On a Sherman trip … M4A3E2 now

[Guest]

I had a busy afternoon spraying models. The M4A3E2 got a coat of Gunze-Sangyo olive drab straight from the bottle, then had highlights added from this same paint with some Tamiya dark yellow mixed in. After that, I sprayed the lower hull, suspension, tracks, etc. with Tamiya flat earth as the basis for later weathering to represent the mud that was typically all over these tanks in early 1945.

[ATTACH]410365[/ATTACH][ATTACH]410366[/ATTACH]

[Guest]

This model got the same treatment as the M4A1: a wash of GW Devlan Mud followed by drybrushing with Revell yellow olive and light olive, plus added mud on the suspension:

[ATTACH]410508[/ATTACH]

Again, markings and details are next, but this one won’t get white winter camouflage applied.

[Guest]

Markings applied and detail painting started:

[ATTACH]410550[/ATTACH]

The bumper code 761Δ B-9 indicates tank No. 9 of B Company, 761st Tank Battalion. I have no idea if this is historically correct, but that company had two M4A3E2s in early 1945, so it’s at least plausible. These all come from Archer dry transfers, that I applied to the model using sticky tape like I showed for my Sherman that’s just off the boat. The markings are repeated on the front of the tank.

The registration number 3083152 is similarly fictitious, but in the range of those assigned to the M4A3E2 (near the tail end, actually: the very last was 3083176). These I made from ancient decals from the 1980s Tamiya M4A3 kit, so the decals were at least 25 years old, because I don’t think I bought that kit since then. They still worked very well, though, no “old decal” syndrome here. As the set had the number 3081532, all I did was cut the 15 and the 3 loose so I could swap them around.

I painted the tools as if they have a little wear, but not overly much:

[ATTACH]410551[/ATTACH]

I want this to look like a tank that hasn’t seen that much (ab)use yet, so the tools have some light chipping, and that’s it. The wooden bits are a sand colour, the steel parts gun metal, but I still want to highlight the latter to make the tools more realistic.

Incidentally, the reason I didn’t paint the whole tools is because these were generally dip-painted with olive drab at the factory: the whole tool was pretty much dunked into a vat of paint, pulled out and left to dry. What you often see on models of American vehicles is tools painted as if they’re unpainted, and though that could be the case, making them OD overall is the safer option.

[Guest]

Stowage is now on the tank:

[ATTACH]411457[/ATTACH]

This is just the stuff I showed before, but painted now and with a bit of brown sewing thread around the jerrycans to make it look like they’re tied to the stowage shelf they sit on. Wouldn’t want your tank to be driving over a bump and lose your spare fuel and water

Next stop: crew figures …

[Guest]

At some point, I broke one of the fixtures for the machine gun stowage on the rear of the turret, and didn’t notice it until it was too late to find it again. I soon decided that building a new part was too much effort, so I found what I think is a fairly clever solution, but then kept forgetting to actually make it

[ATTACH]412097[/ATTACH]

I cut a piece of plastic card to the approximate shape of the bracket, glued it to the model and will cover it with a piece of cloth hanging over it so it will be entirely hidden. All that remains is to make the cloth at this point …

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
Looking good.

[Guest]

Thanks, and almost done now … Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow

[Steven000]

Nice progress Jakko :thumb2:

[Guest]

Thanks. I completed the model by adding a dirty rag over the “bracket”:

[ATTACH]412111[/ATTACH]

Just a bit of tissue paper soaked in thinned PVA glue and then painted a pale blue-green with brown paint and black ink stains. It looks better in the flesh than in this photo, I must say. The shadows and highlights are getting washed out here