M4A3 (76) HVSS prepared for shipping overseas
Rear grille replaced by plastic card to give the same depth, so as to not waste the nice kit part
Grille, engine access door and exhausts taped up, using 1.5 mm wide strips cut from Tamiya masking tape, and secured in place by wiping superglue over it
Hull front with spare Dragon hatches, again so the nice Tamiya parts aren’t wasted.
Hull front with hatches, machine gun mount and headlight sockets taped up
Tamiya turret with a spare Asuka vision cupola and Italeri hatch, as using the Tamiya cupola would be a waste of a well-detailed part
Engine deck, turret front and muzzle brake taped up
Scratchbuilt pallet for engine deck
Pallet in place on engine deck (but still loose)
Crate for left side of engine deck
Suspension units with tie-down brackets added
Commander’s hatch and gunner’s periscope taped up, and springs on loader’s hatch cut away, with attachment points replaced by aluminium strip (most of which will be covered by tape later)
Loader’s hatch and periscope now also taped up
Both crates for the rear deck, the smaller from the earlier picture and now also the larger; both scratchbuilt from plastic card and very thin plastic sheet (Tamiya “pla-paper”)
Pallet with crates in place on the engine deck, though still loose
Acrylic gel put over the tape with a spatula, to fill gaps and (hopefully) suggest some folds that aren’t possible with just the tape; this was smeared in the direction of the tape, to avoid obliterating all the edges
Rear deck with tail lights covered in tape, and holes for tools filled but not yet sanded down
Turret glued to hull, and gap between the two then closed with plenty more strips of tape
Tool brackets added to rear hull from aluminium plate, as tools would have been stowed inside and/or in the crates
“Comb device” added to hull front, with brake lock cable running through machine gun mount
Hull front now with headlight and horn guards, from an Asuka M4A3E2, which doesn’t need them
Springs added to loader’s hatch, from copper wire and a few bits of plastic strip
Rear deck with stowage shelf, taken from an ancient Italeri Sherman and detailed, because the Tamiya part is moulded in the open position
Sand shields, from an Asuka M4A4 so widened by 6 mm
All the bits except for the tracks
Model sprayed Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab overall
Added highlights in centres of panels, an overall black wash and drybrushing with lighter shades of olive (Revell 42 Yellowish Olive and 45 Light Olive)
Applied stars and shipping codes from Archer dry transfers
Markings added from various Archer dry transfer sets
Par-al-ketone waterproofing coating added with semigloss black paint, sprayed slightly not thin enough to get spatter effect, and deliberately not neatly
Track painted and installed … the wrong way round 🙁
Now both on correctly!
Right front of finished model
Left rear of finished model
Left side of finished model
Antwerp dock worker motioning for the crane to come closer
Commentaires
11 25 November 2020, 21:26
Jakko Probably not, though I toyed with the idea. Two main reasons: first is that about the only available options for a flatcar are 1) German or 2) scratchbuilt. Though I can imagine captured German rolling stock being used by the Allies, reason No. 2 is that I hardly have the room to display the tank at the moment, never mind a flatcar that's twice as big 🙁
1 December 2020, 19:31
Ben MHere's one that looks to be the right era: grw.trains.com/news/..del-products-flatcar
I believe MTH (Mike's Train House) also makes 1:32 US prototype flatcars from the 1940's era.
2 December 2020, 13:16
Ben MPiko and Marklin also make or used to make them. I have some Marklin 1:32 us prototype flatcars on my garden railroad.
2 December 2020, 13:19
Jakko Thanks, I'll check that out and decide whether I have the room or not 🙂
3 December 2020, 09:22
Album info
The Tamiya M4A3 (76) HVSS kit, with waterproofing and crates as the real tank would have been shipped from the USA.
