Back to the Eighties with a Sherman (or two)

[Jakko]

Click or tap the play button first, to get in the mood for this thread

A few months ago, I bought a set of Sherman parts, conversions, updates and more that another modeller put up for sale. Among other things, it included a Tamiya M4A3, except that the whole of the turret was missing … Building this as a serious model these days is not in the cards for me, but what could I do with it? Then I remembered I had an Italeri Sherman turret somewhere, but once dug up, it proved to be so far from complete that I couldn’t really use it After asking on a few forums, somebody came to my rescue with a complete one, and after a little more searching through spares boxes, I hadeverything I need!



The complete hull from a Tamiya M4A3, plus the turret, tracks, a few spare track links and one wheel from an Italeri M4A1, and a muzzle brake that — if I’m not mistaken — comes from a very old Italeri Pz.Kpfw. IV, and that has been fitted to a painted model before.

Add some reading material that I already had:



… and you’ve got everything you need to built a Sherman like we did when these two kits were the only 1:35 Shermans you could buy. (Well, OK, there was one from Nichimo as well, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Nichimo kit in a shop, and certainly not in the 1980s.) Not that the modern modeller needs Verlinden as a guide, but let’s pretend it is indeed the mid- to late 1980s, so no modern stuff but build this one with what you would have had back then, in terms of both materials and knowledge. And that means for inspiration, you read this:



(I grant you, this is in Dutch because that’s the way I read it back then, not to mention I don’t have this book in English )

That chapter finished, let’s start building per the instructions (more or less), with the ones from Tamiya. First, the running gear:



It’s Tamiya, so it all fits nicely even though the original model is 42 years old, but it’s pretty obvious that the molds are getting a bit long in the tooth. Each of the roadwheels and idlers had a seam that was so big that to really get rid of it, you would be best off using a lathe. I used a file instead, but even then half the wheels have a seam that will probably still be visible after painting, but my fingers ached and this is supposed to be fun.

I replaced one wheel by one from Italeri, that I had to bore out so it fits over the Tamiya axle. It also turns out that the Italeri Sherman wheels are 7 mm wide (measured over the hub) while Tamiya’s are only 6 mm. Luckily, the Italeri wheel can be narrowed by filing and cutting down the hub on both sides, so it will fit nicely. Incidentally, I didn’t glue any of them to the axles, as being able to rotate will make them easier to paint.

Next, the lower hull:



Very quickly, then, the upper hull can be added too:



Tamiya wants you to stick all the details on first, but the experienced modeller knows that doing this is just asking for broken parts. For that reason, I only started on those after:



As you can see here, the previous owner had for some inexplicable reason filled all of the very nice weld beads and holes for the tools, so before I started, I scraped as much filler out as was feasible … The spare track links are Italeri, to fit with the track that will go round the wheels. I only had two links left, so I’ll probably put a jerrycan between the brackets on the other side.

 

[Tworrs]

Looks like this will be fun, I'll follow along if I may?

 

[Jakko]

Most certainly

 

[Jim R]

Interesting project Jakko. I hope you'll reduce your skills to what you possessed in the 80s. Maybe a few misaligned parts and a couple of gluey finger prints

 

[Jakko]

That’s not a reduction at all

What I intend to do is build this as if it were the 1980s, so basing myself on the references available then and using only materials and techniques people would have had access to at the time. For example, from the same purchase, I’ve got two-sided wheels, sponson bottoms, a much-improved exhaust deflector, and more in resin, all intended for this kit — but all of that’s from a company that wasn’t even around 25 years ago, so none of it will end up on this model

For now, I’ve added the remaining hull details:



All that’s missing are the tools on the rear engine deck, because I intend to cover it with stowage after painting.

 

[Richard48]

Count me in Jakko.Cant beat some 80s inspiration from Mr V
Rich

 

[rtfoe]

Hi Jakko, I was one of those who followed that book in the 80's to finish my Sherman duo in the same configuration with a Panzer IV muzzle brake and putty sandbags. Here's a pic of it...


I'm sure you'll make a better job of it than mine. Man...brings back memories.

Cheers,
Wabble

 

[Jakko]

Nice model, very 1980s Mine won’t have the sandbags because I don’t feel like the chore that those usually are, though.

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko I will follow along if I may.

 

[Jakko]

The wealthy 1980s Shermanophile would of course have owned a copy of Hunnicutt’s standard work:



Unfortunately, it doesn’t have that much on this particular version of the tank, just a few photos and a drawing of the left-hand side. This is most of it:



So let’s use those to see what the discerning 1980s modeller would have added to the model, in terms of details:



I added some plastic strip to the front mudguards, made the steps on the nose from a bit more, cut wider strip to form the sand shield attachments along the sides, and made the engine hatch supports from plastic card. The board between the mudguards is also plastic card, to be loaded with stuff later.

The Italeri turret doesn’t fit the Tamiya hull:



This is as far as it will go, because the Italeri ring is bigger and also sits deeper in the hull:



That means the ring below the turret needed to be removed:



Don’t saw all the way through from one side to the other, but work your way around making several cuts through the ring.

I then cut a bit out of it so I could glue it back inside the lower turret half, to narrow the turret ring’s diameter, followed by a length of 0.5 mm plastic card, 4 mm wide:



That, though, was a bit loose on the hull, so I took some more of the strip I had used for the sand shield mounts and glued it around the outside:



Then just attach the upper half with the pistol port glued in place as well:



At that point, though, I had to stop because the glue needs to dry before I can work on the seam between them.

 

[Andy the Sheep]

Asking permission to board your thread, Sir.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

ooh this really is the definition of 'Old School'
very interesting.
Not a tankie by any stretch of the imagination but I always follow your builds, Jakko

 

[Jakko]

Asking permission to board your thread, Sir.

I didn’t know that was necessary

ooh this really is the definition of 'Old School'
very interesting.
Not a tankie by any stretch of the imagination but I always follow your builds, Jakko

Cool It definitely is an old-school conversion, by design of course. I also have the Meng “Victory Kiss” kit in the stash, which is a very much more modern take on the same tank: an M4A3 with 76 mm gun. As such, trying to bring the old Tamiya kit up to present-day standards feels like it wouldn’t make any sense, so let’s have fun with it instead

 

[Scratchbuilder]

Go for it Jakko.
These are the kits that I broke my teeth on many decades ago... And I still have a couple of the resin turrets, worn wheels etc that you could buy somewhere in the attic. The Hunnicut book is on the shelf and must have about an inch of dust on it, got it when it first came out and I hate to think what you would pay today.
One tip I learned long ago about those wheels was to take them down to a suitable size and then wrap a length of 10 thou around them, clean up and it gets rid of that awfull seam.
Mike.

 

[Jakko]

These are the kits that I broke my teeth on many decades ago...

Very many of us have, I think I know I did — my first Sherman was the Tamiya one, that I remember buying on some winter’s evening during a shopping trip into town with my parents in the mid-late eighties. My best friend at the time had the Italeri one, though

The Hunnicut book is on the shelf and must have about an inch of dust on it, got it when it first came out and I hate to think what you would pay today.

Forty euros Well, that’s what the copy in the photo cost me earlier this year, from a second-hand seller. Though if you look it up on Amazon etc., prices will be rather higher, I think.

BTW, the price on the back cover is US$95 (this is a printing from 1994, not sure if it was less earlier), and inside is a receipt from Chris Evans Books, Birmingham, for £65 plus £10 postage to the Netherlands, dated 12-08-1996. To put that into perspective, the dollar price equates to about US$200 today when corrected for inflation, and the pound price (without the postage) is about £125. In euros, those are about €180 and €145, so I paid, what, a quarter of the market price from when it was new?

One tip I learned long ago about those wheels was to take them down to a suitable size and then wrap a length of 10 thou around them, clean up and it gets rid of that awfull seam.

Oh, that’s a good idea, though not really practical unless you use a lathe, IMHO. And even though I do have access to one, I didn’t want to use it because it would have turned a quick, fun build into more of an actual, serious model


Anyway, after filling the turret seam last night, I sanded it down today and built the rest of the turret. I wanted to show a few pictures of that, but there really is so little to it that I didn’t bother taking any. All I really did was stick a few bits of plastic strip into the angle iron brackets on the back to replicate the stowage clips for the .50-calibre barrel, and use the Tamiya antenna bracket and machine gun (the Italeri antenna is British). Oh, and saw the muzzle off the gun barrel so I could add the old muzzle brake.

Also, I glued an Italeri tow cable to the hull, and of course that stupid cable broke, like all of them do …

Then I remembered I had a little bit of sprue with some Italeri Sherman hatch handles, so I dug that out and added them to both the turret and the hull. You can spot them easily on the turret because the colour of plastic is different, but it’s almost exactly the same as the Tamiya hull, so they’re hard to spot there. Unfortunately, I don’t have any Italeri periscope guards, so I can’t add those.

Next, join the ends of the tracks with a heated screwdriver, put them on the wheels, and …



What I would really like to add is some ancient Verlinden tankers, but I can’t find them for sale anywhere, except for Chinese copies, so that’s probably not going to happen

 

[stillp]

Oh, that’s a good idea, though not really practical unless you use a lathe, IMHO. And even though I do have access to one, I didn’t want to use it because it would have turned a quick, fun build into more of an actual, serious model

I found a Dremel and a sanding stick worked quite well.
Pete

 

[Jakko]

The same person who gave me the turret, also had some Italeri periscope guards that he was willing to donate to a good cause, so after they arrived in the mail today, I could stick them on. I also decided on an extravagant addition, opened periscopes from a genuine Verlinden set for the drivers’ hatches:



Cutting away the closed periscopes was fun with the model completely assembled, but going slowly and carefully did the trick.

Next, I sprayed the whole model Tamiya XF-62 olive drab followed by some random clouds of XF-58 olive green (though those aren’t very visible, so I guess the contrast isn’t big enough):



This in an attempt to emulate Verlinden’s way of painting, as described on pages 66–69 of The Verlinden Way volume 2, though he uses Humbrol HF 1 khaki and MC 21 French artillery green instead. My trusty Humbrol colour chart (with real paint samples) doesn’t show a modern (for the late 80s) equivalent to HF 1, only for MC 21, so I couldn’t really be sure of the colours he used, but that’s not too important as in the late 80s, early 90s I mainly used Tamiya acrylics for spraying anyway, so I just took the colours I used back then, too.

 

[Jakko]

One wash and three drybrushings later:



Verlinden says to make a wash of burned sienna oil paint and some Humbrol black to make “a chocolate colour”, but I don’t have burned sienna paint (oil or otherwise) and no desire to go into town to buy a tube just for this — but I do have a tin of Humbrol 98 Chocolate paint, so I used that instead To be honest, I don’t think the wash did all that much, but I suspect my basic colour is darker than Verlinden’s preferred Humbrol HF 1 Khaki.

In any case, once the wash had dried overnight, I drybrushed the model with first Humbrol HB2 Dark Earth (Verlinden says to use 29, which is just the more modern number for the same paint), then with 86 Light Olive instead of Verlinden’s MC 21 French Artillery Green, and finally 72 Khaki Drill (again, the same colour as Verlinden’s recommended HM 8). Though the book doesn’t explicitly say so, I drybrushed each of these more lightly than the last, so the effect of that wouldn’t be lost.

And yes, these are absolutely ancient tins I bought them something like a decade ago at a model show, where someone had a box full of these and even older tins, most of them already used. As soon as I saw them, I said, “How much for the whole box?” Not a decision I’ve regretted, though I only use them very sparingly because I really don’t want them to run out.

 

[JR]

I'm in, have to admit never built one as of yet .
So there always a chance

 

[Jakko]

You’ve built an M10 tank destroyer, though — that’s a Sherman up to the top of the tracks