Sherman Mk III Initial, Direct vision

[stevenk]

Hello-

I've been having a hankerin' for something British lately, and I settled on Cyber-hobby's Sherman Mk III Initial version, direct vision. This will be finished as a vehicle at the beginning of the second battle of El Alamein, November 1942. All the photoetch you see came with the kit, and it was not easy to work with, especially the sand shields. Handles were replaced with fine wire. As you can see, the lower part of the Sherman had already been painted with Model Master's tan (sort of an orange color). I needed to paint the suspension and install the tracks before I could install the sand shields.
Comments, critiques are welcome, and as always, thanks for looking

Steven

 

[Iron Mike]

Looks very nice, Steven! I really like the brass work! Makes me want to build a Shermie! (Oh crap! Did I say that out loud???)

 

[MrT]

Looks like you are off to a good start.

Terry B)

 

[iowabrit]

I built the slightly later Mk III version and finished it as an Anzio vehicle. I was pleasantly surprised at the fit and quality of the finish on the dragon kit. Not as good as Tasca but WAY better than the old DML shermans. Yours is looking really good so far. At least you managed to fit your sand shields, I gave up on mine...they were one part that definately didn't fit right.

 

[Sherman 18]

GREAT looking Shermans there!

Sweet I want to see more :woohoo:

 

[JSteinman]

 

[stevenk]

Thanks for the comments, guys. The brass was definitely a challenge- I would have preferred plastic counterparts as an option. Soldering the brass shields was the easy part- getting them to fit properly on the tank, that's an entirely differnt story
Working on the primer now, should have pics up soon.

By the way Iowabrit, that's a very nice Sherman you posted. I kinda like the way the Commonwealth forces camo'd their shermans.

Steven

 

[Tankbuilder]

iowabrit wrote:

I built the slightly later Mk III version and finished it as a sicily vehicle. I was pleasantly surprised at the fit and quality of the finish on the dragon kit. Not as good as Tasca but WAY better than the old DML shermans. Yours is looking really good so far. At least you managed to fit your sand shields, I gave up on mine...they were one part that definately didn't fit right.

Hi there.

I s there any way you could use the kit sand shields as patterns for thin styrene ones?

Cheers from Peter

 

[BradJ]

Hey Steven
That is looking quite good mate.
What are the differences betweent the DML and Cyberhobby versions of this tank?
I know the instructions probably suggest the placement of the lifting eyes at such a high position on the turret sides, but I have not seen this on any Sherman photos before? I'm not all savvy on Brit Shermans, but as they were all US of origin of which I've seen many photos, I doubt very much this was a field mod... :laugh:
Any chance of pushing the inner wall of the right fender closer to the final drive housing?There is a small gap there; more noticeable as a close up though I imagine
Brad

 

[iowabrit]

Steven: Thanks bud. I didn't mean to highjack your thread. Your model is looking really good so far...keep us posted.

Peter: yes I'm sure you could copy them on to styrene...dunno why I didnt think of that. Not that it mattered cos my subject doesn't have them fitted anyway. The other alternative would be to find someone with some unused Tasca ones which are beautifully done.

Brad: the concord books 'British Sherman Tanks' and 'British Armour In Sicily and Italy' contain numerous photos of sherman III's with the lifting eye in that position. When I saw the kit instructions I was, like you, sceptical, but it appears they are correct.

 

[stevenk]

Hello-

here is an update on my British Sherman. I gave it a base coat of Model Master faded olive drab, in my opinion a very nice color. The masking job I did was tedious, glad it's over :laugh: The next step will be to mask off the areas of olive drab camo with silly putty, and then spray the middlestone color over it, another Model Master color.
Thanks for looking, and comments and critiques, questions are welcomed
Steven

 

[stevenk]

Photobucket is giving me problems posting pics tonite... I'll try again tomorrow
Steven

 

[mike walsh]

Hi Stephen,

Interesting way you have painted the sherman,

I like this variant,look forward to seeing more.


Michael

 

[moon puppy]

stevenk wrote:

Photobucket is giving me problems posting pics tonite... I'll try again tomorrow
Steven

We have a solution for that... :woohoo:

 

[stevenk]

Hello-

Here is an update- I masked off the areas I wanted to stay olive drab with Silly Putty, which is real easy stuff to work with, and is reuseable. I sprayed the camo color of RAF Middlestone over it, and removed the silly putty one the paint dried. I gave the vehicle its initial washes of brown, still have some to clean up yet. Once I apply the decals, I will drybrush faded colors over the camo, and weather the vehicle with chips/scratches, add the tools, accumulate dust, ect.
Thanks for looking (as always )
Steven

 

[iowabrit]

looking good here....

 

[snipersmudge]

lovely looking sherman, very smart

 

[stevenk]

Thank you guys!
Here's a few more shots, had some modelling time over the weekend....
Thanks for looking
Steven

 

[stevenk]

Here is an update on the weathering process on the Sherman. Did some more pinwashes, drybrushing, and starting to add the tools. Still need to add scratches, chips, and dusting, ect.
Thanks for looking
Steven

 

[Ted]

That looks awesome Steven. What made you go with yellow on the lower hull and running gear? I have no idea whether it's historically accurate or not, I'm just curious.

Ted