The Unofficial Airfix Modellers' Forum

Watching with interest!

It seems that Dragon produce(d) a kit of the Mk III with cast transmission, but it isn't the one I have. As previously mention, the kit does have a cast transmission cover but some fettling is required.


This is the '3 piece' cover and, as you can see the hull is designed for it.



The cast cover sits forward so some cutting is required next to the rivet line.



The black line is the 'cut' I must make.

So, instead of wasting time loading stuff on here, I had better break out the razor saw!! Catch you later!!

Firstly, your completed Texan is a splendid picture of beauty. Well done.

Looks like your a little into everything type of modeller, moving straight away into the Sherman.
I have a number of the Dragon Sherman's stashed, and have only started on one before it went back into the box. For myself, the road wheels construction seemed complicated, and I wondered how to paint the parts properly. I'm not quite picking up on how people paint tanks after building them entirely, rather than paint as its being built.
Anyway, I'll be following your build. Hope it goes well for you.

59North,
It is a learning curve for me too, I’ve builtan Aifix 1/76 Sherman before! This is the first time I’ve tackled a 1/35 and I am ‘making it up’ as I go along! So, I shall be watching this thread with interest too Lol!!!

I see that this build is already making some demands of the modeller then, Tony In many ways, I prefer 1/35th scale for military vehicles as 1/72 or 1/76th can be a bit of an eyesight test not just for assembly but also for painting and weathering. That said, there's no denying in my book that the smaller scales can result in some little gems!

I thought I had posted an update, I probably created it - looked at the review, assumed I had posted it and left the site (don't know how many times I have done that!!).

Any way, progress has continued at a fairly steady rate and the turret is done, most of the upper hull is done and the lower hull is as done as required before priming.





I am in the process of applying the PE bits for the sand skirts, I have to say the instructions for positioning the parts are not great!!

I had planned to get some primer laid down yesterday but I got distracted!!

I have received the Heller M4A2 model today (for the Blitzbau) and, wow, are there lots of options! There is as large a parts count as this 1/35 Dragon monstrosity. I will have to mark, clearly, the parts I need to use. I thought I would have to invest in aftermarket pressed steel road wheels, but the kit even has those as an option. I will have to scratch build the sand skirts and the 'blanket box' though!!

That turret has some nice cast texture!

Are you really sure about a 1/35 tank for a blitz?

No Iggie, it is a 1/72 Sherman.

TeeELL wrote:No Iggie, it is a 1/72 Sherman.

That's a relief then!

Picked this up in a charity shop in Southsea today. As I am teaching ‘piston engine theory’ next week, I shall be quite busy on Monday/Tuesday.

Back to the Sherman. I've been soldering the PE sand skirts, one out of necessity (I broke it along the fold line) the remainder from that lesson. Solder gives strength to the fold and also makes the curve easier to form.

The repair!






Having learnt my lesson, I tinned the folding parts prior to removal from the fret.










I used thin and medium viscosity cyno to fix the forward and aft sand skirts in position:







Baking soda helped cure the cyno at the rear. I will add a bead of araldite all around the joins as soon as the side parts of the skirt is fixed. I have to say this was not a particularlt easy job, the Dragon instructions get very vague at this point :-(

Great work! I like the idea of soldering the PE and it seems very effective.

Vague instructions are usually the best you can hope for with Dragon instructions. I usually run into just plain wrong instructions from Dragon.

Yesterday I broke out the airbrush and fume extractor and laid down a first coats of 'Light mud' (Colourcoats) onto the appropriate components of the tank. My initial plan was to use Olive Green in the areas where the 'painters and finishers' wouldn't have bothered spraying - but I changed my mind!! I plan to use 'Blue/black' (Colourcoats) as the disruptive pattern colour.



All the suspension, road wheels etc, etc, etc have also been sprayed, but it was too difficult to arrange them for the photo.

This is shaping up into an excellent Sherman, Tony - great bit of work with the PE parts by the way!

Thanks Shaun. I am not exactly enjoying this build, it is OK but ....... I am pondering changing the base colour from ‘Light mud’ to ‘Desert pink’, the Mike Starmer guidance is not absolutely clear on colours used in Libya (or I have missed it - more likely!).