M4A3 105 HengLong Headache

[Herr Dr. Professor]

I went the masking route. It only took three hours (including, of course, lots of chatter with the Tuesday modelers, sips of coffee, chips, dip--the usual stuff). Here's the masking job, photos just for your amusement:

The sidewalls (well, sort of sidewalls) of the solid rubber tires are masked with liquid masker. I have used it a number of times already, but I never trust it. I have primed the bogies and idlers already, but I always let coats of primer dry a day before base finish coats. The sprockets and tracks are ready to go in Testor's ModelMaster Olive Drab FS34087, and you can see the tracks in the first photo, done with Tamiya Gun Metal.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

This isn't exactly a "build" as it's rather simple--OK, downright easy--compared to real builds on RCTW, but here go a few more photos of masking and painting fun.

After painting all the FS34107 Olive Drab, I painted the bogies by brush using Vallejo's white. I thought it would be sheer delight to just slop it on as did the GIs sometimes. However, after 55 years of practicing to create clean, smooth paint jobs on model airplanes, tanks, etc., being sloppy caused serious COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. Every realistic little slip was driving me nuts!

Some of the books I have show WWII photos of M4A3s and even two M4A3 105s with rather fresh white camouflage (probably paint, not just whitewash). Curiously, only the sprockets and bogies look to be white; whereas, the rest of the lower hull, road wheels, and even the idlers seem to be left OD. I have used a magnifying glass to check this, and so it seems. Hence, I did so on the HengLong M4A3 105.

Then I re-masked the lower hull and used Rust-oluem white primer on the transmission cover, rear plate, and parts that would have been left on the tank when it was painted.

[Jarlath]

I forgot to say that you could have likely ripped out the metal cover plugs, and then replaced them with the plastic ones that are usually available.
(Example @ Matomart https://www.matomart.com/prodview.php?p=2776)

My guess would be that they are pretty much the same size

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Fortunately, Jarlath, the sprockets came without the metal plugs installed, but in a plastic bag. And the stock HengLong sprues include plastic plugs for the sprockets and bogies. So I saved the metal sprocket plugs as precious parts and painted the plastic sprocket plugs, figuring they will be easier to remove later. The metal idler and bogie plugs were so tight I did not want to risk damaging the lower hull and/or mounting points by tugging and cussing or drilling and cussing. I am more familiar with masking tricks, so I went with what for me is the safer route.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

On June 8 (see above) I wrote that "Some of the books I have show WWII photos of M4A3s and even two M4A3 105s with rather fresh white camouflage (probably paint, not just whitewash). Curiously, only the sprockets and bogies look to be white; whereas, the rest of the lower hull, road wheels, and even the idlers seem to be left OD." I kept checking and re-checking before painting the white just that way. Here are the photos.

This is an M4A3E2(105) on Jan. 20, 1945; location unidentified (Patton Museum Photo). This looks so clean it might have been painted in the courtyard it is exiting!

And here, more specific to the HengLong tank I am painting is an M4A3(105) identified as from late Jan. 1945 in Hochdelden, France (National Archives Photo).

The photos are reproduced on page 99 of:

Doyle, David. Sherman Tank Vol.4: The M4A3 Medium Tank in World War II and Korea. Legends of [Ground] Warfare. Schiffer Military, 2021. ISBN 978-0-7643-6142-5.

[Jimster]

It’s all about the results. That’s a real build my friend.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thanks for the encouragement, Jimster.

Using four different paints, I have the tracks rustied up a bit, but with bare metal on the chevrons. Last night I stared at the lower photo, wishing for a way to pack "snow" in the tracks and make it stay even when the tank is run. I would like to re-create the effect. Does anyone have any ideas?

[HERMAN BIX]

I used a "snow" material that railway hobbyists use.
made a slightly less diluted brew of PVA glue and added the snow where required.
Can go over & layer more on as required.
I did it on my White Tiger build and my T34 build with great success.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=27726

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=12185

I will get a picture of the stuff later on.

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Thanks, Herman, I will check it out now, as I am making a hobby store trip tomorrow. I want the snow to look packed in the tracks, so my concern is to get whatever "snow" product to stick to the tracks (with the chevron treads bare, of course) even if I run the tank (usually on a concrete basement floor or the upstairs carpeting. (I am alone in the house, so I get away with "moider." )

[Herr Dr. Professor]

So here are too many photos of the pure-as-the-driven-snow white Sherman M4A3(105).

As the photos above show, the camouflage seems to have been applied with care. So I painted the tool fasteners and fittings separately and primed and painted the tools appropriately before attaching them.

The next steps are weathering, as I am seeking the look of the two Shermans in the lower photo: pretty clean but with some weathering streaks. Then I will come up with a white "canvas" or "sheet" to cover the gear. I will likely use the excellent Sherman gear I got from our Canadian supplier https://dgsselkirk.wixsite.com/dgsmilitaryhobby