Movie stars: A pair of Shermans.

[B4en]

A fine looking crew.

Nigel

Yup, nice work on those figures.

[ShaunW]

They look great. I watched Fury the other night and you are nicely capturing the look of the vehicle and crew.

[flakmonkey]

Thanks as always for looking in.

Getting the crew into their desired positions involved a little minor trimming, reposing, and the paint touch ups associated with those activities.







Just waiting on the arrival of the tracks now to complete this one, and then we are ready for Oddball.

[ShaunW]

That is an excellent Fury nicely enhanced and brought to life with the crew figures. Once the tracks are on that is going to really look the part (no pun intended )

[chrism]

Prob ought not to mention this.. but you can get a set crew sculpted as the real film crew ... not cheap but... worth it and they look like the actors

[flakmonkey]

Prob ought not to mention this.. but you can get a set crew sculpted as the real film crew ... not cheap but... worth it and they look like the actors

Well.

That has well and truly set the cat amongst the pigeons.

[chrism]

Sorry ... Bravo 6 is the manufacturer of the original set but there are some cheaper copies out there
Fields of glory did stock them a few years back other sources exist to obtain from

[David Silver]

Lovely job, can't wait to see Oddballs Sherman, one of my most favouriteist War films.

[flakmonkey]

I am now in possession of the AFV Club T84 tracks for Fury. This is a fully workable track set, and requires no cement to assemble. At least, that's what they say. We shall soon be putting this claim to the real world test.



The parts are very nicely moulded and the tracks should look a treat once they are built up and fitted.

I have also received the Academy M4A3(76)W which will be the basis of Oddball's Sherman. This is definitely one of Academy's best armour kits, featuring such niceties as a choice between the solid and the lightweight roadwheels and drive sprockets. Of course, nothing on a tank is actually "lightweight" at all. PE is included for the brushguards, and a particularly nice bonus is the inclusion of Academy's Ma Deuce .50 cal MG, which has in the past been sold as a kit in its own right.



I have also begun production of the most essential accessory for Oddball's Sherman...



Thank goodness for Milliput.

Students of Kelly's Heroes will know, of course, that the 76mm Shermans in the film have (for some odd reason) 75mm long barrel turrets rather than the late war T26 type turret, which officially makes them M4A3(75)W Shermans. This means we have to do a bit of a kitbash, and graft a Zvezda 75mm turret onto the Academy hull, and the muzzle brake-less 76 barrel from the Academy kit must be transplanted into the Zvezda mantlet.

The fun never ends.

[Clashcityrocker]

Tut tut, what were they thinking?

Nigel

[B4en]

Wow, you'll be blunting a few knife blades on those tracks...

[ShaunW]

The bullhorn is arguably more important than getting the turret/gun combination right. I've used replacement individual link tracks from AFV Club in the past and they were very good.

[flakmonkey]

The bullhorn is arguably more important than getting the turret/gun combination right.

You're absolutely correct.



The spares bin came in very handy here, and I made the mounting bracket from litho plate with a bolt head sliced from the Academy sprues as generously provided. Of course, if you have built the Airfix 1/35 76mm Sherman or its derivatives, you have built the Academy; they are the same kit. This is a smart bit of reboxing on the part of Airfix, as the Academy Shermans are amongst the best in the scale.

The Zvezda turret fits the Academy turret ring perfectly for a seamless kit bash. There are some Oddball oddities to address, such as the totally made up turret mounted MG, which in the film has a M2 receiver but a 1919 barrel. Clearly the work of the props department, and fortunately not difficult to replicate from the spare parts bin. Do not, under any circumstances, ever attempt to fire such a weapon if it is presented to you in real life. You will certainly die, and it will hurt a lot.

There is a milk churn, BECAUSE OF COURSE THERE IS, which comes from a MiniArt set.

The Zvezda Sherman kit is very nice indeed but features absolutely no cast or RHA textures. This I do not find to be an issue, and I have replicated the turret's cast texture by liberally brushing it with Plastic Magic cement and then stippling it with a cut down paint brush.

You may rest assured, dear reader, that no Shermans will be harmed as a result of this kit bash, and the Academy T23 76mm turret will fit very nicely onto the Zvezda M4A2 VVSS hull to create a Soviet M4A2(76)W VVSS in the near future. An important but much under modelled sub type, the M4A2(76)W VVSS was the most common Red Army Sherman of WW2, and was enormously popular with its crews, who christened it "Emsha".

[Clashcityrocker]

Very good. Nice bit of Sherman variant info as well

Nigel

[ShaunW]

Great work with replicating the turret texture and, naturally, with the bullhorn in place it is really starting to look the part!