M4A3 (76) HVSS shipped to Antwerp

[Jakko]

The tank wrapped up for shipping has finally arrived



There was nothing really difficult left to do, except finding a way to make the strap that ties the gun barrel to the tow hook and the acid warning placard. The former took me a few tries with paper that didn’t want to be glued or tore, before I tried a strip cut from medical tape (the kind used to secure bandages) as that wouldn’t need glue. The placard I tried and failed to find online so I eventually made one on my computer in Adobe InDesign (which is a little overkill, but hey, I had it open anyway ). I couldn’t find a photo of what it actually says, so I just replicated the look. The only readable text in photos is DANGEROUS and ACID. For posterity, the whole of the sign on the model actually reads:

This is just here
so it looks like a real sign
YOUR NAME HERE _________
DANGEROUS
ACID
SOME TEXT YOU CAN’T
Read at this size anyway
so who cares
What it
says​

I had actually hoped it would be readable anyway with a magnifying glass, but unfortunately, it isn’t.

 

[outrunner]

Very nice.

Andy.

 

[Steve Jones]

Nice to see something a little different Jakko. A nice interpretation of the original photo

 

[Jakko]

Thanks

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
That's come out really well. An unusual subject. The tape has worked very effectively. Love your "Dangerous Acid" sign
Jim

 

[Steven000]

Nice model Jakko, interesting subject
Must have been a pain for the guy who had to 'untape' those tanks!
Steven

 

[Si Benson]

Nice work Jakko,
The acid sign made me laugh

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, all If you’re going to make a sign with unreadable text, you might as well make it say something funny, is my idea

Untaping them seems like quite a job, but I really wouldn’t want to be the one who had to scrub off the par-el-ketone. I don’t quite know how they did that, though. Since these were simpler times, maybe they simply washed it off with some powerful solvent out in a field somewhere?

 

[papa 695]

Very nice work Jakko.

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
That is a great result.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks

 

[Graeme C.]

Cracking build Jakko, the sign made me smile.

 

[Archetype]

...maybe they simply washed it off with some powerful solvent out in a field somewhere?

Would you have time or the need during war time to wash something like this?

If it were me, and I couldn’t scrape it off or paint over it, I’d rub dirt in it to stop it being sticky. At least that’s how I approach most of my DIY...

 

[Jakko]

Thanks

To be honest, I’m still not quite sure what was and wasn’t done to these tanks after they were delivered. The tape was cracked open and the tanks driven onto railway flats, then taken to the units that needed them. Those took all the packed stuff out and made the tank ready, but I’m not clear on how much cleaning and repainting was done. If you look at photos, you can often see the residue of the black stuff (and where the tape masked the paint from it), by which you can recognise a tank that hasn’t been in use for long yet. However, it does look like an effort was made to remove the black par-el-ketone because it’s not as obvious in photos just after delivery as it is in photos of tanks being shipped.

 

[stillp]

It looks as if par-al-ketone cleans off with white spirit (mineral spirit across the pond) so I would think that petrol or kerosene would clean it off too.
Pete

 

[Jakko]

I hadn’t looked it up but that confirms my suspicions, thanks I have this feeling that the crew were just given some rags and used some of their petrol supply to get that black stuff off the tank.

 

[GerryW]

I hadn’t looked it up but that confirms my suspicions, thanks I have this feeling that the crew were just given some rags and used some of their petrol supply to get that black stuff off the tank.

Wouldn't it be great if some of the veterans who actually served with the stuff that we model could come along and be questioned on details like this - we're losing a great deal of knowledge without realising it
Yes, there are photos, but usually not of the 'everyday' things, and what questions would we ask, I know that half the time I forget to ask something, and think later "Why didn't I ask that question?"

 

[Jakko]

Wouldn't it be great if some of the veterans who actually served with the stuff that we model could come along and be questioned on details like this - we're losing a great deal of knowledge without realising it

Better hurry … even the youngest veterans of the Second World War will be in their nineties by now.

Yes, there are photos, but usually not of the 'everyday’ things

Almost oddly, unless you know why, that is what you get many German photos of.

The reason is that Allied soldiers were usually forbidden to have cameras, so most of the pictures of their side of the war come from official photographers. Those would generally not be as interested in picturing soldiers scrubbing their tanks or washing their faces as they would be of things with propaganda or news value.

On the other hand, German soldiers were encouraged to have cameras and take photos (to send home to show how well the war was going). However, they weren’t allowed to photograph things of military importance, so you get a lot of pictures of their daily life and the area they were stationed in, as well as captured or destroyed enemy equipment.

and what questions would we ask, I know that half the time I forget to ask something, and think later "Why didn't I ask that question?"

That would be mostly a matter of thinking about the questions beforehand, I suppose. And, of course, arranging it so you’re not tied to only a certain amount of time to ask your questions.

 

[colin m]

A tank with just a mile or so on the clock. It's not something I've ever thought about, but they were all brand new once. A great idea, well finished.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks The idea grabbed me when I read the chapter on how Shermans were shipped overseas in Son of Sherman, and I must admit I’m kind of wondering why I seem to be the first person ever to build one like this. (I’m probably not, but I do know I’ve never seen a tank modelled this way.)