M4 Sherman, Normandy 1944 (Tamiya 1/35)

Armor/AFV
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Hello everyone. Sharing my work on this Tamiya M4 Sherman. Markings are for the Normandy Campaign, 1944. Happy to finish this kit as it is a 5 year old shelf queen. I used stowage to hide some of my mistakes in the build :slight_smile:

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Thanks for looking.

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James,
That is superbly built M4…painting and weathering TOP NOTCH!
Cheers,

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Looks good. You caught that dirty not muddy look.

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Thanks for the encouraging words as always, Joe :slight_smile:

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Thank you, Rick! :slight_smile:

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Good job, I like it.
Regards, Omar

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I love the weathering, did you use filters? If so, what did you use? The only critical thing I would say is the round containers on the front might’ve bounced off. Perhaps they would’ve been secured somehow by the crew. Keep up the good work.
Take care and stay safe,
Don “Lakota”

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Thanks Omar :slight_smile:

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Thanks Don! I don’t normally use filter products - I prefer using the oil-dot technique to vary the tone of the tank. I agree with the round containers though - I would have placed some rope on the front to hold them in place if I were to fix it again (I need to look for a thin piece of string though)

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James truly that’s one of the best olive drab schemes I’ve ever seen, you’ve mixed coarse & subtle variations beautifully & the overall effect is perfect. I can’t see any (and I’m not suggesting you should do any) but what’s your view of the dreaded “chipping”? All the rage 10+ years ago, I don’t see much these days. If it were mine I’d (a) be extremely pleased (b) maybe add a few minor stains & scrapes – there’s some on the flank of the b&w photo ref you posted :tumbler_glass:

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Thanks Tim!

Chipping is indeed a controversial topic - for me it’s a matter of taste. Realistically speaking there are a few things to keep in mind:

  1. Vehicles rarely stayed deployed long enough in the field to receive a ton of chipping. Furthermore, tanks tend to be well taken care of by the crew and maintenance personnel - having worn-down tanks doesn’t really inspire confidence from its crew.
  2. A lot of paint used in the era was pretty strong - US Olive Drab especially. Sometimes, the “chipping” you see in photos aren’t really damaged paint - they’re more of scruffs and abrasions to the dirty/muddy/dusty surfaces of the vehicle which leads to the fresh paint showing underneath. This effect is actually one of the effects I like to replicate often on my US OD vehicles - I paint and weather the vehicle, then apply a color close to the original OD on some of the exposed parts and places that would get foot traffic to replicate the effect
  3. Chipping did happen, there are plenty of reference photos out there - but they need to be contextualized. I do chipping sometimes to add visual interest but I tend to limit it to crew hatches and other select places. I also apply it to vehicles that would have seen some combat - if you have a freshly delivered tank, or most modern vehicles for that matter - the chipping effect would normally not have happened.

As for this kit - I didn’t put the fuel stains and oil spills I normally do - I did it for the M4A2 USMC and M46 Patton I built a few months ago so I decided to keep this one mostly to dust and streaking :slight_smile:

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