Sheridan rides again!

[Old_Tonto]

This will be my entry for the group build.

The Academy 1/35 M551 Sheridan Tank. I picked this up for a bargain £10 at Sword & lance last year.



I have always liked the Sheridan. The idea of a tank that can be air-dropped intrigues me and I love armour from the Vietnam war.
Once I read this very negative review http://www.armorama.co.uk/modules.php?o ... ent&id=875 of this kit I had to build it.
According to the reviewer it would be easier to scratch build a more accurate Sheridan than fix this one. What a twerp!

I intend to do a OOB build as far as I can. It is a very long time since I built any 1/35 scale kits so I may be jumping in at the deep end.
Because I got the kit so cheaply I snapped up these tank crew figures for £4 as they had no box.



If I have time left after the build I will make a base for it too. If I have even more time I will try to add some stowage as all the images I have seen show these vehicles loaded up with supplies.

Sprue shoots to follow.

[JohnRatzenberger]

Sigh .... it's not a tank, by definition or by doctrine.

[jssel]

Hi O-T and welcome aboard. The Sheridan is a tracked vehicle, closed top and welcome in the group build.

[splash]

Sigh .... it's not a tank, by definition or by doctrine.

Its a bit like the Abbot or Scimitar everyone not in the know wants to call them Tanks because they have tracks and big guns.

To be fair it does say tank on the box. and it is an armoured fighting vehicle.

Regards Splash

[ShaunW]

Call it an armoured car on tracks IMHO the Sheridan is a great looking AFV and it's good to have one in 1/35th, despite what the detractors of the kit might think.

[Old_Tonto]

Well Wikipedia call it a light tank and they are never wrong!

So Sprue shots:









Tracks & decals:



Instructions:



Will start attaching parts tonight.

Update: Just read that in US Army parlance the Sheridan was known as an Armoured Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle

[jssel]

Can't wait to watch this one in progress O-T. Didn't see much of the Sheridan "in-country" as they say. Mostly M-48's. Wish now I paid more attention to armor while I was in the US Army. Oh well. But the Ops in Panama had a bunch and of course Desert Storm was the last hurrah.

[Dazzled]

It looks like a tank. It walks like a tank. Up close I'm sure it'll smell like a tank too

I certainly wouldn't want to face one armed with a bunch of daffodils!


IIRC, didn't the Sheridan's gun have an anti-aircraft missile launching capability?

[JohnRatzenberger]

NO, the Shillelagh missile was anti-tank. The attempt to make the 152mm cannon fire either a missile or a separate charge round, with the attendant sighting complexity, added to the other M-551 Sheridan AAARV problems and resulted in a short lifespan of a lightly armored non-tank. The vehicle was more akin to a tank-destroyer from WW2 in capability and use, for airborne forces, with speed for a recon role. The rate of fire, missile or round, was too slow to engage in a slug fest and it was lightly armored.

Regardless of what Wikipedia says.

I'm not saying you can't build it in the GB - it is an AFV - just understand what it is and isn't in the real world. And, yes, they are cute.

[ShaunW]

Mrs W says it is a tank as far as she can tell and trust me she's never wrong

[Dazzled]

NO, the Shillelagh missile was anti-tank. The attempt to make the 152mm cannon fire either a missile or a separate charge round, with the attendant sighting complexity, added to the other M-551 Sheridan AAARV problems and resulted in a short lifespan of a lightly armored non-tank. The vehicle was more akin to a tank-destroyer from WW2 in capability and use, for airborne forces, with speed for a recon role. The rate of fire, missile or round, was too slow to engage in a slug fest and it was lightly armored.

Regardless of what Wikipedia says.

I'm not saying you can't build it in the GB - it is an AFV - just understand what it is and isn't in the real world. And, yes, they are cute.

That's it, Shillelagh. I had a toy one when I was a kid, by Matchbox I think, and that had a write up on the box about a missile system. I always thought it was quite an attractive looking tank vehicle

[mattbacon]

I thought it was so supercool and modern looking, I converted several of them into "grav-tanks" for my Traveller and then Striker games...

Bestest,
M.

[K5083]

I like the figures, you don't see a lot of 1/32 scale girlfriends out there.

August

[Softscience]

OT, one thing to watch on this kit is your wheel spacing. The track is very tight, so set the axle arms for the idler wheels well inwards to reduce the tension.

[Old_Tonto]

OT, one thing to watch on this kit is your wheel spacing. The track is very tight, so set the axle arms for the idler wheels well inwards to reduce the tension.

Thanks for the advice Soft. I will Google what axle arms & idler wheels are.

I thought it was so supercool and modern looking, I converted several of them into "grav-tanks" for my Traveller and then Striker games...
M.

I did the same Matt although I don't think Jratz would agree with the term grav-tanks.

Just to prove I am doing something on this Armoured Vehicale , I have started adding lots of small parts:



I must say, you heavy metal types do like your fiddly bits. There are even bolts on the spru:



What's that all about?
More to follow.