M4 (105 mm) HVSS on Okinawa

[Jakko]

After several days of searching for pictures, looking at them, measuring on the model, making some sketches and finally asking on a forum, I built the lower part of the deep-wading gear.

Basic shape:



These are seven pieces of plastic card, plus a length of sprue as a brace. I made the large front plate from 0.5 mm card, and also the upper two parts on both sides. The lower ones are 0.75 mm card, to give some extra strength. When this dried, I glued an oversize piece of 0.13 mm card to the back/bottom:



When this had dried enough, I glue it along the bend and underside too, but then discovered that it's better to curve the plate a little here first. So, I took it back off, then pulled the centre area between a ruler and the edge of my work surface a few times, and glued it back on:



This because the back and undersides bulge outward if you don't make a curve in the plate first. They still do, but a lot less than on the first attempt. The bulge that's still there will get fixed when I add the framework that will go around the top. Once the glue had dried, all I needed to do was trim the plate to size, which is much easier than making it the right size first:



Well, I still need to clean up the seams and do a bunch of other stuff, but it already looks good against the hull:

 

[Jakko]

After puttying and sanding the seams, I painted the inside matt black — the duct will have been full of soot from the exhaust, I would imagine — and then started on the edge along the top:



First I put thin strip flat along the upper edge, which also straightened out the bump on the back because it got glued to the strip, and then a narrower strip vertically on top of that, both aligned with the outside of the duct. The top strips still stick out here, because once more it's easier to make it like this and only trim them down after the glue dries than to try and cut everything to the right length first. It will save you having to cut a new strip because you made one slightly too short, for one.

 

[Modelprofessor]

Looks like good scratch build work . I'm excited to see what you do next

 

[Jakko]

Trim down the ends of the strips Then add a bit more detail to the trunk, stick it on the tank, fit a bottom extension to it, and then proceed with adding the details to the hull and turret. I've been holding off on those until the wading trunk is fitted, for fear of damaging them, but I've taken much longer getting round to actually building this trunk than I would have liked.

 

[JOHN R]

Trim down the ends of the strips Then add a bit more detail to the trunk, stick it on the tank, fit a bottom extension to it, and then proceed with adding the details to the hull and turret. I've been holding off on those until the wading trunk is fitted, for fear of damaging them, but I've taken much longer getting round to actually building this trunk than I would have liked.

Never one to opt out the detail you add is brilliant.

 

[Jakko]

Thanks, though I must say that I'm finding that my fine motor skills aren't quite up to the job anymore to do it exactly as I would like

 

[Jakko]

This part is now done, I think:



Some strip inside the top opening for the reinforcing bars you can see on the real thing, some more strip for the fittings that the upper trunk hooks into, and an angled piece on the underside to cover the engine access doors in the hull rear. The shape is entirely conjecture because I couldn't find any photos that actually show this part.

The plastic strip along the side of the lower hull is the exhaust for the auxiliary generator, which on late-model Shermans runs on the outside like this. It's just two pieces of strip glued together to a 1.5 × 1 mm cross-section, then the edges rounded off and the end opened up with the tip of a knife.

 

[JOHN R]

Looks brilliant to me, way beyond the average modeller .

 

[Modelprofessor]

Very nicely done. Can't wait to see the rest

 

[Jakko]

way beyond the average modeller .

I always think that if I can do this kind of stuff, so can everybody else, though

 

[Modelprofessor]

I always think that if I can do this kind of stuff, so can everybody else, though

It doesn't always work that way. Everybody has different skill levels . I have mastered conversions over the years for a couple resin casting companies . Just because I can do it doesn't mean everyone can , and there are people who make me look like a monkey using a stick.
With all that said your skill set is very good and is the result of practice and trial to hone that degree of skill. Yours is higher than most so be proud of what you do and share it , also teach whenever you can .

 

[Jakko]

It doesn't always work that way.

I know, and also this Though I do think that a lot of people who feel that they can't do something like this, are wrong about their own abilities — and because of that, they don't even try. And not trying, of course, leads to not developing the skill to do this at all.

My own limits here are mostly fine detail work, because I can tell my fine motor skills have deteriorated in recent years, and in working truly accurately, which is a problem I've had my whole life

 

[Modelprofessor]

I know, and also this Though I do think that a lot of people who feel that they can't do something like this, are wrong about their own abilities — and because of that, they don't even try. And not trying, of course, leads to not developing the skill to do this at all.

My own limits here are mostly fine detail work, because I can tell my fine motor skills have deteriorated in recent years, and in working truly accurately, which is a problem I've had my whole life

Well said my friend. You are 100% correct , if people don't try , they will never know.

 

[Jakko]

The details on the front plate are now (almost?) all on:



The guards over the headlight and horn are 3D-printed — they came from the big box of Sherman parts I bought, but once I was cleaning them up I soon began to feel that it would have been easier to just use Asuka plastic parts from my Sherman spares box. These printed ones are no thinner but are a lot more work to remove from the plate they had been printed on. The horn itself is from Asuka, from the aforementioned spares box, the bracket on the nose for holding the tow cable came with the resin M4 hull, as did the periscopes, while the covers over them are from Asuka again The lifting eyes are Dragon (I think) and placed "inboard": most M4 (105 mm) HVSS tanks had them "outboard" on the edge of the glacis plate, but very early ones had them as I put them here.

On the back are some tools and more:



All of the green plastic is Asuka once more, both the tools and the air scoops on the back deck, but the gratings in the latter are from the RFM Sherman VC. The grey shovel is as well, I think, but it still needs brackets added over it. I'm not sure if I'll add any more tools, because I'll put sandbags over the engine deck, which can cover some of those tools, and I see no point in putting them on in that case.

The olive drab paint is in areas that will be hard to reach with an airbrush later on. The overhang on the back of the turret also got a coat while I had the paint out.

Talking of the turret:



It's still loose here, but sits on the hull so I can work out the angle for the howitzer barrel. I was going to model the tank as "in action" with open hatches and the commander and loader visible inside the turret, but as it fits so poorly on the hull, I'm instead going to build it with the barrel in the travel lock. I attached that with some Blu-Tack so that I could determine how the barrel has to sit and then flow glue into the join between gun shield and turret.

And from above:



This shot is mainly to show that the howitzer isn't on the centreline of the turret.

 

[JOHN R]

Would to see your spares box, must be some size.