Unconverting a Sherman V from the Rye Field Models Sherman VC

[Guest]

Yesterday evening, I made the basic shape for the stowage rack on the hull front. The real thing was made from angle iron and strip. I decided to use brass L-profile and some bits of strip cut from a photo-etched fret, which took probably about an hour in all to cut and solder together. It didn’t go great, mainly due to my fairly low soldering skills. Still, some perseverance later, I had a rack that stayed together and didn’t have too many unsightly blobs of solder on it.

However, I then noticed one side was obviously higher than the other: 10 mm vs. 11 mm. The reason is probably because I find brass difficult to cut to length accurately, coupled with slightly larger distance between the parts on one side than the other, due to the difficulties I had with the soldering. Anyway, I decided this afternoon to give it a second attempt, in much more easily worked plastic. Compare the two, I know which one I think came out better:

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The reason I initially decided on brass is because the brass L-profile I had was a bit finer and sharper than the plastic, but there’s not much point in that if the assembled rack looks bad overall.

[scottie3158]

Jakko,
One thing you can try when constructing this sort of thing. Is to "Tin" this means applying a thin solder coat to both parts where the joint will be made so all you have to do is hold the joint together apply the heat to remelt the solder at the joint then the solder will flow together. Hope I have made myself clear.

[Guest]

Oh, I did that — I first put flux on the areas that were to be soldered, then tinned them and finally actually soldered by putting them together and pressing the iron to the joint so the solder on the two parts flowed together. The chief problem I had was that most of this stuff was just too small and light to properly hold in position. Using something like a knife or a sculpting tool, I could press one part down on the tile I used as a work surface, but not the other, so at least one part was bound to move when I tried applying heat. I had to resort to various improvised means of holding the bits together and still had to have at least two, and usually more, goes at most joints after the first one or two.

It would have been easier if I had been able to make the whole surround out of a single piece of brass with notches filed for bending: then all I would have had to do, is apply solder to the joints to strengthen them, rather than having to actually join them. Unfortunately, only one of those bends actually worked, the rest broke as a result of trying to file a notch — and even if they hadn’t chances are good that I would still have had sides of unequal length. Yes, metalworking is another a skill I don’t particularly possess Plastic is just so much easier to work with that I can’t really be bothered to put much effort into learning these skills.

Talking of which, I cut a piece of thin plastic card and added a lip from strip to it, to make the panel that sat inside the frame on the real tank:

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For some reason it’s not just a flat bit but had that edge on it, and holes along the other edge that I still need to drill.

[Guest]

Going fast for a bit … I drilled the holes after looking at a photo of the real tank where they were to go, then glued the rack to the model:

[ATTACH]429382[/ATTACH][ATTACH]429383[/ATTACH]

I also made two brass wire brackets along the mudguards, whose function or origin I can’t quite determine either, but they seem to be there so that the rack can be chained to it and not fall forward. I still need to add the chain, obviously.

The jerrycans are already glued in place, because I’m using them to support the rack They are from the old Italeri set, and already painted because I found them like that in my big(gish) box of jerrycans.

[Tim Marlow]

This is looking very good now Jakko. Pity about the brass frame because it does look a little more refined. What was your issue with cutting the brass section? A tip for cleaning out solder from an internal fold is to use a jewellers or electricians screwdriver With the end sharpened to ninety degrees. It will clean it out a treat. Just resharpen the end with an oil stone occasionally to keep it cutting well.

[Jim R]

Hi Jakko
As John says you do know a lot and progress is good. I find that for brass things like the rack as heat is applied to one joint the one nearby comes apart even using heat sinks. I'm glad the damage was repairable.
Jim

[Guest]

This is looking very good now Jakko.

Thanks.

What was your issue with cutting the brass section?

Mainly the lack of precision possible with a hacksaw, or a triangular cross-section file for that matter. I find it almost impossible to saw where I want to, because the saw tends to jump sideways at random before actually making a cut. Plastic is of course far easier to saw and with a much thinner blade, so this problem hardly ever crops up with that for me.

A tip for cleaning out solder from an internal fold is to use a jewellers or electricians screwdriver With the end sharpened to ninety degrees.

Thanks, I didn’t know that. I struggled to get excess solder out after some attempts — I couldn’t do it with a knife blade, and melting it also failed because capillary action (I suppose) just kept it in the channel formed by the two sides of the profile.

I find that for brass things like the rack as heat is applied to one joint the one nearby comes apart even using heat sinks.

That is the main thing I had been afraid of, too Luckily it didn’t, probably partly because of how I had been using items I had at hand to hold down the parts, which also made them act like heat sinks.

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Jakko
To cut thin section brass accurately the distance between the teeth on the saw needs to be less than the gauge of the material being cut. It will simply grab or bind if the teeth are too big. I would recommend investing in an adjustable frame jewellers piercing saw with a selection of blades down to 6/0 (76 teeth per inch). They are very cheap and make cutting brass a far more pleasurable experience. Brass and nickel silver are actually very soft, so a modellers razor saw should also cut them without issue.

A decent tool supplier like Proops would be a good starting point.

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/jewellers-piercing-saw-budget-fully-adjustable-frame-m7800-4906-p.asp

https://www.proopsbrothers.com/jewellers-piercing-saw-blades-pack-of-144-size-80-j2367-13407-p.asp

Holding parts in alignment during soldering is very easy with aluminium hair grips. They can also be used to hold wads of wet tissue in place to act as heat sinks during soldering.

It’s worth getting your small metalwork and soldering “chops” up to speed. They are very useful tools to have in your armoury of techniques.

[Guest]

To cut thin section brass accurately the distance between the teeth on the saw needs to be less than the gauge of the material being cut.

I didn’t know that, but it makes sense, and explains well why I had such trouble cutting the L-profile here.

Brass and nickel silver are actually very soft, so a modellers razor saw should also cut them without issue.

I don’t think I’d want to risk it All the brass rod etc. I’ve ever used hasn’t felt very soft when I sawed or filed it.

aluminium hair grips.

Not something I’ve ever had a need to own

They can also be used to hold wads of wet tissue in place to act as heat sinks during soldering.

Luckily, that wasn’t an issue here despite my initial worries that it would be.

It’s worth getting your small metalwork and soldering “chops” up to speed. They are very useful tools to have in your armoury of techniques.

Oh, I agree. But at the same time, I need them rarely enough that I don’t get to actually improve my skill much. Yes, I know, I could practice on random offcuts — except that that’s not how I learn easily I have a difficult time making myself practice “dry” without an actual thing it’s needed for, so I guess I’ll get more practice in next time I have something that would be best built in brass The tips you gave will definitely come in handy then, though.

[Guest]

On with the turret. On the right front, there was a piece of four links of T49 track, which appears to have hung loose as its position changes in different pictures of the real tank. This is shortly after the war, when most of the spare track links were still on the tank:

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So, I built another four links from the Bronco set and glued them to the tank, with a piece of thin copper wire for the cable (or whatever it is) that seems to keep them on the real tank:

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The left and rear also received additional bits:

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The main things here are the tie-downs on the left side and the aerial bases on the rear. I made the tie-downs from some 0.5 mm punched discs and stretched sprue, because as with the MiniArt Medium Tank M3, I couldn’t get along with the etched parts provided by the kit. I didn’t fit the lower ones, though, because they will be covered by a large piece of stowage hung from these tie-downs.

Here’s a closer look at the aerial bases:

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The left and middle ones came with the kit, though I replaced the bolt heads on the left one. The one on the right is scratchbuilt, just a bit of 2 mm rod that I filed into a point and then glued to a 4 mm diameter disc with bolt heads. The platform is cut from a bit of aluminium sheet, a 4 mm square with a thin extension on one side to raise the lot above the turret roof, as is (just) visible in the photo of the real tank above.

[Guest]

Back to the front I had a lot of fun, for a given definition of “fun”, adding the little bits of chain that connect the stowage rack to the little bars on the mudguards. The first one went fine, after tinkering with the second for a while I had to stop and do something else for an hour or so before going on.

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From the other side, with two (still loose) ammunition boxes in place:

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As you can see, I also made the little boxes on the mudguards. I have no idea what these are for or where they came from, so I estimated their dimensions to be 7 mm wide, 6 mm deep and 4 mm high and built them from plastic strip and card, plus some copper wire for part of the latch.

On the back, I glued the stowage bin to the rear of the engine deck and added rear mudguards from an unknown kit, that another modeller kindly donated to me after I asked if anyone knew a source of these. The square can on the left is from the old Italeri accessories set, with an aluminium strip handle. The real tank carried some kind of large, square container here but I can’t make out what it was. This seems to be about the right size and shape, so I used it. There’s a smaller box that needs to go to its left, but I haven’t finished that yet.

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[Mini Me]

Nice details Jakko. :thumb2: Rick H.

[Guest]

Last week, I sprayed the wading trunks inside and out with car primer (red because I found a near-empty aerosol can with that colour) and today, I stuck them to the tank with two-part epoxy glue, after scraping the paint off the bottom:

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I also glued the little details like T-bolts and the eyelets on. Now I need to figure out how the connecting rods between the trunks actually fit, as well as make a few more things before the model is finished. Oh, and add the tracks, of course.

[minitnkr]

Excellent additions to a superb model.

[Jim R]

Hi Jacko
Looking excellent. Great, very neat details. Well done with the chains. I can well believe you needed a rest between chains, I would probably have needed a strong drink and a lay down.
Jim