M51 Israeli Sherman.

[Chris S]

Hi all

I just made a start on this one over on Big Johns site .. http://the-sherman-shop.freeforums.net/ and thought I would share it here too



Not my usual choice ,but we'll give it a go

The build starts with the HVSS suspension units ,which if you get them right are workable ,and nicely detailed me thinks



120 parts ,a lot of hours and some choice words ....I had six complete units , well apart from the wheels & tyres .



I then started to look at the hull . This is were the fun starts ....not ! After a dry fit of the tranny housing it was pretty obvious it was a real bad fit (being polite) but after some sanding and jiggling I got a reasonable fit ,bit of filler needed tho .I havent fixed it in place yet until Im happy with it .....
(sorry about the dodgy pic )



The back plate was then offered up and fitted ...



Then I had a look at the upper hull ...Oh dear !!! .
The rear deck just behind the turret ring had a bad bow in it , drooping in the middle ! In the pics you can just see the stress marks in the plastic where I heated it and bent back into shape ,once it was straight I went ahead and fixed the rear deck panels and the back panel to hold everything in shape .I think it worked !





Then a quick test fit to the lower hull , Thankfully the upper and lower come together well and shouldnt present any further problems ...fingers crossed





And thats where Im at ...Im off to fit lots of hollow guide horns to the DS tracks

Thanks for looking.

Chris.

 

[adampolo13]

Looks like a lot of work but I'm sure your up to the task!

 

[Chris S]

I'll give it a go Adam ;D

 

[JohnSimmons]

Where's the wings? Lol great start Chris.

 

[Elm City Hobbies]

Have this one in the stash, then along came the Tamiya kit.....Dragon kit still in the stash. Complete Eduard PE kit for it as well....don't know what I was thinking there. Dragon kit plus Eduard PE? Must have been high when I bought that! LOL

Either way, I am sure yours will come out the usual greatness of your other builds!

 

[Big-John]

Model + Chris S = AWESOME ;D

Looking forward to more of this one Chris!

 

[Chris S]

Thanks guys

John ..yer too kind mate Update tomorrow ,been busy sortin out a number of fit issues !! irritating

Chris.

 

[Chris S]

Well guys ,I've had some fun with this one so far ....Not !!

All the main parts ..Upper hull ,Tranny housing ,rear deck , Turret (upper & lower parts ) either had a bad fit or a warp ...or Both !!!
But at last I think I have overcome all the issues (so far ) And I've managed to crack on a bit

The tranny housing took a fair bit of work to sort ,but I think it looks ok now ?





On the rear end the welds look like ...err ...lumps , so I removed them and added my own using Milliput .



Then I added the machine gun to the hull and closed the upper & lower I started adding parts to the front of the hull ...Hatches ,handles etc . The handles on the hatches were again ..Lumps so I removed them too and made up some handles from wire ,the periscopes are closed as the tank will be buttoned up .





The turret is a work in progress too . once the bad join was filled and sanded ,I removed the weld (lump) around the bustle and redone it with milliput ,but adding the double weld instead of the single lump that was there ,still have to do the weld around the bottom of the bustle .





Nice to be moving on a bit with this

Thanks for looking.

Chris.

 

[Junkie]

A now a tank.

Mr. Versatile strikes again.

Looking forward to more, more, more.

 

[Big-John]

Yeah man!!! you go mate!

 

[Solander]

Looks great so far!
I really enjoy those little details You're adding here and there, look just in their places

 

[Mfun]

So much details, so much quality...great construction !!
All this details you are add make all the difference.

 

[Cash]

Bookmarked Chris.

 

[Big-John]

Is it done yet? : : :

I'll get me coat 8)

 

[Chris S]

LOL ...Hey !! Thats my line ;D ;D ,Actually I have been getting a bit done ,but its still fighting ..It will be done tho ,update tomorrow

Chris.

 

[Chris S]

Sorry about the lack of updates on this one ,but I am slowly making some headway ...I think lol

Started on some of the etchwork , First up was the guards . I decided to use the kit supplied parts seeing as they where there ...BIG mistake ! the kit etch parts simply didnt fit ,the side guards were not to bad ,but the front corners were absolute rubbish !!! there's just no way they were going to fit .So I turned to the Eduard parts ,but to fit them I had to cut the corners of the sponsons ...no biggy tho , after doing that the Eduard parts fitted a treat and look better too .



After that I started on the side bins ,again using the Eduard parts instead of the kits plastic parts which dont have much detail on them .
It took me some time getting one side done tho ...lol ,but they look much better ,well worth the effort I think ,they are also mounted on the correct brackets rather than stuck to the side like the plastic ones are .





And thats as far as I've got ! ..hope to have more time to spend on it this week

Thanks for looking .

Chris.

 

[Junkie]

Nice update. The etch looks real nice, clean work.

 

[Tailor]

looks almost too good to paint.
Beautiful job, dude!

 

[JohnSimmons]

Yeah REAL nice Chris

 

[Big-John]

That is some super clean precise etch work Chris.