Sherman M4A3 76 Free French

[Panzermechaniker]

Thanks for the compliments guys and this Taigen is one superb base for a build. I don't like to have shiny tanks but I will leave this one in it's straight off the dealers lot form for a couple of days because driving it is so much fun while stuck inside during this cold snap. The cast texturing on the transmission cover and front of the upper hull one piece around the hatches was done with Mr. Dissolved Putty. I love this stuff. Expensive but what pretty cheap for the remnants of a $12 bottle that I have used on several tanks already when this Sherman build is pushing $1500. The turret is a different story. I wanted to tone down the Taigen casting in the metal as I think it is too pronounced. I tried using Tamiya Surfacer 500 but it did nothing. I could have I suppose puttied the whole thing and sanded it down but again I used the dissolved putty. It worked it's just the phone pictures still really pick out the Taigen cast texture but to real eyes it is much more subdued. The next big thing was the huge gap and seam that Taigen has between their smooth plastic lower turret piece and the chinesium textured upper. On that I filled the seam and smeared the excess with Tamiya Basic Putty. Looking at the pictures of real Sherman turret castings I was amazed how almost Russian rough it was with large grinding areas. That surprised me but also made things easier. The lower part of the smooth plastic was again textured with the dissolved putty. Once the tank has been covered with matte and a lot weathering pastels the weird Taigen texture will mostly disappear.

Mike the casting numbers are done with the still available Archer raised surface details decal set. They look great but tbh once you get into the very small stuff they sort of disappear so I concentrated more on the larger hull and turret numbers. It really does make a nice improvement. I still have lots left on the sheet

https://www.archertransfers.com/product ... eq=uniform

I also can't say enough about how fantastic the Clark TK-50S M4A3 version plus the turret servos makes this tank drive,function and sound. The low speed control and sound is amazing and the sheer weight of this tank just makes it run at real speed. Without question my best running tank and the quality is top notch. I now know why Erik when he worked at IMEX said this was Taigen's best

[HERMAN BIX]

Even I like this one.................
Spray a waft of hairspray over it before you run it in the dust mate, that will get it looking the way you want it !

[Meter rat]

Panzermechaniker. Thank you for posting this build. Between yourself, Mr Chef, and his Stug build, Painless’s builds, and Mr Bix’s builds, I am getting very tempted to try something different.
Your methodical approach to detailing always inspires.

[Panzermechaniker]

Panzermechaniker. Thank you for posting this build. Between yourself, Mr Chef, and his Stug build, Painless’s builds, and Mr Bix’s builds, I am getting very tempted to try something different.
Your methodical approach to detailing always inspires.

Beware of going down the Sherman rabbit hole. It is truly insane how many variants within variants within variants you could build. Absolutely fascinating though for me who used to be a Shermanophobe.

[Panzermechaniker]

Even I like this one.................
Spray a waft of hairspray over it before you run it in the dust mate, that will get it looking the way you want it !

It's funny my T-34 and KVs pick up the most realistic dust deposits just running around the field whereas the panzers stay totally dust free so will be interesting to see if the Sherman picks up dirt the same way. Going to be awhile until we see dust unfortunately

This is outside my door now

sn251.jpg (997.05 KiB) Viewed 352 times

sn252.jpg (1.17 MiB) Viewed 352 times

sn253.jpg (1.23 MiB) Viewed 352 times

[Stormbringer]

Now thats snow

[Panzermechaniker]

Bit of an update on the build. So the heavy weathering has been done and the last matte coat put on so now it's just a bunch of modifications and with pigments etc. Still have some solutions I need to figure out as far as the stowage and tow cable go. Since this tank will be run a lot the hull will be getting removed probably weekly to charge the battery. The tow cable on this particular tank was laid over the top of the plank and attached to the front left towing loop. But since the tow cable will have to permanently attached to the upper hull I'm probably going to have to figure out a clasp so the cable can be removed from the lower hull. Same with the wooden plank but that can easily be done and secured with Micro Liquitape which remains tacky. Will put a couple of small boxes resting on the wooden plank. The stowage is secured to the rear shelf so that is not an issue and fortunately this crew were not pack rats like the US and British crews so I just need a tarp and one large box and maybe some small packs to go on the rear deck behind the engine hatches. But since I will be removing these to run around the field I have to figure a way to make it look like the stowage is secured but not actually as I don't want it permanently affixed. I was going to muddy it up a lot but the more images of this particular tank I researched it was mostly dusty with blotches and dust streaking from rain on the hull and turret sides. It makes sense as it's service life was only summer of 1944 as it was knocked out in mid September at the Battle of Dompaire. So it's mostly improving the weathering now and I wouldn't mind getting a proper Browning 30 cal barrel for the bow gun.
https://biaarma.com/event/OpBattleDompaire

Sh01fr3.jpg (1.31 MiB) Viewed 167 times

Sho1rr3.jpg (1.26 MiB) Viewed 167 times

Sh01R3.jpg (1.39 MiB) Viewed 167 times

sh01L3.jpg (1.29 MiB) Viewed 167 times

[Stormbringer]

Youve done a grand job there mate

[MrChef]

That's a far cry better than when she first popped outta the box.

She's not a Tiger and I still like her.

Nuff said

[Herr Dr. Professor]

Panzermechaniker, I have no idea how I missed those January 25 snowtographs. As you know, Toronto just a wee bit farther north than my place in southern Wisconsin, so I certainly understand your having duckbills on those Sherman tracks.