Dragon 1/35 M4A2 Sherman and IJA Type 95 on Tarawa

[ScaleModelJedi]

For this GB I will be building Dragon's 1/35 M4A2 Sherman Tarawa. I will also be building a small diorama as part of the build, I have a few ideas on what I would like to do but need to wait till I get paid to buy the figures and a few other bits. I will make a start on the tank and use that to plan out the diorama when its done. This will be my first dragon kit, so hopefully will go ok

[ScaleModelJedi]

In late 1943 the 2nd Marine division was only equipped with M3 Stuart light tanks. To give the Marines an extra punch a unit of M4A2 Sherman tanks was attached to the invasion forces bound for Tarawa. This unit was known as C Company, 1st Corps Tank Battalion (medium).
The creation of 1st Corps Tank Battalion was to provide tank companies for attachment to divisional light tank battalions to augment a Marine divisions light tanks. C Company was attached to the 2nd Marine Division's 2nd Light Tank Battalion for the Tarawa invasion.

Fourteen Sherman's from C Company started out from the line of departure. Eight tanks were to land on Red Beach 3. The other six were to proceed to Red Beach 1 with 1st Lt. While heading for the reef, two LCMs were sunk along with their Sherman tank cargo. The 12 remaining tanks made it onto the reef and began rolling toward the beach. Two of these Sherman's never made it to the beach because they sank in deep shell holes. All Marine Sherman's at this time had no water fording kits available. This meant these Sherman's were unable to operate in depths greater than three feet.

For more info check out http://tarawaontheweb.org/usmctank.htm

[pourquoi61]

Just have fun with your model build,I have never built a Dragon tank also. It will be nice to watch your build go together.

[ScaleModelJedi]

The kit was produced in 2006 and the kit number is 6062. There are 6 sprues in the box, 2 identical ones for the wheels and 1 clear parts sprue. The upper and lower hull sections and the tracks which are one piece tracks. There is also a small fret of photo etch and some wire for the tow cable.

All the box contents.


The sprues



The PE and decals


The instructions with sprue map

[ScaleModelJedi]

The versions that can be built with the kit. I will be doing 1.1 Co. C, 1st Marine amphibious corps tank Bn., Tarawa 1943 'Colorado'

[ScaleModelJedi]

Just have fun with your model build,I have never built a Dragon tank also. It will be nice to watch your build go together.

Thank you I'm Looking forward to it, Will be only my third armour build and being in a different environment will require different weathering.

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

Thats one sweet looking kit mate, going to be a awesome build !

[rodrant]

Some armour ! Always good to watch !

Good luck with the build !

[ScaleModelJedi]

Some armour ! Always good to watch !

Good luck with the build !

Thats one sweet looking kit mate, going to be a awesome build !

Thanks, Hoping I can do a good job !!

[Richp1969]

Awesome looking model. I can't wait to see it come together.

Sincerely,
Richard

[ScaleModelJedi]

Awesome looking model. I can't wait to see it come together.

Sincerely,
Richard

Cheers. Looks like its a nice kit so far

[ScaleModelJedi]

I got a few hours last night so made a start on the kit. So far there has been no problems and everything has gone together really well. I completed step 1 of the instructions and just started to build up the lower hull.

Step 1 of the instructions.


The drive wheels. They are made up of 4 parts with an option on the sprocket design.


Next was the road wheels these are made up of 2 parts.


Once the road wheels were done I added the outer frames. These also are in 2 parts per set of wheels.


The next parts to go on including outer casing and small roller.


Last 2 parts to be fitted. In all there are 11 individual parts per set of wheels.


Thats all six sets of road wheels and the two drive wheels all built up. Next step will be to make a start on the lower hull. Thanks for looking.

[MarkVerploeg]

I have the same kit on order
It does look like a nice kit and i think it is fairly similar to the A3 i made last year
But i think i have other plans with mine so they won't end up as copies
Have fun building

[ScaleModelJedi]

I have the same kit on order
It does look like a nice kit and i think it is fairly similar to the A3 i made last year
But i think i have other plans with mine so they won't end up as copies
Have fun building

Thank you. So far it's going together really well, still lots more to do though

[Vleugelmoer]

[TheTroyster]

I was thinking about doing this very same kit, but don't think I'll have time - yet, it's amazing that we know the fate of all these Marine Sherman's (14 of them I think) and have all their names as well - build looks great so far.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Managed to get another couple of hours last night on the build. Will have a some time over the weekend to get some work done and hoping to get the build ready for paint, Well we will see !!

Next steps in the instructions


The parts for the rear panel


All the parts fitted to the rear panel and the next parts to fit together.


The parts fitted to the lower hull. All fitted together with no problems.


Transmission and drive wheel mounts.


Fitted to the lower hull. I test fitted the upper hull at this point to check everything was OK.


That was last nights progress, Managed to get all the lower hull done apart from adding the wheels which I will do after painting. Next step will be to make a start on the upper hull section. Hopefully will get that done today and then make a start on the turret tomorrow. Thank you for looking

[ScaleModelJedi]

I was thinking about doing this very same kit, but don't think I'll have time - yet, it's amazing that we know the fate of all these Marine Sherman's (14 of them I think) and have all their names as well - build looks great so far.

Thank you I have found it very interesting reading up on the battle was not something I was aware of.

[Richp1969]

cough, cough. Sorry eating to fast and I choked on a kernel. Now I have a darn piece stuck in my teeth. I really need to stay away from the pop corn.


All kidding aside it looks it looks great. Keep up the great work. I love how you show the directions and then the pieces in volved in that step. Excellent idea.

I really look forward to seeing it all come together.

Sincerely,

Richard

[ScaleModelJedi]

cough, cough. Sorry eating to fast and I choked on a kernel. Now I have a darn piece stuck in my teeth. I really need to stay away from the pop corn.


All kidding aside it looks it looks great. Keep up the great work. I love how you show the directions and then the pieces in volved in that step. Excellent idea.

I really look forward to seeing it all come together.

Sincerely,

Richard

Thank you Richard . Will have more to show later

[ScaleModelJedi]

Next part of the instructions is adding parts to the upper hull. Will try and get this done today and start on the turret.

[ScaleModelJedi]

First parts to be fitted to the front of the upper hull. I will be trying to fit the photo etch parts for the light guards, These were bent around a paint brush of the right diameter. There are also molded parts on the sprue for these. Also there are some clear parts for the lights that are not in this pic.


All the parts fitted.


Next lot of parts to fit. These all go on the rear section.


Also the tools are to be fitted, These require location holes to be opened up from the underside at the points molded in the upper hull section.
I did this using a drill bit in a pin vice. The holes are really to big as I used the wrong size drill bit. Most of the holes will be covered by the tools.


All the tools and other parts fitted in place.


The rear section has the option of fitting some bolt head photo etch detail. I thought I would have a go at this and roughly marked out the locations in pencil. I then used a spot of super glue to add the bolt heads. They are far from perfect and the spacing is a bit off but not too bad considering it being quite a fiddly job and not having much experience of doing this sort of stuff.


That's where I am up to on the build so far. All being well I should be able to get the upper and lower hull joined tomorrow, Also try and get the turret all done and the whole lot primed .
Thank you for taking the time to look

[ScaleModelJedi]

The next parts of the instructions and tomorrows task.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Managed to get quite a bit done today, Completed the build and got primer and paint on
Will start of where I was up to last night which was just about to start work on the turret.

The barrel and mantle parts.


The parts assembled


Next was to build the hatch. Some really small parts on this which were a little bit fiddly but nothing to bad. Will be doing this in the open position. The clear part will be fitted after painting.


The hatch built up in the open position.


All the parts that make up the turret.


The turret built up. There is some PE to add as well not sure I will add all of it though, Some of it seems like it will be very tricky

[ScaleModelJedi]

The upper and lower hull was the next part to go together. There was a gap at the front between the two sections which from what I have seen and heard this seems to be a common problem with Dragon Sherman kits. I filled the gap with some Vallejo filler and wiped the excess away with a damp cotton bud.

The last part of the instructions.


The gap after filling


The last parts to fit were mainly photo etch. I had missed one part of PE from earlier in the build which was a small piece that required bending to an L shape. I managed to lose this whilst trying to bend it and replaced it with some Evergreen styrene angle. This is probably over scale but was all I had to hand.




Test fitting the tracks and the drive wheels and idle wheels. I will paint these separate and fit afterwards. I also fitted the tow cable which was the last part to be fitted.

[ScaleModelJedi]

A google search of tanks on Tarawa came up with these images. One of Colorado which is the one I will be doing, Not sure on the dio yet that will depend on what figures I can get.

[hansolo]

Hi Simon,

You told me about the gap in my thread - http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 91&t=17988.
Turns out it's the kit. Not us, yippie! Apparently more Dragon M4's have this fit issue.

The rest of your build is looking sharp though! Keep up the good work!

[Richp1969]

Wow it's coming along great. I have never built armor before. Looks interesting. Once I get through all the planes I have I might try a tank.

Keep up the great work mate.

Sincerely,

Richard

[ScaleModelJedi]

Hi Simon,

You told me about the gap in my thread - http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... 91&t=17988.
Turns out it's the kit. Not us, yippie! Apparently more Dragon M4's have this fit issue.

The rest of your build is looking sharp though! Keep up the good work!

Thank you , I had the same problem with my Italeri M4 kit as well, At least it was only a fairly minor problem and the rest of the kit is great.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Wow it's coming along great. I have never built armor before. Looks interesting. Once I get through all the planes I have I might try a tank.

Keep up the great work mate.

Sincerely,

Richard

Thank you Richard This is only my third armour build. I have a couple of 1:72 aircraft on the go aswell but finding I am enjoying the armour more.

[ScaleModelJedi]

On Sunday I got the tank painted just didn't get time to upload all the photo's. Today's task will be the detail painting and then a gloss coat for the decals to be applied, Well that's the plan

The whole tank was primed with Ultimate grey. This was sprayed with my H&S Infinity with 0.4 needle/nozzle at about 25 psi.


Next was to apply Vallejo US olive drab primer.


I then sprayed Vallejo Olive drab. This was sprayed in different mixes. Slightly darker shade (Olive drab and a drop of black) In the corners and deep recessed areas. Lighter shade (Olive drab with a few drops of yellow ochre) This was spryed on the edges and most prominent areas.




Just need to paint all the detail parts ( tools, machine guns, Tow cable and road wheels ) before a gloss coat and decals.

[ScaleModelJedi]

[ScaleModelJedi]

Got the detail painting done and it's all ready for a coat of aqua gloss and then decals.




Also started painting the tracks. Using a mix of Ultimate grey and black primer as a base. The edges were then painted with vallejo dark rust.



Will give these are wash and some sand pigments. Should get the decals on tonight and then a matt coat tomorrow before weathering. Thanks for looking

[OliveDrab]

Fantastic paintwork, super neat and clean! I really like the steel color on the tools, what paint was used?

[ScaleModelJedi]

Fantastic paintwork, super neat and clean! I really like the steel color on the tools, what paint was used?

Thank you I used Vallejo metal colour steel for the tools.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Got some more work done on the tracks last night. I did not realise at first that they are steel tracks so had to adjust the paint. I painted the raised parts of the tracks with vallejo metal colour steel and the inside on the reverse.


I then gave the tracks a wash with Vallejo light yellow ochre, light sienna and a bit of titanium white mixed together with some thinner to fix in place.


Once dry I gave them a wash of Vallejo sepia shade thinned with some Ultimate thinner. This helped tone down the previous wash and blend it all together. I then gave the tracks a coat of Vallejo matt varnish to seal.


That's the tracks done for now. Tried to give them a sandy look as it will be going on a beach dio.

[ScaleModelJedi]

The whole tank was given a coat of Alclad aqua gloss with the airbrush. This was put to one side to dry while I worked on the tracks. Once fully dry I applied the decals there are two on each side with the option of another two for the sides which I left off.
The decals were applied in the usual manner. I did find that they took long time to start coming away from the backing sheet, not sure if this is common with Dragon decals as I have not used them before.


These were left overnight and then I gave the whole tank a coat of Vallejo matt varnish to seal. Next step will be weathering and hopefully will not be far off finished for the weekend and I can make a start on the dio.
Thank you for looking

[pir8hntr]

Great looking build and good thread on how you are building it. As I have never built a Sherman, I am interested in how this and the dio turns out.
pir8hntr

[ScaleModelJedi]

Great looking build and good thread on how you are building it. As I have never built a Sherman, I am interested in how this and the dio turns out.
pir8hntr

Thank you

[ScaleModelJedi]

[youtube]zJqhbB-FUwQ[/youtube]

[TheTroyster]

This is coming together nicely! And I love that you're doing Colorado, nice to see my state represented here - that earns you a beer alone!

[Richp1969]

Great looking tank.



Sincerely,
Richard

[ScaleModelJedi]

Great looking tank.



Sincerely,
Richard

This is coming together nicely! And I love that you're doing Colorado, nice to see my state represented here - that earns you a beer alone!

Thank you. It was a tough choice between Colorado and Charlie.

[ScaleModelJedi]

Had some trouble with my video yesterday so I didn't get round to updating the thread. I'm upto the point of not being able to do much more till I get the figures and other bits and pieces for the dio. Hopefully will only be a week till I can get them. Anyway the other night I gave the tank a coat of matt varnish to seal the decals and once dry I had a go at doing some dot filtering with oils. This is a technique I have not tried before. Don't think it came out to bad.



I applied some yellow ochre and a tiny bit of white to the sides and blended with white spirit. I did this in a vertical motion to try and get some subtle streaking. I also did the same on the front and rear but adding a little dark blue into the corners.

[ScaleModelJedi]

This is currently where I am with the build. Had a go at doing some weathering on wheels and running gear. I have tried to give it a sandy look as it will be going on a beach for the dio. Think I need to remove some more as it still looks a little heavy in places. I used the same mix of vallejo pigments I used on the tracks but haven't gone over it with a wash yet. Will probably remove some more then give it a wash before sealing with a coat of matt varnish.





That's me all up to date with the progress may do a bit more over the weekend end. Thanks for looking

[ScaleModelJedi]

This is the link to the site of the various different Sherman tracks. I was unsure weather they were rubber pads or steel on the model.
http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minu ... racks.html

[fly1ngdutchm4n]

That's a sweet looking model, love it so far

[ScaleModelJedi]

That's a sweet looking model, love it so far

Thank you

[ScaleModelJedi]

Managed to get a bit more done on the build last night and a bit this evening. Almost done with the build, I've got the periscopes to paint and fit in place. Also need to clean the lights off as I forgot to mask them before painting
So last night I applied a wash of Ultimate sand to try and give it a bit more of a sandy look on the lower parts. I left this over night to dry and came back to it this evening.

This is after the sand wash. I'd removed most from the transmission and you can see what's on the tracks. I felt this was far to yellow for the look I wanted.


I decided to tone down the wash by misting over some Vallejo IDF Sand thinned down quite a bit.


After misting with the sand. I gave a light misting over the sides as well slightly heavier at the bottom. Think it looks a bit better than It did and at the point where I think I may leave it as it is now for risk of over doing it.
Hopefully I will be able to make a start on the dio next week.

[Richp1969]

Great work! I look forward to the big reveal.

Sincerely,

Richard