SimonT - M51 Toon conversion

[SimonT]

Morning all,

inspired by Pete and his love of these things I dug out my Meng M4 last night and started chopping bits off it

There may just be enough time to get this in before the end of the GB

But first.....


the base kit for the build



I hadn't really appreciated just how small these things are until I shook the contents from the deceptively large box

it is tiny



sanded off the track guards from the bottom of the hull then attacked the engine deck

removed all the lumps and bumps and filled the holes with bits of plastic

next I chopped the rear sides and bent back the rear hull plate as per 1:1 - gives a bit more room in the engine bay

that was as far as I got but it's a start

next task will be to trim the plastic filler pieces and smear filler all over the place

[Guest]

Hi Simon and welcome to the dark side the world of toon tanks, I for one will be very interested in how you convert this one, it's on my list to do as well so will be stealing all your ideas, good with the build.
Pete.

[Mickc1440]

Good luck with this one Simon

[Jim R]

Morning Simon
Up to your usual tricks already. Interesting to see have you make something more accurate given the distortion of scale inherent in these Toon kits.
Jim

[SimonT]

Pete - you will be able to see how not to do it :smiling5:

Thanks Mick

Morning Jim - This one definitely will not be accurate, which is quite odd. I may start shaking and black out from the effort required to keep it inaccurate :smiling5:

Hopefully it will look something like an M51 but in keeping with the Toon theme

[Jim R]

I may start shaking and black out from the effort required to keep it inaccurate :smiling5:

Definitely your own worst enemy. For us lesser mortals we are content if it just looks roughly, sorta, nearly, about OK :smiling:
Jim

[SimonT]

done some more on this funny little thing starting with creating a transmission fixing rail at the top of the transmission cover

drilled some holes into it to take bolt heads (still to be fitted) - went right through on a couple of holes which is why they look white as they have been plugged with rod


rear deck after sanding back the filler


made the extra section of the upper rear panel

I then sliced the detail (what little there was) off the engine access doors, covered the result with plastic card then added new doors over the top with new details - this was done for real on the 1:1 to give clearance for engine cooling fans


big hex nuts added to ends of idler axles

rear panel sides needed trimming down slightly to fit behind the new rear panel section

Now I've always thought caricatures were just the subject with certain features exaggerated but Mengs idea is slightly different and they like adding extra features not present on the original vehicles

The turret has been given a loaders port on the right side so that was whipped off and filled


the original M51 almost look like a caricature anyway with the large gun and counterweight turret rear extension so they are features that need to be exaggerated

with that in mind I sliced off the rear of the turret and made a suitably large extension bustle

Added a shaped back plate and a support underneath

Once this is set I can make a start on filling in the sides and creating the bustle shape
and this is what it currently looks like

Hope to get some more done later today but time for sleep now.....:sleeping:

[Jim R]

Hi Simon
Looking a typical Simon T build. Improving detail and accuracy but keeping to the caricature spirit of the model - a bit of a balancing act.
Jim

[Si Benson]

Morning Simon,
Great choice of variant....can’t go wrong with a super Sherman
looks like your off to a good start with the mods:thumb2:

[SimonT]

Jim - not got any pewter in there yet

Si - love the M51. Really should try and finish my 1:15 scratch built one sometime :smiling4:
At least this one is a more manageable size


added a new engine deck and oval covers for the grouser storage bins

Due to the caricature type proportions rather than scale I found the turret would not fit over the engine deck so had to raise the turret ring by 30thou


made a long barrel from telescoped tubing with the sections faired together with filler

large turret bustle framed from plasticard and then covered with magic sculp epoxy putty

kit mantlet modified with plasticard and strip then a canvas cover was sculpted in magic sculp

loaders hatch was square so I replaced it with an oval version


new mantlet and cover

[papa 695]

Great work so far Simon

[SimonT]

Thanks Ian

Finally managed a little more


sanded down the new exaggerated turret bustle




the barrel has been sanded down as well and skimmed to remove the last lumps and bumps

also made a start on the iconic muzzle brake - oversized in accordance with the caricature nature of things

[SimonT]

Been looking at this while having my breakfast and I think I need to shorten the barrel a bit - possibly lose the copper section at the front

[Guest]

Been looking at this while having my breakfast and I think I need to shorten the barrel a bit - possibly lose the copper section at the front

Hi Simon great work so far I know you would be adding the "T" factor to this, I wouldn't dream of ever telling you how to build but I personally would definitely shorten the barrel a bit, but that's only my opinion.
Pete.

[SimonT]

Morning Pete - tell away, comments always welcome.
It will be getting shortened tonight :thumb2: