I’m definitely going to pick one of those up. Thank you for posting that. It never occurred to me to get one and I can think of a lot of applications for it. I could really have some fun with one of those.
For this project I think I’ll just stick with what I did last time and drill out the small holes along the marked line and then use a brand new blade to cut the part out. Easier said than done with Tamiya plastic as it tends to be a bit thick compared to other companies. Plus all this stuff is older now so the plastic is brittle too.
My modeling idol was Shep Paine RIP, he was at his peak when I was a kid and getting into modeling in the late 1970s. So while never grew into a great modeler I learned a lot of my techniques from reading his books many of which I still own and treasure to this day😊
The hole drilling thing goes way back and I’m sure I learned it from his books.
Had a few hours to add some details to the hull this morning and I should be able to work on it again later today. Still more details to be added to the hull before I primer the hull, it’s missing tow shackles, steps on the towing hitches in the front, the light plug thingys, and the exhaust deflector in the rear.
Once that stuff is added I’ll be able to primer this, oh forgot the sand shield brackets too😒
It’s getting harder to get a group photo of these guys now and no room for the 2005 DML build in the photo. These are all the tanks that have been built during this thread.
From left to right is the Tamiya bin bash with converted turret. The Tamiya is my personal favorite and will be finished as “in the mood”, Next is the still gorgeous Italeri, then the #6083 DML I found at a swap meet last summer, then the Border Model that started the thread, the rescue Academy version that was my son’s toy years ago, and last on the right is the Asuka version. ALL of them required modifications because no one has as of yet correctly kited an “Orphan Tank Operation Cobra 76mm M4A1” OOTB.
I know I said that the Tamiya is my favorite but the truth is I mostly love all of them. The Border Models version is a disappointment as the latest one to come out and it’s loaded with issues which is inexcusable. The others have issues too but have also been around for decades. The oldest is the Italeri is surprisingly good considering it’s a 56(?) year old kit? Then the Academy goes back to 97’, the DML to 2003 (?), then the Tamiya came out in 2010, the Asuka in 2017, and the BM in 2025…
I’ve considered adding the new Takom to this club but I will wait a year or two in case they release a break out Sherman before converting the recent release. I just feel like they have one on the horizon.
finished cutting and dry fitting, front antenna hole drilled out, backing plate added for both. I have some some sheets of material but I decided to use Tamiya scrap instead because I think it will form a stronger bond and the thick Tamiya plastic won’t bow when I press the hatch into position.
Here it is mocked on the turret and we’re going out for dinner so I’m done for the day. Had some fun today fiddling around with this thing😊 I like how the other turret turned out better but I think this will be alright, thanks for looking.
I don’t know what happened, the thread just took on a life of its own. I went off tangent then different posters went in different directions, then I went in still even more different directions BUT I still owe this thread the finished Border Models kit photos. I fully intend to post those images once I paint, decal, and weather all of these kits…And I want to get these guys finished within the next 3-4 months if not sooner.
I’m itching to sink my teeth into a couple of these new Takom M4A1s that are staring at me from the stash. I have all four of the new ones that Takom has released in the last year. I think the first one I’ll do is the late war M4A1 76mm VVSS because it will kind of bookend these “Operation Cobra” tanks, from the first 76mm version to see combat to what was probably the last 76mm M4A1 version to see combat. Although some people speculate that some of the early M4A1 76mm HVSS models might’ve gotten to the front lines in time.
More progress on the turret and still some work work left on the back of it. Did a bit better on the first one, probably because I had just converted several of these turrets before I did the Tamiya and everything was fresh in my mind.
It’s mostly an Academy kit but with a Tamiya turret and Asuka tracks. I used as much Academy stuff as I could, sprockets, hull hatches, tools, spare track, Idlers…upper Hull, FDA, and lower hull are from the Academy M-51. The bogies and wheels, stowage rack, and large loaders hatch are all DML parts.
I want to clarify something I wrote about this Academy hull. Overall the tank from where the sprockets and tracks start to where the hull ends is as long as the Italeri which is known for being long. Where this Academy tank hull is short is from the where the hull meets the FDA to the back of the hull, it’s easily the shortest one in the bunch. Academy got the dimensions wrong in the body and to make the tank measure out they elongated the FDA. The FDA is stretched out, has a very shallow angle and just protrudes like crazy pushing the sprockets forward to where the tracks really stick out past the mud guards. Bear in mind that I left the upper and lower hulls joined exactly where they had been joined from front to back when it was an M-51, I did not do anything to push the FDA forward like that, the FDA is elongated and too flat an angle. the front of this upper hull looks good to me, but the back was engineered too short. I think the FDA was a response to them wanting to get the length corrected after they realized that they’d messed up the measurements of the tank, so you get this sherman with an elongated nose and an angle on the FDA that is closer to 56* and the front upper hull angle closer to 47*
looking at all six tanks side by side is hilarious because you can appreciate how OFF the Border Models, the DML, and the Academy really are. Far and away the most accurate from a dimension POV is the Tamiya, but only because Asuka messed up the rear part of their hull, other wise it would be really close and Asuka might come out on top. The 50 something year old Italeri comes in third place, it is a bit too long in the rear but the overall shape is really good, the front hull is sharp, the sides, everything shape wise is really good on the hull except the extra length and the ugly molded on grouser covers which I should’ve replace on the one I built 9 months ago.
The worst of the worst? I have to say it’s got to be the Border Models for two reasons, because it’s a brand new tank and it’s so incredibly off in the front of the hull, I wrote about this earlier in this thread, they put a 76mm turret on a small hatch, then realized their mistake and instead of researching the differences in the hulls they just modified the 56* front on the mold to accommodate the big hatches. BUT if I’m being honest, the absolute worse is the DML, it almost doesn’t look like a Sherman from certain angles. the upper hull is too wide and that extra width up top creates a shelf on the sides below the turret line, this cause it’s front corners to be too high and it just looks boxy as heck, the angles of the glacis and the FDA are too steep, the hull is pushed forward. Even the Academy with it’s elongated FDA and shortened butt is more fun to look at than both the BM and the DML.
I can’t wait to park a Takom M4A1 VVSS next to these guys just to get a feel for how they did with the overall dimensions of the tank.
It’s a shame these early M4A1 76(W)’s have not yet been treated to the model they deserve. They are such good looking vehicles. For some reason I like the 76mm turret better with the split loader’s hatch and the “clean” barrel. It just looks better.
I have a Dragon kit sitting on the shelf, that’s about 90% done (including paint), but I just can’t find the motivation to continue, because of the reasons you mentioned. Still, I feel I should do it, as these “Cobra” M4A1’s, even if only made in small numbers, do form the basis of an important branch in the tree. It’s good to see somebody (you) putting the effort in that these tanks deserve.
If I may ask, and there is good chance I read over it, what’s wrong with the Asuka hull? From what I understand it’s not supposed to be a Normandy tank, could that be the cause of it?
Apparently all large hatch M4A1 hulls had a small slope/angle in the upper rear hull. I don’t recall now what page of the “son of sherman” book mentions it in passing. I must’ve forgotten or just glazed over that when I started this thread because the Border Models kit comes with the angle and I erroneously removed it, one of the things BM got correct and I botched it up! Then when I became obsessed with building all the different large hatch M4A1 hulls from different companies, I noticed that the Tamiya, Academy, Italeri, and the DML all have it too. Only the Asuka is missing that angle OOTB because the new Takoms have it too.
The theory was that when Asuka made that mold, that they must’ve taken their small hatch M4A1 and their M4 hybrid hull and combined the two halves to make a large hatch M4A1 hull. I don’t understand how they could have done that because I don’t know how these guys make their molds. It was an oversight that hurts the kit big time. If you build one you will see that there isn’t enough room back there for the filters to properly fit under the overhang, the upper hull needs to be modified in the back to make it accurate. I love Tasca/Asuka so I was really dissapointed when I built mine and instead of correcting it I just threw it together without fixing the problem and I regret it now.
Here’s a thread posted about an aftermarket resin hull that you can buy to make the kit accurate.
I plan to either disassemble mine or just build another one to fix the problem. I have a couple more in the stash. I think my reason for leaving it incorrect was to show it the way it came out of the box, I don’t recall now. It’s a shame that the Asuka is inaccurate OOTB because otherwise it’s up there in terms of overall looks and probably would be tied with the Tamiya for accuracy if not for that defect. Granted they portray upper hulls from different foundries. The Asuka is a General Steel upper hull and the Tamiya is the Continental with the asymmetric hoods. If you want to build “In the Mood” you need the Tamiya hull.
Paul Budzik discussed this on his website years ago when the Tamiya kit first came out. He called it making the ultimate version of these tanks and I think he recommended using the Tamiya upper hull with the Asuka lower hull. I just forgot about it until after I had already started doing this.
I too think that there is something really aesthetically pleasing about these unique Shermans. Combined with their “orphan” unwanted back story, the different hedgerow devices added to them, the black camo, Pool’s story, and just the kick ass nature of the campaign that they’re known for, all of that makes them an important and favored Sherman subject to me.
This guy posted a fun video where he summarizes Lafayette Pool’s book. Unfortunately the book is only available in electronic download version.
The book is title “Blood and Fury” and is available in kindle and audio book formats on Amazon.
sure I learned it from his books.
