[D-Day] M26 Pershing

[Panzermechaniker]

Good Afternoon!
Tamiya Model sprues are your friend when it comes to a lot of the details on these tanks. Even HL spare parts sets can be very useful what with their figures, Jerry cans and what not. Following along!
regards
Painlesd

Wheres the best place to find these sprues? Ebay? I've seen some but they're like $25+ I've sourced a few Taigen accessory sets before. But Taigen US is running low on stuff these days.

These guys have Tamiya Pershing sprues. I needed a G sprue for my Tiger rebuild and got it from them,very good service and much cheaper than the Pershing sprues are but with the prices of these now becoming very hard to obtain Tamiya sprues if it's a part that isn't involved with the moving stuff like the barrel etc. if I was going to build/rebuild another Tamiya Tiger for example I might buy an AHHQ Tiger kit and use the parts from it. Probably cheaper in the end

https://ttpmodels.com/collections/parts-and-spares

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thank you, Panzermechaniker: I bookmarked that source. Right now the tank parts page says nothing is available, but it's worth checking now and then.

[Panzermechaniker]

That's odd. They are still showing the A,B,C,F sprues and Y parts for the Tamiya 56015 Pershing as in stock on both their own site and their Ebay page. I'm glad I found them though. Sourcing Tamiya sprues is so difficult here in Canada as their Canadian distributor is the worst and Tamiya USA won't sell to us

[Ad Lav]

Axels does list the parts but postage is expensive.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

"That's odd. They are still showing the A,B,C,F sprues and Y parts for the Tamiya 56015 Pershing...." Oops! I see my mistake: I had clicked on the tank kits link, not the "5 digit" spare part links.

[MrChef]

Hey Doc, any update on the parts you were waiting on from ECA?

[Herr Dr. Professor]

John contacted me last week right after he returned from vacation fun. The ECA parts I need to proceed arrived yesterday. Some straps for lashing down stowage came in today from Australia to be followed by more of the same from the Ukraine.
I have the markings in place---interesting markings because the T26E3s by the Ludendorff Bridge retained some of their shipping markings and only two stars.
Today (Tuesday 30 April) I did some all-over weathering. Of course, the crew will still be lashing on stowage and probably hit a bit of mud and grass on the way to Remagen.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

This T26E3 turret is ready for aftermarket spare tracks from East Coast Armory and/or some packs or tarps. Note that the tone of the Olive Drab on the jack is different from the OD on the turret. I used three brands of FS34087, Tamiya, Vallejo, and Model Master, for the real tanks carried attachments made by different manufacturers. Despite the Federal Standard, the paint would not have matched perfectly.

T26 RTrrt.jpg (196.01 KiB) Viewed 19 times

Here's a spot where I left the holes unfilled, as I knew I wanted to use some stowage. I hope to use a jerry can WCP sent me just recently, but I want to confirm first that the reinforcing X on the can was painted in white to indicate that it carried water, not fuel. The "Lift Here" markings left from shipping show up on one of the few photos of at T26E3 at Remagen. There's one at each corner of the tank, because it was considered important to only lift the tank by the special attachments.

T26 RtRFndr.jpg (174.66 KiB) Viewed 19 times

The T26E3 tanks that guarded the overtaken Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen in March of '45 were practically brand new. The few photos suggest some dirt and some grassy mud, so that's how I tried to make this one look. Note the odd numbers: since these tanks were not yet designated as M26, but were being tested in action, they did not have registration numbers. I haven't yet been able to decipher this number nor determine its purpose.

T26 RRQtr.jpg (200.97 KiB) Viewed 19 times

[Herr Dr. Professor]

At least one of the T26E3s at Remagen was still in shipping markings. Here's an example of details of lubricants, coolants, etc.

T26 LFQtr.jpg (208.8 KiB) Viewed 16 times

Here's the back end. The paint on the cast iron exhaust tips would hardly have burned off. I used a rust powder to roughen them a bit, covered with a blued gun metal to look like fresh, but bared castings.

T26 R.jpg (197.76 KiB) Viewed 16 times

[Herr Dr. Professor]

This is the artwork on the rear of the Squadron/Signal Walk Around about the M26 Pershing (included in the list my first posting in this thread). I am replicating this tank, although the details are the artist's--which excuses my own "artistic license." In 1970 I stood in this exact spot, awed that the bridge towers were still standing. I am still awed in memory, so however minor, this build means a lot to me.

T26E3 3.jpg (368.42 KiB) Viewed 14 times