M4A2 Sherman with a LCM-3

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So with all my builds either drying or in line for some paint i decided to start up my second entry
That will be a M4A2 Sherman from the US Marines wich is in a LCM-3 landing craft wich is better known as the Higgins boat
Many kinds of landing craft where called Higgins boats but the LCM-3 was actually build by the Higgins shipyards

But before i go over the LCM i will start with the Sherman
The kit i will be building is this one


The same kit that we have seen in this GB before (twice actually)

This is the kit content

A general overview


The hull parts and the transmission cover


Turret parts


Various parts for the hull


The well known V sprue wich is present in most Dragon Sherman kits


Some clear parts


DS tracks


Some PE ,decals and a metal towcable


The instructions

But i am not planning to build one of the Tarawa Shermans
Instead i want a more generic Sherman in the PTO
So to spice it up i also have this

The Verlinden productions USMC Sherman stowage set


Wich contains all of this
There is even a shallow engine compartment but i don't think i will use it


This Sherman is serving as my inspiration
It is different from what i want to do as i don't want to make the scratch build side skirts but it will be usefull for the weathering and i do like those metal spikes around the hatches
Those where welded on to keep the Japanese off the tank
And it will make for a nice change from a regular clean Sherman

And as a sort of sneak peak the Sherman will be combined with this kit

I also have a Trumpeter crew for it and 2 metal barrels for the M2hb machine guns
But more on that later once i actually start building it
The Sherman will be build first so i will wait with the sprue shots and all of that for now

The way it looks now this will be a stand alone piece
I'm not planning a diorama for it at the moment
Mainly because i don't have the stuff i need for it and i never used the products to make water
So for now i will be making a wooden stand to hold the LCM and the Sherman will be driving up the ramp like it is going to disembark onto the beach of one of the many islands in the Pacific ocean

And that is all i have for now
I will start building the Sherman tonight and hopefully i will be back with a update soon
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers ,Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Time for the first build update allready
I just love how much faster you can build a tank comparred to a plane
I started building the Sherman on Sunday evening and i finished building the tank the same night
Today i added all the stowage and made some changes to the tank to get the look i wanted
And i just finished that part so now i will make a update for the entire build of the Sherman including the stowage and modifications i made (either with resin parts or scratch build)

I won't be showing a complete step by step for the kit because Simon did that already so you can see how it builds up in his thread

So here is the build of my Sherman M4A2

As always it starts with the sprockets and wheels



The boogies and road wheels


The rear plate and exhausts


All the parts where fitted on the hull


The front of the hull was assembled


The upper hull was placed
There was a huge gap so i glued a piece of styrene in there and filled the edges with some molten sprue


The tools where placed
I had to remive most of it later and all you can see now are parts of the shovel and axe
The rest was removed to place the sandbags from tge stowage set


The first part of the turret was next


And the rest of the parts where glued in place
Except for the cupola hatches as those will get some spikes on them so i need them to be loose pieces for now


The towcable and PE fenders where made and placed


And then i had a completed tank
Now i can start adding some parts from the stowage set


The first resin parts are the big wooden boards that where bolted on the sides to prevent the use of magnetic mines


I then started to place the sandbags


And the spare tracks where added
These wheren't really used as spare tracks but are there as additional armor protection
The 2 lenghts on the turret where heated first so i could bend them in the right shape and then glued in place


A test fitting of the stowage i want to use
These are only the big items but i will add the smaller stuff later
It isn't glued yet as it makes painting a bit easier


To hold the lenghts of track in place they would weld some metal rods on the tank
The tracks would be welded on these rods
So i added some square pieces of styrene rod in between the metal connectors of the tracks


I want to add metal spikes to the tank
This was done in real life aswell and it was used to stop Japanese infantry men from opening the hatches as they where more likely to grab one of these sharp spikes then the actuall grip to open the hatch
My reason was that it looks cool
So to make the placing of these spikes easier i drilled holes in the hull and turret where i want these spikes to go


I then used some 0.5 mm styrene rod and cut that into small pieces
I kept the pieces longer then i need them to be and glued them in the holes
I used my sprue cutters to cut them in the right lenght and give them a pointy end


Wich i did here
I hooe you can see it but i couldn't hold the camera closer or it wod go out of focus

And then the Sherman is basicly ready to be painted
I still need to sort out the smaller stowage items but the tank itself is finished asfar as the constructiin goes
So here are some shots of the fully build Sherman






And that is all i have for now
Allthpugh i think this update is big enough
I hope to get the LCM started soon but tomorrow i will first start with gloss coating some other builds
While that is drying i can start working on the LCM and once it dry i will do the decals on those other builds as they have to be finished well before this build

So i hooe you like itthanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers ,Mark

[rwsmith14]

Love it!!!!!!!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much Robert
I'm pretty happy with it so far allthough the painting could become a bit hard with all those spikes

[ScaleModelJedi]

Great job on the build. The gap you got on the front seems a bit bigger than mine
Looking forward to seeing the lcm

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Simon
It was a little bit smaller at first
But there was a small raised edge where the styrene rod would go
So i sanded that down to get a smooth surface to glue the styrene rod on
I hope to make a start on the LCM today but i also have 2 planes that need their decals

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So as the Sherman is build and ready for some paint i will do a small intro for the LCM-3 wich was also known as the 50ft landing craft
The actuall name is Landing Craft Mechanized -3 wich means it is the 3rd type of landing craft wich was build to move vehicles
Many soldiers refered to LCM's as Higgings boat no matter wich type it was
The LCM-3 however is the one that was build by the Higgins company and they only produced this boat
This was a common thing in the US back then as 1 design for each factory or shipyard increases the build speed and that means more boats in less time
The raw production power of the US is one of the main reasons they could be so effective during the war
When you go and look for information on WWII US machines or weapons the shear numbers are mind blowing
Like the M4 Sherman with around 45.000 vehicles being build during the war or the M2 Browning wich goes in the millions of units
Allthough the one that really hit me was the Willys Jeep with one rolling of the assembly line every couple of minutes

But before i wander off
This is the kit i will be building

It is the Trumpeter kit but you can also find kits from Revell and Italeri for this boat
The Trumpeter kit is usually the most expensive of the 3 but i got it on a sale and it was cheaper then the other ones
So easy choise there


A "first" look in the box
Not really the first though as the instructions,drcals and other stuff was at the bottom
But the first thing you will notice is the rather long and wide hull of the boat wich is placed in 2 cardboard blocks to keep it in place



The hull looks pretty good with 2 weldseams on each side
All the EPM's will be hidden once you get building


Some parts like the upper deck and the wheelhouse
The wheelhouse parts have 6 EPM's or more each that need filling as i found out at step 2


The rear and cargo deck come like this


This sprue has most of the parts for the ramp and some other parts


The interior side walls


And you get 2 sprues with all kinds of stuff but they are mirrored so i will show 1


You also get some decals , photo etch , wires and tubing


And ofcourse a instruction booklet


I also have 2 Master models MG barrels wich i actually got for a different kit but they where the wrong ones
They are correct for this kit so i will use them for this build


And i have the Trumpeter crew for it


And if i am right you should be able to make 4 figures from 2 of these sprues
But i will see how that turns out later


And for a bit of inspiration i have read this article in a Dutch modeelling magazine
It is made by Jose Brito ,who is known for some really spectacular builds
It is a different kind of landing craft and his dio is based at D-Day but the colors he used and the weathering can be usefull for my build aswell

I started building it today but i haven't made much progres yet
Not enough for a update anyway
So once i have some more to show i will post a update on the progres so far
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers

[papatika]

Great job until now. That M4 looks funny with those spikes, like a spiky hairstyle.
I'm really curious how different, still great output can be created using the same kit as source. Your and hansolo's M4 will be a nice example. Two great modeller's different solution for the same kit... How delicious!
Further more it is always really interesting how a beach is built, with all those "liquid" sand with footprints, moss, wet effects, water and foam...
I can't wait to see the progress!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
You can do a lot with just a single kit
Han used a photo of a actuall tank as reference and recreated that image
I went for some more liberty on the other hand
Features like the wooden boards and those spikes where things you would see on USMC Shermans later on in the conflict
The spikes where a field modification to stop Japanese infantry from climbing on the tank and trowing a grenade inside
It was pretty rare but it was used
But there where more of these features through out the PTO campaign
Allmost all where fieldconversions mainly because the Marines didn't get the same priority as the Army
So all the new stuff went to them instead
Just take a basic rifle as a example
The Army had the M1 Garand in 1941 but the Marines still had the Springfield 03 a year later
Just because the bulk of the produced M1's went to the Army
So the Marines addapted their equipment to their needs
Allthough most Shermans only had a support role back then as they where mainly used to whipe out bunkers and buildings and not tanks
But the modifying makes for some intresting and unique looking tanks

As far a beach goes i am not sure i will be making a dio for it
The plan at this time is to make the kits and a stand to hold the LCM-3 while the Sherman is driving out of it
I never did a beach ,water or jungle dio before and i want to focus more on just building the kits this year as my stash is getting kind of big and in the way
A dio would also take up a lot of space and time
And i don't have anything for such a dio as i always focussed on the ETO ,so i don't have stuff like the figures or the products to make a scene with water
When i ordered the kuts for this build i made a list with prices on it and i would have been spending much more then i am willing to at the moment
So basicly space ,time and money are my reasons to not build a diorama for it at this time

[Lysus]

The tank looks sweet and the LCV idea is awesome! You could always place it on that rail gun dio you did and make it like a "one of these things doesn't belong" game.

Looking forward to this.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
The Leopold dio is a bit damaged though
And i'm not planning on restoring it any time soon
I will make a new one in the future with just the gun and the train next to it
Even as a stand alone piece the LCM is fairly big (over 40cm long) so a dio would be very big
And i haven't enjoyed dio building that much lately
I only made a couple of small bases for vehicles and i like that a lot more then a full blown diorama with all the bells and wistles

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So i think it is time for a update
Last time i showed the contents of this kit so now i will show the build itself up to the point that is ready for painting


The work starts on the lower side of the hull
I didn't fit the propellors right away as those will be brass colored and all the other parts like the rudders and hull will be grey


I then skipped step 2
That was the wheelhouse but that needed some filling as there where a lot of big EPM's on those panels
So instead i started to work on the ramp
The biggest task was to place a few rods on the top


On the other side of the ramp you need to place the big piramid shaped part


Once i placed the 2 halfs of the hinge for the ramp i taped the ramp to the hull
The hinge was looking a bit weak so it would pop open if the ramp was hanging down


And the deck for the hull was fitted


Next part of the build will be the cargo area


I fits but the corners have a poor fit
But i noticed that a bit late


And the upper deck was assembled


The big tub was fitted inside the hull


Then i made the pullies for the ramp


The next step was to fit the winches for the ramp and the horns on the deck


With all that stuff sorted it was time to attach the wire or cable
Once that is placed you need to place a couple of L shaped piece that you need to make from copper wire
These will serve as guides for the wire
Then i placed the covers on the winches
I had to sand down 1 side to make them fit under the edge of the top deck


Here you can see the wire or cable for the ramp a bit better
It was a bit of a pain in the rear to get in there as the wheels and edges of the pully are very close to eachother


Next up
The M2 machine guns
I replaced the styrene barrels with metal ones
Then i placed the photo etch shields


The mounts for the guns where made


And the guns are placed
I didn't glue them on yet as i have no idea how the figures will fit on the deck


And the last few parts where made
There are some bumpers for the sides aswell but i don't like the look of these parts so i am going to try to make some replacements
I will add some more ropes and stuff like that later on once it is painted and weathered


Thw wheelhouse was friction fitted for now


And then the LCM was build



Some more shots of the LCM

and then the moment of truth


The Sherman fits
But barely fits
The wooden boards add about 6mm to the width of the tank so i can't place it anywhere else then on the ramp
But that was my idea all along so that is no problem

The next step is priming and painting
But i think i will be working on some other builds this weekend as i have a Dauntless that needs to be build and some other planes that are waiting for their decals

And that is all i have for now
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time and happy modelling
Cheers

[OliveDrab]

Love the look of the Sherman disembarking from the LCM

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
I do like that look myself but the problem is that the Sherman is a bit heavy so it makes the entire boat lean forward at the moment

[privatepete]

Hi Mark love the M4 especially the spikes a field mod, I found some pic's of one called " Davy Jones" the spike length was 7 to 8 inches in real life. There is a pic of the hole turret covered in spikes as well.Thay also put wooden planks between the upper & lower tracks, looks as if thay where bolted the suspension somehow?. The LMC is quite a breast looking forward to how that turns out ,brilliant job so far Pete

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks Pete
I didn't want too many spikes for this one
I have seen a picture where a tank had more then i used but i had some doubts
Mainly that i wouldn't like it if there where so many of them
The LCM is a bit big indeed but the Sherman with the additional wooden boards and sandbags barely fits
I even had to remove some of the sandbags as they where hanging over the side wich made the Sherman just a bit too wide

At the moment both the Sherman and LCM are primed and i did the black and white method on both
So they are ready for the regular paint job
I am going to do a painting session this afternoon for 3 of my builds ,these 2 and a Panther Ausf.F that i started a while ago and put on the shelf
Once the painting and detail painting is done i will do the decals
After that i think i have enough for a update
Cheers

[gustavlekstal]

most enjoyable build. Did you do black n white with the Sherman gear on or take it of for the bnw? Gonna be a long diorama. I don't know if you're thinking about figures but evolution makes some awesome pto figures.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Gustav
I removed the stowage fron the sherman but the sandbags and wooden boards where already glued so i left those on the tank
The running gear was also left on the tank

But i won't be building a diorama for it
I did think about it but insimply don't have the room for it at the moment
Besides that i would need a lot of figures that i don't have in the stash and materials for the base and water
Wich i don't have either
When i was planning this build i made a shopping list and with all the stuff i would need i would be spending a lot more then i was willing to spend
So i decided that i won't make a diorama for it
And with 7 builds on the go i would run out of time aswell

[gustavlekstal]

Thank you Gustav
I removed the stowage fron the sherman but the sandbags and wooden boards where already glued so i left those on the tank
The running gear was also left on the tank

But i won't be building a diorama for it
I did think about it but insimply don't have the room for it at the moment
Besides that i would need a lot of figures that i don't have in the stash and materials for the base and water
Wich i don't have either
When i was planning this build i made a shopping list and with all the stuff i would need i would be spending a lot more then i was willing to spend
So i decided that i won't make a diorama for it
And with 7 builds on the go i would run out of time aswell

Thanks for you answer.

I understand it would be a monster of diorama with a huge money pit. It still gonna look crazy good. An idea is to maby pose it like a ship with a shipstand. Just a thought. Take care buddy.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Gustav
I removed the stowage fron the sherman but the sandbags and wooden boards where already glued so i left those on the tank
The running gear was also left on the tank

But i won't be building a diorama for it
I did think about it but insimply don't have the room for it at the moment
Besides that i would need a lot of figures that i don't have in the stash and materials for the base and water
Wich i don't have either
When i was planning this build i made a shopping list and with all the stuff i would need i would be spending a lot more then i was willing to spend
So i decided that i won't make a diorama for it
And with 7 builds on the go i would run out of time aswell

Thanks for you answer.

I understand it would be a monster of diorama with a huge money pit. It still gonna look crazy good. An idea is to maby pose it like a ship with a shipstand. Just a thought. Take care buddy.

I have been thinking about a stand
But i do have some trouble finding one ,wich is no real problem as it should be something i can make myself

[Always48]

This is so cool! Love that idea of the sherman launching out the front.

idea on the dio.... if you done a thin dio only just a bit wider than the Lcm, with a sand bank slope at the front with that ramp wedged in it! thin bit of resin down the side from the beach back to the rear of the boat?

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
I thought about that aswell
Unfortunatly the can of resin i had was dry already and i had to trow it in the bin
As for now i am not planning a diorama or a base
I am tempted but time is becoming a factor
At the moment i am much more focussed on building planes and vehicles and less at how to display them
My stash is getting a bit too big and i want to make it smaller without selling stuff (so i need to build a lot)
I bought each kit with the full intension to build it but i am also looking at contests
In the diorama and vignette classes i don't stand a chance
Atleast not the shows i visit ,the overall skill level is high over here
And i stand a better chance in the vehicle section
And that takes up less time ,effort and space aswell

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So it has been a while since i last reported any progres for this build
But i think i made some good progres during that time and most of the painting is done by now
The Sherman is completely painted and ready for a gloss coat
So today's update will be anout the Sherman
The LCM-3 is base painted but not yet detail painted
That is no big amount of work but i haven't done that yet
It is on the "to do" list for today though so it shouldn't take long before i can post a update about that

But like i said today is about the Sherman
So here is the painting proces of the M4A2 Sherman of the USMC


I started with the base color
I used the Aqueous olive drab (1) for this
This is 1 of 2 olive drab paints offered in the Aqueous range
The bottle i used is the darker tone of the 2
Then i started to paint the wooden parts
I use a mix of vallejo English uniform and white in a 4 to 1 ratio


Whie the wood color was drying i painted the rubber tyres
They where first painted black and then i drybrushed them with panzer aces dark rubber


The spare tracks where also painted with black


The wooden boards on the hull where then painted with vallejo smoke
I use a small or moderate amount of paint and drag the brush in long strokes over the parts
This gives you a woodgrain effect but my main reason was the laquered effect it gives
I did this because the wooden boards the Marines used where treated with some preservative to make sure they wouldn't rot away in the jungles of the various islands they where send out to


I then basepainted the sandbags
I used panzer aces canvas
And the spare tracks where drybrushed
This time i used fieldgrey instead of the dark rubber
Dark rubber is nice to make worn rubber parts but these tracks aren't worn ,they are new but they are expossed to sunlight
The field grey offers a greenish tone wich is a bit different to the grey of the dark rubber


The metal part of the tracks where painted with Ammo dark rust
I did this to the main tracks aswell
I left them like this but later on during the weathering the look of the rust will change
Some washes and pigments will help with that


The sandbags where drybrushed with 2 more colors
First i used vallejo buff
This is a fairly light color and i used for the highlighted areas only
Then i drybrushed them with vallejo khaki
This was used over the entire sandbags
A wash and some pigments will finish them later


I then painted the metal spikes
I used mr metal color stainless for them
This was also used on the towcable


Then i started to paint the stowage
I basepainted all of the parts with canvas color
Then j drybrushed some tarps with deck tan from vallejo
Other parts where drybrushed with Khaki


The tracks with the drybrushed pads


I then started to build up the stowage
The parts i did't show before like the cans where painted in stainless steel aswell
All the other stuff like the barrel and the ammo boxes are painted in olive drab

And after that i decided it was ready for the gloss coat
So here is the Sherman as it looks now



So the next step is a gloss coat and maybe a few decals
Most where to go on the sides but those are now covered up with the wooden boards
But i will figure that out once the gloss coat is on there

And that is just about all i have for now
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers

[HIghAltitudeScale]

HI, great looking tank can't wait to see the paint and weathering

[NorthernModeller]

Beautiful nice work indeeeeeeed

[rodrant]

The Sherman looks Great Mark ! Real cool choice subject , it looks reaaaalllyyy NICE !

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks guys
I did some painting on the LCM today but i wasn't feeling it today
So maybe tomorrow night after i get back hone from work
Most of it done though and once i did the touch ups i will start the chipping and then gloss coat it
I was debating if i would try a new order of doing things but as i would be doing that with 4 builds at once i thought it would be too much
In case i don't like that way of doing things

[rwsmith14]

She's looking good , Mark !!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Robert

[ScaleModelJedi]

Cracking job on the sherman . Looking forward to seeing it completed on the LCM.

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much
The is still being painted at the moment
Once that is done i will put the 2 together for a photo
And then i will do the decals and weathering
Hopefully i have some spare time tonight to finish up the painting on the LCM wich isn't much work anymore as most is already done

[rwsmith14]

Looking forward to more, Mark !!

[pourquoi61]

She is looking good and it looks like a fun build.

[MarkVerploeg]

Looking forward to more, Mark !!

I think that will be later today
Atleast that is my plan

She is looking good and it looks like a fun build.

Thanks
The Sherman was quite a bit of work with all the added stuff
But the LCM is actually a fairly simple kit to build
Itbis a pretty basic boat to begin with so the kit is about the same
The hardest parts where the hinges for the ramp and the wire for the pullies and the ramp
I had a bit of a fight getting the wire through the pullies at the front because there isn't a lot of room there but other then that it is all pretty straight forward

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So a bit faster then i planned but i have some extra free time
So i might aswell post the painting update for the LCM now

The paintscheme is ratger simple
Just a overall grey scheme for the entire boat
The only other colors can be found on the lifepreservers and M2 machine guns

So here is the painting progres so far

After i used Tamiya light grey on the LCM i started the detailpainting
The M2 guns where brush painted with mr metal color dark iron and then buffed a bit to show some shiny metal effects
The craddle of the ammo can was painted with modelcolor olive green so i have a lighter base for the sun bleached effect on thoseethe ammo can was painted in olive drab from the modelcolor range
The wooden handles where base painted with my standard mix of 4 parts English uniform and 1 part white


The wooden parts where then dry brushed with vallejo smoke
While the green parts where dry brushed with fieldgrey


The instruments where painted black


To finish those i added some white and the 2 warning lights where painted with the aqueous clear red


The steering wheel was painted in the same way as the wooden handles of the guns


The life preservers where sprayed in Tamiya flat white
The red is brushpainted on using vallejo red/dark vermillion


Just to see how it would all look i placed the Sherman on the ramp
At this point the LCM looks pretty boring to me
It is just a big grey block


I then did a lot of chipping using Vallejo german camo black brown and a sponge
To add soem intrest to the LCM i decided to make it look really worn and used
So a lot of damaged paint and later a lof of dirtyness and streaking in various colors to resemble rust ,some dirt and white stains frim the salt water


And then i called it done
Well the painting is done
I already started the wash but i had a hard time removing the excess wash
This is because the paint is far from smooth
Even after 2 coats of aqua gloss
So in order to prepare the LCM for the streaking i added a few coats of satin varnish from Vallejo
That varnish allows me to apply a thicker coat comparred to the aqua gloss so it can fill up the grainy paint surface to leave a smoother finish wich i need for the streaking effects

But more on that later in the update about the weathering of these 2 kits
So that concludes todays update
Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Untill next time
Cheers

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So after quite a while i took some time to finish up the weathering on both the Sherman and the LCM
I have been away from this build for a while as i lost intrest in it
But now that the tank and boat are done i want to finish it
I made the decision to make a stand for the boat
A diorama would become too large and too heavy for the shelf i want to put it on

But first i will show the weathering steps of the 2 vehicles

Once it all was painted i put it all together
I took some freedom with the stowage this time
Usually i tend to copy the picture on the box but this time i just stacked all the stuff on the tank


With the stowage in place i sprayed a coat of Aqua gloss
Once that was dry i started the wash
I used Mig productions dark wash


After the clean up
I also did a little bit of streaking effects
But i either lost or forgot the pictures of that step


Once that was done i applied a couple of thin coats of AK Ultra matte varnish


I then started to play around with pigments
This is done with beach sand pigment from Mig prod.
But it turned out way too light
It didn't look this bad to me but the light and the camera make it look brighter in the picture
But i found that it was too bright even to.my own eyes


So i took my bottle of AK Kursk earth and sprayed that over the pigments


And this is the end result
The bright effect from the pigments is subdued and as a whole yhe Sherman looks okay to me
It isn't perfect but still it will do
And i will add a figure to the hatch later to finish off this tank

So now i will switch over to the LCM and show the some what problematic weathering steps of that one

I started out by adding quite a lot of chipping


After the chipping i added some aqua gloss and placed the decals
At that point it was all still going well
Then a new coat of aqua gloss and a day later the wash
I wasn't very catefull when i applied it but even though there are several layers of gloss varnish the wash still got through
It was at this point that i noticed how coarse and rough the paint actually was


After a lot of cleaning ,swearing and sweating this was the result
I got most of the wash off but not all
This was a bit of a mojo killer and the reason i put it on the shelf for so long


I made some rust streaks with oil paints and covered the entire boat with about 8 coats of matte varnish
Then i added the seperate parts but i didn't glue the guns to their mounts yet
And a bit of dust on the inside as tanks would drag a lot of beach sand in to these boats when they where picked up and moved to the next island
This was also covered with the Kursk earth effects to make it look similar to the color on the Sherman


The wheel house was put in place
This is not glued either but just friction fitted
There is going to be a figure in there later but i need to paint it first


A general overview of the finished boat and tank
I have 3 full and 1 half figure to add to this
Those are primed and ready for some paint
And because i have several larger figures on the bench i can squeeze them in the schedule

As far as i am conserned this isn't my best work but it looks okay to me
The fact that the paint work on the LCM didn't go as planned was a mojo killer but now this build is getting near the finish line
All i have to do now is make a stand and finish the figures
I will post a update with the figures once they are finished
Wich is somewhere this week i hope but i'm not promissing anything about my time table at the moment
It is a bit busy at work and if i get home past midnight i don't feel like doing any modelling most of the time
So i am confined to my days off
But then again a lot of us are so i can't complain about that

So this is all i have for now
Thanks for stopping by and untill next time
Cheers
Mark

[rwsmith14]

It looks great Mark !!!

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you Robert

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
Time for a little update on this build
I finished the 4 well 3 and a half figures that i wanted on the boat and in the tank
So for today i will post a update on how i painted them
Even though i forgot to take more pics of the proces i think i can still explain everything


After i assembled and primed the figures i sprayed the first color
This is the dark skin base from Andrea


Then i used the light base as a second color
I held the airbrush at a slight angle so i could spray over the shadow areas of the faces


The i applied the third color
This is the highlight 1 color ,there is a highlight 2 aswell wich is even lighter
This color was sprayed at a higher angle so i would only hit the highest parts of the face
And at this point i think the skin is done
I'm not going to paint the eyes as i think it won't be noticed at all because of the scale and with a bit of a wash it will look good enough for me


And then a big step forward
They where base painted
I used canvas as a bass for the uniforms
The life jackets are painted with a mix of modelcolor dark prussian blue and modelair UK medeteranian blue
The shoes or boots are just painted black
The helmets wich aren't in this photo where painted with olive drab


I then made some highlights with buff from vallejo
The same color was then thinned even more to get a filter and i applied that to make the uniforms look a bit lighter and worn
After the highlights i added some shadows
For this i thinned down some german camo black brown and used a small brush to get it in all the creases and folds of the figures



After the shadows i made a wash with some brown and used that on the skintones to get a bit of a shadow around the eyes and in between the fingers
As a final step the helmets where glued in place and they where done


The gunners and captain where placed
The gunners are only glued to the guns and those can still move so the positions can still change


The tank commander was glued in place


Allthough it is a rather big boat it's size was really shown with the figures in place
They make it look smaller then i thought it would be

So that is all i have for now
At the moment i am thinking about the next step
That will be either a base or a stand to hold the boat
But i haven't made up my mind yet
I think time will be a issue but materials count aswell
If i have enough foam sheet then i could make a base for it allthough that would only get slightly bigger then the boat

Thanks for stopping by and having a look
Take care
Cheers
Mark

[OliveDrab]

Looking very good Mark

[MarkVerploeg]

Thank you very much OD

[MarkVerploeg]

Hi guys
So this will be the last update for this build
I made a small stand for the LCM so it atleast doens't just sit on the shelf directly
I already told in previous updates that i was doubting if i would build a diorama and in the end it took me so long to decide that i simply didn't have enough time to make one and i didn't have enough materials at home to make one either
So a simple stand made from the big pile of balsa wood scraps i have was to be the way to go


It is just a simple design but it is strong enough to hold the weight of the LCM and the even heavier Sherman


The weight and balance was the main big issue with this stand as most of the weight is on the front of the boat where the tank sits
In the end i also made a small front for it to olace a name tag but i didn't make one as 2 attempts failed and i gave up
So i simply painted the entire stand black
And this is the result


I already posted the final reveal so if you want you can see the full set of reveal pictures in the final reveal section
Thanks for all the comments along the way and for taking a look at this build
Take care and untill next time
Cheers
Mark