1944 M4A3 105mm

[PainlessWolf]

Good evening,
Sea Mail from OZ not withstanding, my HL Sherman Pro edition (BB) finally came home today. I had ordered from an OZ shop since he had (supposedly) the IR in stock. Not the case but I completed the order anyway for a couple of reasons, the shop owner was honest about not having the IR and a conversation with Forgebear. The battery was charged so I was able to get some initial impressions. It is a crystal version set so a 2.4 GHz set will be needed. The gun is a solid shooter and the barrel is metal. Smoker appears to be progressive type (have not cracked her apart yet) and works great. Turret rotation and gun elevation are smooth and have a sound effect. Driving is nice and stepless from crawl to slow to speed. The metal tracks and sprockets are weighty and I was on the fence about replacing them with MATO components for a moment til I saw how obvious the misplaced guide horns and hollow wheels were. The paint looks really good on this tank but the necessity of replacing the molded on handles and some other options I have in mind will see it completely repainted. There are a ton of really nice Tamiya style (multiple piece model) accessories and parts to add on already so some of the things I had on my list will not be needed. All in all, this is a really, really nice Sherman. Time to order some components and get to work.
regards,
Painless

[palepainter]

That paint looks pretty good for straight out of the box. Congrats on the safe shipping.

[Horses45]

That was my first one I ever bought so will be nice to see what you can do with it

[ALPHA]

Alright Painless

You've been taunting us with this SHERMAN... so glad it got home safe

ALPHA

ps... If you don't like the tracks sprockets and idlers.... and you plan to toss them... well... toss them over the Pacific

[PainlessWolf]

Good Morning,
Spent some time looking over this Sherman again, a longer look just to get a feel for what is possible. The Tank is eerily Tamiya-like (and I know that HL made it's business copying Tamiya tho' now the shoe seems to be on the other foot with both companies racing to bring out new vehicles) right down to the two piece .50 cal and the solid hull mount for the .30 cal co-ax. Even the hull at the rear is lacking sponsons. Aye, the paint is good and I suspect my final paint will look much like this does now, good old solid Olive Drab with a black pin wash and maybe some dust on the sprockets, idlers and bogies. The Devil is always in the details as I have learned from our Premiere Sherman Guys, CH, Phil and Fynsdad. *chuckles* They really are nice tracks, Alpha. I do not understand why HL didn't pay for the extra pins and do a little more drilling. They could have cast the horns in the right locations on each link then for a few bucks more for the set and made all of us a lot happier to keep them on the tank. Otherwise, the workmanship is solid. They are weighty and each link is flash free. The Sprockets and Idlers are beauties but as I understand it, will not work with MATO tracks. The hollow bogie wheels? Same thing. Why chintz out for a few pennies saved? *sighs* Well, a little more modeling fun to be had. Up and away!
regards,
Painless

[ALPHA]

Well Son of a ....B... agel ....Painless! ,,,, missed out on some tracks (just kidding)

To answer your wonder... I think HENG LONG is trying to cover all the bases with their tanks... instead of focusing on just the "modellers" like TAMIYA...what the folks at HL are producing are "relatively" accurate.. durable ...RTR models/ toys ...enough to satisfy the holiday or other festive gift giving times for the young... and enough for the experienced modeller to improve upon
I do believe they will come out with a JS-2 in the future.. as the T-34 had a lot of extra detail parts not even indicated in the instruction booklet for use...they are a very savvy company... you can tell ... their new tanks are really something... and much easier to work on
I know I'm impressed with the function of their 2.4 system...next to my SHERMAN the T-34 is so smooth in operation ... especially in close quarters... crawling turns can be executed with ease.. compared to the old crystal systems...the SHERMAN being one of the exceptions

Seems like yesterday was a "day of arrival" for many here... even I got something in the mail lol...finally after a mistaken routing by the USPS ...but it's too early to tell what it is ...with that said ... it did not run as smooth as the T-34 or SHERMAN straight out of the box...I had to open it up... lube up the gears... run it for about three batteries worth of time.. for it to be close...she's sweet... but a little cursed ...partial reason for the secrecy

So for now... I'm just going to kick back and watch everyone ... you ... palepainter ..... Horses45... build ...and enjoy your enjoyment

I hope you have a great time with this one Painless

ALPHA

ps... if you have a hard time deciding what battalion to model your new girl after .... you can always print three of these up


they'll look great on green

[cannedheat]

that old chap looks very much like mine wot wot so send it post haste ?

[Phil]

To be honest I haven’t changed my tracks or sprockets/idlers I bought from tankbear over to the Mato ones yet, works very well with the standard bits on while driving around.

Did a quick swop while I was building but the track kept jamming up and not running straight, so I just put the Heng Long ones back on. Will revisit when I have time.

[ALPHA]

that old chap looks very much like mine wot wot so send it post haste ?

ALPHA

[ALPHA]

To be honest I haven’t changed my tracks or sprockets/idlers I bought from tankbear over to the Mato ones yet, works very well with the standard bits on while driving around.

Did a quick swop while I was building but the track kept jamming up and not running straight, so I just put the Heng Long ones back on. Will revisit when I have time.

HENG LONG sure put together a nice package with the SHERMAN...yours Dr Phil... is a really good example of how personalization can work with a great foundation to build on

ALPHA