Italieri 1/35 M4 Sherman

[pourquoi61]

Found this under my bed and it will do.

All the sprues are in one bag.

Rubber tracks.

More plastic utopia.

The kit has a figure that I will not be using.
Mini Art figures have been ordered.
Nice easy build instructions.




You will notice no decals as the ones provided are for World of Tanks vehicles.
I will fish some out or send for some in due time.
For those who want it, here is some blurb:

The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II. Thousands were also distributed to the Allies, including the British Commonwealth and Soviet armies, via lend-lease. In the United Kingdom, the M4 was named after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, following the British practice of naming their American-built tanks after famous American Civil War generals. Subsequently, the British name found its way into common use in the U.S.

The Sherman evolved from the Grant and Lee medium tanks, which had an unusual side-sponson mounted 75 mm gun. It retained much of the previous mechanical design, but added the first American main 75 mm gun mounted on a fully traversing turret, with a gyrostabilizer enabling the crew to fire with reasonable accuracy while the tank was on the move. The designers stressed mechanical reliability, ease of production and maintenance, durability, standardization of parts and ammunition in a limited number of variants, and moderate size and weight. These factors made the Sherman superior in some regards, to the German light and medium tanks that had swept across Europe in the blitzkrieg campaigns of 1939-41, and which still made up the majority of German panzer (albeit, usually in up-gunned and up-armored variants) forces in the later stages of the war. The Sherman ended up being produced in large numbers and formed the backbone of most Allied offensives, starting in late 1942. The original Shermans were able to defeat the relatively small German tanks such as the Panzer II and III they faced when first deployed in North Africa. Later, they found themselves seriously outmatched against newer up-gunned and up-armored Pz.Kpfw. IV and Panther medium tanks, and wholly inadequate against the armor and range of the Tiger I and later Tiger II heavy tanks, suffering high casualties against their heavier armor and more powerful 88 mm and 75 mm cannons. Mobility, mechanical reliability, and sheer numbers, supported by growing superiority in supporting fighter-bombers and artillery, offset these disadvantages to an extent. Later versions of the Sherman introduced 76 mm guns, giving them better armor penetration than the original 75 mm gun, though still insufficient at range against most late-war German tanks. Producing more Shermans was favored over rushing adoption of the heavier M26 Pershing, which was developed too late to play a significant role in the war. In the Pacific Theater, the Sherman was used chiefly against Japanese infantry and fortifications; in their rare encounters with lighter Japanese tanks with weaker armor and guns, the Sherman's superiority was overwhelming.

[privatepete]

Hi, I have thought of getting one these Would of Tank Sherman's, so I'll be very interested in how it come's together , good luck with the build.

[Stokesy44]

Nice subject Pete.

You're a Sherman guru, is that a 76 or a 75? Looks like a turret and mantlet for a 76 but no muzzle break?

[Sdkfz250]

The gun on that is the 76mm M1A1. I believe the M1A2 is the variant that featured the muzzle brake.

[privatepete]

The gun on that is the 76mm M1A1. I believe the M1A2 is the variant that featured the muzzle brake.

HI as it's a 76mm M1A1 is it a T23 turret I can' t see it in your pic ?

[pourquoi61]

The gun on that is the 76mm M1A1. I believe the M1A2 is the variant that featured the muzzle brake.

HI as it's a 76mm M1A1 is it a T23 turret I can' t see it in your pic ?

The turret in the kit is a T23 turret.

[pourquoi61]

The kit is very old and the details are soft, although it has some flash the kit goes together very well.
Starting with the suspension first.


The gates on some of the parts are very large.


The wheels and bogies are complete.

On with the build.

I chose to not add parts 33, 34 and 36 at this moment in time.

After the machine gun and mud cover were glued on, the hull top was added.



The tracks are glued on.

I added 70 grams of weight to hold the tracks down.

My tank figures came today.

Thanks for dropping by DUDES.
Sorry just watching The Big Lebowski.

[SergioSolo]

Nice progress! The figure set looks awesome

[privatepete]

Coming along nice ,good choice with the figures, keep up the good work

[panzerman825]

Classic, old kit from Italeri. Built a couple back in the day.
Enjoy the GB.
Bill

[pourquoi61]

Nice progress! The figure set looks awesome

Lets hope I can do them justice.
Thank you.

[pourquoi61]

Coming along nice ,good choice with the figures, keep up the good work

Thank you very much for your ind words.

[pourquoi61]

Classic, old kit from Italeri. Built a couple back in the day.
Enjoy the GB.
Bill

Yes some of the old kits are fun to build.
Thank you.

[pourquoi61]

Sorry for slow posting, a lot going on in my private life at the moment.
Jumping the stages a bit now I started assembling the turret and as you can see not a bad fit, some sanding to do.


Started work on the gun.

The turret after sanding.

The gun needed sanding smooth and presented no problems.
I then mounted it to the turret.

I wanted the .50 cal fitted to the back of the tank as it would be crowding out the figure in the cupola.
For this I cut a small length of cotton bud and a small plastic rod would be passed through the parts for strength.

Voila! On the tank.

Here are the MiniArt figures.


There is a small amount of flash on some of the figures.


I am also adding this to my little diorama, I have had it hanging around for some time.


You just might be able to see the kit cost me £3.50 some years ago.
I think I have the other window section in my stash.
Thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

I assembled the "church door" and gave it two coats of Citadel's Rotting Flesh.
This would act as the mortar in between the brick/stone work.

I then dry brushed Citadel's Karak Stone on the stone work to pick out the highlights.

Random application of Citadel's Codex Grey was almost dry brushed (A little bit more paint than dry brushing) into the edges and centre of the stone work.
Tamiya XF-46 Red Brown was dry brushed onto the brick work.

Once dry, a clay wash of sand was applied over the stone work, then the excess was wiped off with damp paper towel.


The tank was sprayed matte black.

Then sprayed Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab.


Thanks for dropping by.

[pourquoi61]

So on with the fun part, painting.
I mix a small amount of Tamiya XF-3 Yellow to Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab.

And spray.



Once dry I mix some Tamiya XF-2 Flat White to the rest of the paint mix left over from the first session.

Again I spray over the tank.



At this point I was not sure if to lighten the paint some more.
But I did.

And passed it through the air brush to give this effect.


I might have gone a little too light?
But once the "snow paint" goes on it may look a lot different.
Thanks for dropping by.

[Tiger213]

Very nice paint job! I like the colour shade.

[pourquoi61]

Very nice paint job! I like the colour shade.

Thank you,I think a little weathering will tone it down.

[pourquoi61]

Well I am going to try the hairspray method on this tank.
First the camouflage pattern, I cut the pattern out of Tamiya masking tape and applied it to the tank.


Next I sprayed two coats of hairspray, I noticed that the hairspray came out very fast and was soon starting to pool in places.

You might be able to see the hairspray is LIFTING/DISSOLVING the paint.


I had no choice but to soldier on! (Nice pun)
Once the hairspray was dry I added a plob of XF-83 Medium Sea Grey off a cocktail stick to Tamiya XF-2 White and sprayed over the tank.



So I am now waiting for the paint to dry and see what the DAMAGE IS!
Thanks for dropping by.
P.S. Has anyone had the same results using this method or with this hairspray as I would like some feedback.
Many Thanks.

[pourquoi61]

I do not know what I have done but the hairspray also got under the masking tape and started to lift the paint.
As this is a tank I suppose it does not matter as it could be passed-off as wear and tear or covered with mud etc, etc.
So I got my brush and started to remove some of the white wash off the tank and add a few chips and so on.



Time for an oil pin wash, tiny amount of Raw Umber and a lot of white spirit.

The panel lines are picked out and a few streaks are also added.


Then a small wash of Burnt Sienna was made up and used as fuel stains.


Well that's all for now.
Thanks for dropping by.

[Bissyboat]

Looks incredible. Kudos for having so much patience cutting the masking tape into shapes.

[pourquoi61]

Looks incredible. Kudos for having so much patience cutting the masking tape into shapes.

Thank you, it was fun once you get started.

[Bissyboat]

Looks incredible. Kudos for having so much patience cutting the masking tape into shapes.

Thank you, it was fun once you get started.

Or when you finish...

[pourquoi61]

I wanted to place a sand bag on the front of the tank,but I only had Tamiya sand bags.

To make them fit the tank I cut the back of the sand bags and bent them into shape.


I looked around for some crates for the back of my tank and bought these for less than £5:00

I started painting the figures.

The sand bag was painted and glued on the tank.

The tank is done.



I made some tarps from Green Stuff.

I then painted the figures a little bit more.

The figures and the tarps will go on the tank next.
Thanks for dropping by.

[Quax]

The Sherman looks great but the figures are top notch

[Tomcat64]

The Sherman looks great but the figures are top notch

What Quax said!

The green stuff tarps look great as well - fabulous detailing work.

[pourquoi61]

The Sherman looks great but the figures are top notch

What Quax said!

The green stuff tarps look great as well - fabulous detailing work.

Thank you guys, I hate figure painting and it is the first attempt at making tarps.

[pourquoi61]

Lost my mojo on this one I just wanted to see the back of it.
So I placed three figures on the tank along with the crate and tarps.


On to the base. I cut a small square of ply board just big enough for the tank and church window.
I wanted the window on a slight elevation so I cut two triangles, the second being a little bit smaller than the first, glued them together with no nails and then gave the board some filler to act as ground and a small slope up to the church window.
them
Do not worry about the cracks they will be filled with pva glue and covered in grass/snow.

I have only added grass and painted the tank tracks in the snow red brown.
I bought two trees from my local model/railway shop.(£1:00 each) Malc's Models in Ilkeston.
The stone wall I also got from Malc's. £1:40.

I mixed a small amount of water to the pva glue and covered the remaining area.
An even thinner mix of pva and water was used to coat the trees.

I used Citadel snow from Games Workshop.
Once happy I then fixed it in place using hairspray from about 45cm away to avoid blowing the snow off.
This was done multiple times.
Base done.
These are the products I used:

[Les]

Congratulations on your finished project!

[Bissyboat]

Superb work on the crew and your diorama.