1944 M4A3 105mm

[PainlessWolf]

36th Day: Evening, Alpha. Yes indeed, I could not agree more. I love those Schumo type kits and enjoy the level of realism that they add but there is something to said for the sense of satisfaction you get when you build a piece yourself. Today was a turret day. I finished the Loader hatch springs by adding the nuts on the hatch mount points. I made them out of a 1/35 Tiger 1 tow shackle. The rest of the afternoon was spent adding the excellent Schumo turret upgrade kit and completing the searchlight mount. There is a little more to do, adding the mantlet canvas cover clasps and putting a periscope on the Commander's Hatch. I'm looking for pictures to see if that hatch and the gunner's periscope in front of it had a periscope protection cage mounted on it. Then the .50 cal I am using will need a rework. Pictures:

[PainlessWolf]

36th Day: Continued...

[sassgrunt]

Painless, in answer to your question about the wire periscope guards over the commander's cupola and right in front of that, I believe that the commander's hatch didn't have one (it wasn't as area where people would normally step, and therefore not prone to damage from that - as the areas by the loader's, driver's and RO's hatches were). Although interestingly, the periscope on the earlier split-hatch cupole did have a guard over the periscope there. The periscope in front of the cupola had an armored guard bolted over it. See the link to the information here: http://the.shadock.free.fr//sherman_min ... polas.html The picture at the bottom right of the page should be what you're after. -Mike

[PainlessWolf]

Mike,
Thank you, my friend. ) I will have to put some effort into modding up a cover. I need to scratch an interior periscope for the commander's hatch as well. I feel like I am making significant progress again.
Regards,
Painless

[cannedheat]

some fine detailed work there old chap....nice ,the 105 is a nice turret lots to do on it if you have liking to ,wot wot

[sassgrunt]

Painless, Greengiant's build talked about some of the inaccurate things he was correcting on the Heng Long turret. Along with the periscope cover, he said that the .50 cal mount is in the wrong place. I'm going to use his knowledge to fix mine.

http://www.rctankwarfare.co.uk/forums/v ... 33&t=12087

You can get the interior periscope housing from one of Tamiya's sprues, (either the Sherman or the Pershing - or maybe both; I forget which). I know that I have spares, if you want a couple. Also, the .50 cal MG on the Tamiya sprue is a lot more detailed than the Mato one; I can send you one of those as well. -Mike

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
Thank you, CH. I am finding that with a little work, it is a _really_ good tank overall. I'm glad that seeing the work that you, Phil and Frynsdad did convinced me to order one. Mike, sending you a PM, Thanks!
regards,
Painless

P.S. Mike, I saw that advice from GreenGiant and extended the mounting points for the Schumo .50 mount just a tad bit forward. I didn't want to contact the rim for the commander's hatch but paid service to his excellent tip.

[PainlessWolf]

37th Day: Began the evening by drilling and pinning my nice, metal Commander's vane sight that I had broken last night. Even in this scale and even when you're working with metal parts, they are still fragile, fiddly bits at times. Repair finished, I turned to the next thing I wanted to do, install the Mantlet canvas cover clasps. These are a Schumo part and are nicely made but involve a lot of tedious, repetitive work separating them from the molded sheet they come as and cleaning up the edges. And that's before you even begin to apply them. *chuckles* I made a good start and will finish them up tomorrow night. Pictures:

[ALPHA]

WOW... those Schumo guys make some really nice parts.. you have a link Painless?

By the way...Nice progression on the turret

ALPHA

[PainlessWolf]

Alpha,
I got the Schumo turret kit from Axel's Modelbau. Not one of our recommended dealers but the guys at Welsh Dragon and Frontline were out of the kit when I was ordering. Naturally, I suggest checking with Steve at Welsh Dragon first.
Regards,
Paiinless