Rare Medium Tank M3 variant, from a MiniArt kit

[Jakko]

Drybrushed now with Vallejo paints, first Dark Bluegrey and then Intermediate Blue, both of which are far more grey than their names suggest:



After that I removed the masking tape for the crosses. Those on the sides need a little touching up still, as the grey crept under the tape in a few places.

 

[Jakko]

I was in an art supply shop today, and remembering an exchange a while ago here with @Tim Marlow, I decided to buy a pot of black ink for painting tracks, My normal method for rubber blocks on tracks is to paint them grey and then apply a black wash, but I decided to try India ink here. Brushing it on neat was too strong, so I put some on a palette and added water to thin it, the brushed it over the outer sides of both tracks. Here is a comparison of the track painted with diluted ink (top) and unpainted (bottom):



Obviously the unpainted one is showing the inside, because I’d painted the outsides of both

I did the same with the tyres on the roadwheels, but it looks like I thinned the ink less here, as they’re much blacker:



After that I drybrushed the wheels with Italeri rubber colour and fixed the bogie sets to the hull:



I also installed the headlight lenses, and with that, construction is complete other than installing the tracks, which I’ll only do after most of the weathering has been done, else it’ll be too hard to reach the sides of the hull.

 

[Jakko]

/me sighs



This is with the idler wheel all the way forward, and still the tracks don’t connect. AFV Club’s Sherman track links appear to be slightly too short so it needs another three or so to actually fit, on both sides. Luckily I have seven left (a pin bent on three of them as I assembled the two tracks) so I should have just enough, but if not I’ll just stick a T48 link in at the bottom where it won’t be obvious.

What irks me is that I now have to build and paint those additional links when I thought I was long done.

 

[NicolasCage]

Love the paint job and attention to details (rivets!) very impressive I hope the tracks go together ok!

 

[JR]

Mud ! Bit of a nuisance as you say when you've painted the rest so well.

 

[Jakko]

Love the paint job and attention to details (rivets!) very impressive I hope the tracks go together ok!

Thanks The rivets were not too bad — they’re really a bit like single-link tracks: do them until you get tired or bored with them, and pick them up again later. The tracks will end up OK, it’s just that it’s mildly annoying to find they’re not long enough when you’ve assembled the number supposedly required.

Mud ! Bit of a nuisance as you say when you've painted the rest so well.

Bit of a big gap to hide with mud, I think Anyway like I said, I have enough links left so I’ll finish the track soon enough.

 

[Jakko]

Three links appears to be enough to close the gap, so I added four:



Those at the ends of the tracks are ones of those I had damaged (you can see the bent pins) because they’re only there to make painting of the last set of end connectors easier, and to prevent paint getting into the holes in them. Once they’re all painted, I’ll just remove one end connector and the last block, then put the two ends of the track together.

 

[Peter Gillson]

Hi jakko

i', really late coming to this one, but great subject choice and a loverly build.

peter

 

[Jakko]

Thanks It’s almost done now, the extra links are drying and then it’s just a matter of putting them on, painting a few more detail bits and painting the commander.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
That's a very nice paint job. Glad the track is sorted.
Jim

 

[Jakko]

Thanks. The AFV Club set really has only just enough links for a regular-length M3 or M4: I’ve got four links left now, of which three got damaged because the pins bent when I tried to assemble them. You’ll need to buy two sets for an M3A4 or M4A4 … What would it cost them to add an extra sprue so that you always have enough links?

 

[Jakko]

After the tracks were done, I added a MiniArt figure sporting a set of clear goggles from the spares box, but other than that, I think this one is finished now.

 

[Neil Merryweather]

Nice one, Jakko, that was very entertaining!

 

[Jakko]

Glad you liked it

 

[JR]

Oh I think it deserves the award. More so as you had us guessing for so long as to what it would be.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, John

 

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
That is a great result of a very odd vehicle. What they were trying to make it look like I have no idea. But you have achieved an excellent facsimile of the real thing.

 

[Jakko]

I think the inspiration was the Neubaufahrzeug — a turret with two guns, one above the other, a machine gun turret right front and left rear, and sponson(-like things) inside the tracks.