3 inch gun motor carriage M10

[ShaunW]

Lovely job, Steve, that is shaping up really well. And that is interesting info regarding the replacement Sherman fenders and the spaced armour kits. Those Cartograph decals have settled down over the various lumps and bumps very nicely indeed and really do look painted on.

[flakmonkey]

Thanks again for looking.

I have pretty much completed the painting and got all the decals on now, ready to put the tracks on tomorrow.





I have also selected all manner of stowage items and have begun to paint them.



I've also painted up the track grousers ready to install shortly. It's a totally trouble free kit which is enjoyable to build (my only gripe is the vinyl tracks supplied with the kit), and yes it is of course available in an Airfix box should you wish to avail yourself of one of those. It's quite a smart choice by Airfix to rebox the 1/35 Academy VVSS Sherman family, as they are better than the Tamiya VVSS Shermans by quite a long way, and the parts count is user friendly but also plentiful enough to appeal to both novice and seasoned veteran alike.

[jssel]

Terrific work, Flak.

[PaulBradley]

Yes, very nice!

[Clashcityrocker]

Neat Work. Good looking vehicle.

Nigel

[B4en]

All looking very fine!

[KellerModeller]

That's looking very good so far, seems to be heading for a very nice result

[ShaunW]

Progressing very well indeed. Big thumbs up from me!

[flakmonkey]

Thanks all for looking.

I have fitted the AFV Club tracks and all the stowage, and given it all a coat of Hycote clear ready for weathering.









Stowage is from a variey of sources, including the Tamiya Allied Vehicles Accessory set and a couple of scratch built items. The spare track links on the glacis plate are AFV Club and the spare roadwheels are Academy.

Academy provides a very nice set of track grousers with which to populate the side racks, but they only supply enough for 10 per side. There should be 12.

Curious.

[general rocket]

That's nice

[Clashcityrocker]

Very good. I like the crushed cardboard box under the tie down rope.

Nigel

[B4en]

Looks magnificent clean Flak. I'm sure weathered it'll be even better.

[ShaunW]

Looks excellent, Steve, I can't fault that. Re the insufficient number of grousers, often I will deliberately leave off a number of such items, spare track links for example, even if the correct number are provided in the kit, to give the impression of loss by the crew during the course of service. Academy should have done their research a little better though.

[Softscience]

I really love where you went with this. The mound of stowage is very much on-point for the M10, and your tie down looks really good.

I'm interested to see where you take thing with weathering.

[flakmonkey]

As usual I would thank everybody for looking in and taking the time to comment.

Now, after leaving this on the shelf for a few days whilst deciding how to finish it, I finally decided how to finish it.

I had always intended to add the turret crew from a MiniArt set. These figures really are beginning to show their age in many ways but I still like the poses and the "special edition" boxes add several sprues of improved parts, notably the US Tanker helmets which are superb multi part renditions. The sculpts aren't particuarly sharp, especially on the faces, which does not really lend itself to my self taught bodgery figure painting style. In other words, I'm not a figure painter.

This is the unweathered model with the crew figures in their most basic colours.



For weathering I went with basic chipping, distressing of the decals to simulate wear, and the dusty road warrior look that was so typical of armoured vehicles in the Battle of Germany in 1945.

The foliage comes from Woodland Scenics. My local model shop, MMC, was giving out Christmas presents and a Woodland Scenics starter pack was mine. A useful and much appreciated bag of goodies.

And so, I think I shall call this one finished.









It really is a lovely kit, as are all of Academy's Sherman family, being fun to build and having a ton of options on the sprues if you know what you are looking at. As far as I'm aware this is the only early "wedge tail" M10 turret kit in town, but I am probably wrong. I'd really recommend this to anybody with an interest in allied WW2 armor, it's an iconic machine and a great and very affordable kit.

And yes, it is available in an Airfix box too.