Tamiya didn’t even mention it in the destructions!
ATVB
Ben [:)]
Yep, the oval windows around the commander’s cupola. Simplest would be simply gloss black (some people may not agree with me here).
Not a mention of it in the instructions! I’ve looked at a few photos and a very dark green or black seem to be the way to go-black I think.
I’m going to see what I can do with this bloody MG now-photos later, hopefully not of me crying!
Ben [:)]
Hinsky: I have a spare MG post if you want it. Email me with your address.
The engine grates were air outlets for the cooling system. They would have been OD as well. Don’t blacken them up (I’ve seen some modellers do this) as they were just fan vents, not exhaust vents.
If you’re doing a WW2 version, know that the infantry phone box on the right rear corner was a post war addition (something that Tamiya fails to mention)
(as you can see by my avatar, I’m a fan of Pershings!)
Sorry to hear about your mishap with the .50 cal Hinksy but hopefully Roy can help you out in that department or the stretched sprue replacement idea can get you where you need to be. Everything else looks like it’s coming together nicely with the help and tips you’ve been getting fron the OD crowd. [;)]
Hi Roy,
I’ll happily take the spare MG mount off you-top man! Thanks soooo much!
You have Email!
I’m trying sprue methods at the minute with varying degrees of success!
My Pershing is based on the 1950 Korea Inchon Marine Pershing so I’ve left the telephone in place. Someone did raise that point before I started my build.
Thanks again buddy,
Ben [:)]
Hi folks,
Update so far…
‘build’ complete, .50 cal fixed and looking good, decals added (I used Humbrol ‘decalfix’ this time which, imo, is terrible! It left a nasty mess on the painted surface around the decal so i had to back with a tiny brush and metal rule and paint round the stars ets to cover up the mess-not good but they look ok now.
This weekend I’ll be playing in the mud and starting general weathering-so far I’m loving this build, she is a real beauty.
Bit blurry-sorry…
Repair job on MG mount-I’m pretty pleased with it. I still need to tidy up the post a little but it’ll look fine…
I also got some stowage with this kit ie 8 x ammo tins, 2 x k rat boxes, a helmet and a pair of binoculars. Obviosly the helmet and the binos were for use with a crewman but as I’m not using the crewmen I’ll put the bits with the stowage. I might keep the helmet so I can use the crewman in the future but I was thinking of just leaving the various tins and boxes piled up like the tank is stationary and the crew are sorting stuff out. I know this would work better if the hatches were open but too late for that now!
The other option is to rope the boxes down-any ideas guys?
Thanks for looking lads,
ATVB
Ben [:)]