Sherman M4(105)

[X82d Pathfinder]

Oh. I asked him about them and he never got back to me about them. I improvised.

[DRAGONWAGON]

Hi guys,

since the Schumo vane sight is a straight copy of the kit part, it gave me some space to fool around with the kit part. Started to drill some 0.6mm holes and then I enlarged two of them to 1.0mm, the bolts were shaved off and replaced by some Evergreen punched ones. A simple yet nice addition to the turret:

The Schumo part:



and the kit part after 10mins of ellbow-grease:



And some more little adds to the turret and upper hull....













Next up are the lifting rings to the gun mantlet, this will add some more realism to the turres, since they were missing in the kit.

Grtz, John.

[X82d Pathfinder]

Very good, John!
Don't forget your tow ring mounts on the angled part of the rear hull! Being I plan on building a Calliope turret after I complete this build. I bought some extras from Nick. He makes the turret lift rings for the T-23 turret. I used these and they're 3.00 Vs. 80.00 for the Shumo detail kit. If you find you enjoy doing armor and do another Sherman, be sure to buy the Pershing periscope guard kit. You get five guards instead of three and it's about 6.00 more than the Sherman set. I posted your Binoculars today along with a tow rope. I'd dye it in tea before using it being it's in a light color.
-Dan

[DRAGONWAGON]

Dan,

The tow mounts are still in the process of planning, but will most definately get there! Every time I open a reference book, or browse the web, I run into extra details to add. One can say "enough is enough" but I'm still enjoying working on this model, so I dunno where it brings me.....

Drop you a PM when the binoculars and the rope arrive, John.

[X82d Pathfinder]

I almost forgot to add the tow ring mounts on mine, that's why I reminded you. Ha!

-Dan

[DRAGONWAGON]

...And the "work" continues:





Since I placed the Schumo .50cal pintle on the turret, I could use the kit part to shave off the handle to spice up the pintle on the turret's back:







Grtz, John.

[DRAGONWAGON]

I noticed a ring of rivets on the outside of the commanders hatch, when checking some references, I also saw some casting numbers.....So off I went.





Then I started on the inside of the hatch. There was no detail at all, so I started to convert a Nick Aguilar periscope holder to fit the hatch rim. Next up will be a kind of a locking system and a small handle.





John.

[X82d Pathfinder]

Yes, there is a series of rivets on the hatch of this style coupla. It holds the track that allows the hatch itself to turn.
I cut the pintle handle off too, and used it on the coupla pintle mount. It was absent from Nick's early coupla. Very nice catches on both accounts! I also caught the rivets that were missing on the VVSS road wheels. I am in the process of installing them. All 120 rivets. There are 10 per wheel. Oh, joy! lol

-Dan

[DRAGONWAGON]

I know Dan,

Stunning how much has changed in this hobby; on this big kit almost all the detail is obsolete, while looking at any 1:35 Tasca Sherman all those little things are present!
Let's say it keeps us off the streets for a while....LOL.

Grtz, John.

[X82d Pathfinder]

John:
Tamiya has recycled this kit since 1974. It's 39 years old. However, this kit's detail has never been up to Tamiya standards. Perhaps the reason for this is because it was thought of as a toy and they wanted stout details that wouldn't damage easily. Damn, I remember when it came out, does that make me old? LOL I was 9. Okay, now that I feel depressed that I am getting old we'll move on. Anyway, I am NOT doing the rivets on the inside of the road wheels. I am just not that anal! LOL I can only imigine how nice a Tasca body kit would be for this. Especially the Firefly! Anyway, we'll see what comes out. It's still all a small cottage industry and you have to hunt for hours on web sites for products. Keep it up!