Sunday, September 18, 2011

Tamiya M4A1 76mm Late





Here's a quick update of the new Tamiya kit of the "M1 Super Sherman." I started to build this kit straight out of the box, but quickly decided that it needed too many details to bring it up to a more modern standard. Instead of the Israeli version, I chose to back date my model to represent a late WWII (Spring1945) built 76mm M4A1.

The kit provides the dated lower hull and suspension from previous incarnations of the original M4A3 kits which leaves plenty of room for improvement. Thankfully the new kit has sponson fillers included so it does make things somewhat easier. On the other hand, the sides of the transmission housing have huge gaps that had to be covered up with .010 Evergreen styrene sheet. The rest of the additions on the lower hull included adding details to the suspension by using much better road wheels and idlers from an old Academy Sherman kit, Grandt line hex bolts (#128), drilling the mounting holes for the trailing return roller arms, adding some missing bolts with .010 styrene punched with the Waldron micro punch set, and casting numbers from Archer Fine Transfers. These transfers are easy to use and I highly recommend them for any Sherman-based vehicle as they provide specific part numbers for certain features.

While I was working on the lower hull, I also added an escape hatch and engine access panel to the bottom. I also added more of the Archer casting numbers to the transmission housing and scratch-built the comb device and tow cable tie downs. The front fenders were improved by slicing off part of the kit parts and replacing them with more sheet styrene. The hull MG cover ring received some small rivets courtesy of the punch and die and the fender skirt attachments were made from .010 x .060 styrene strip and drilled using an old DML photo etch piece as a guide. Around the back, I added the spare track block holders from the box and detailed them with plastic strip, stretched sprue, and more punched discs.

The turret has some major mold misalignment on the back that needs some attention. I shaped, sanded, and filled until I was satisfied with the result. I eliminated the casting number from the turret top and replaced it with some more Archer casting numbers. I also took the time to add some large casting numbers on the side of the hull made by slicing the sprue numbers off a Dragon M4A2 kit that I happened to also be working on at the time. I used the gray styrene so that it would be easier to see while working to seal them to the surface. It takes a liberal use of glue, but too much can really ruin the numbers by melting them into the surface. The different colors help to keep this from happening.

To round out the turret I drilled the mortar hole out and used sliced sprue to make the lip around the edge. I also added some minor detailing to the kit .50 caliber MG in the form of a thumb trigger and more discs punched from sheet styrene. I removed some minor details and drilled the second antenna mount to accept a Dragon antenna part. The handles on the hatches were replaced with motor winding wire from Radio Shack.

Finally, I cobbled together some Tamiya, Legend, Ultracast and Armand Bayardi pieces to make the stowage for the rear deck. I sat the gear in place and used super glue to hold the pieces in place. I glued the items to the rear shelf and used some fine wire to secure them, but left the stuff on the rear deck free to make painting easier later. I mixed up some MagicSculp two part epoxy to make the tarps. I made four different pieces so I could paint them slightly different colors to add some visual interest by breaking up the monotony of the overall olive drab.

I still haven't quite decided what markings I will use. I'm considering finishing it with French markings since they are some of the most colorful, but the availability of the decals for this particular late war variant will probably be the determining factor.

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