M4A3 Sherman

I thought I would try to break out of my building slump by throwing a tank together.

box art and contents.

It's not shiney and it's not red and gold!!!

Cool looking kit.

Change of pace and chance to do some research on paint and, changes, battle damage, etc.  Interesting that a Japanese company makes among the best kits around.  Good luck and go to it!  This is your chance to put on real flames instead of decals!

Woohoo! Good luck Paul!

Thanks guys.   Someone said these were easy and they werem't kidding.  The hardest part is the parts clean-up.   The supension is painted and on already.





The next hurdle will be the tracks. The instructions say that their are lugs that are heated and melted to hold them together, but mine are not long enough. I'm going to try an adhesive I have and see if it will do the trick.

Nice start Paul.

the problem isn't tension...it's attaching the ends of the tracks together. Tamiya wants you to heat the pinheads to make a 'rivet', but they are not long enough.




I used Aleene's Tacky Glue and clamped it overnite....problem solved!

Looks good from here.

Thanks Buck

Painted more parts OD and assembled them....now decals

001

Decals and some more small bits are on.

That's looking good Paul. Have you got any weathering planned for it?

Nice job.

Factory fresh is O.K. You did well, but like vehicles a little weathering and thinned paint washes on areas to bring out detail and maybe the dusty or dirty look really makes them look real. I agree on the treads being often not quite right. they should make them a bit longer to make for easy fitting and some "drooping" due to gravity along the upper half of the circuit

The treads aren't great, but you have to work with what you've been given.

Here it is with all the rest of the small bits on it.

Cool stuff Paul!

Nice job!

I like the clean look. All my 1/72 armour has gone through the car wash. Nice one Paul.

Thanks guys

Turned out pretty nice Paul!