Not as ready paint as I thought, had left off the fenders. Need to add some putty work, add the periscope cover and tape off periscope glass.
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Hello,
here is my entry for this campaign
I’ve planned to build a M4A1 in Papua - new Guinea.
I’ve ordered a decal set from Star decals.
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Suddenly realised as I was beavering away with the M10 that I hadn’t taken any pics of the progress made so far. So to remedy that situation here are a couple of shots of where I am currently
IMG_2441 by Chris Wilson, on Flickr
IMG_2440 by Chris Wilson, on Flickr
IMG_2439 by Chris Wilson, on Flickr
Chris
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Pardon my horrid photography. But, aside stowage I’d need to aquire and antennas, I’d say I’m done with my 2 Firefly ICs.
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@FlyingSauerkraut
All the images I’ve ever seen of those Papua New Guinea M4A1s they all seem to have the later gun mount with the wider mantlet. I don’t know if anything else would be different on the turret from what comes in the kit tho. The suspension and everything else should work for those tanks in that campaign as you already acquired the correct tracks. If, I’m being honest, I don’t think that the BM kit is worthy of a Friul track set. I think those beautiful tracks are wasted on a kit that might still need a lot of other things to make it accurate like in the turret. Not sure where you are but here in the U.S. the Asuka kit costs like $38 here and you’d be saving yourself a lot of trouble updating that turret. AFV makes a real cheap pair of T-49 rubber band tracks that would be ideal for a kit like this. The BM suspension has no adjustment on the idler which means you’ll end up with sag on your Friuls. On the Asuka the adjuster on the idler allows you to get the proper track tension with these types of tracks.
talking about suspension, be prepared to spend a lot of time cleaning the parts on that BM suspension, they are loaded with flash. Took me 2 or 3 times as long to build the BM suspension than it usually takes me to build one of the Asuka ones. Granted, I’ve had a lot of practice with the Asuka ones, but there’s no getting around the cleanup, and you will need to create your own spacers for inside the bogies to get the ride height to the correct level. I used an old Tamiya fixed suspension as the model for measuring the ride height, then I experimented with the spacers internally to make sure the external height worked out. BM doesn’t provide spacers or any mention in the instructions on whether they are needed or how to make them etc…Just getting the proper ride height on the BM bogies became a huge waste of time because the end result is that the BM bogies have less detail and don’t look as good as the Asuka. They were engineered to clone the Asuka suspension but are a very poor copy. Absolutely the worst part of working on the Border Models 76mm I posted about above was building that horrible suspension. I’m seriously considering never building my 75mm just avoid building that suspension again. If you’re careful and get all your measurements correct and line everything up you should be fine, but like I said. The end result does not justify the work needed to get them there because they still look inferior compared to the much older Asuka ones.
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Get a Asuka set or trees from eBay.
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thanks for your advice, I haven’t had a chance to assemble an Asuka kit yet.
Which Asuka reference would be the most suitable for a Sherman involved in Papua new guinea?
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@FlyingSauerkraut
Asuka has released their mid production and late production M4A1 in multiple rebox releases. I think both the late and the mid have the correct suspension and one piece transmission cover up front. I believe both come with the later gun mount and the early mount in the box. If you get the late model just leave of the hedge row cutter and the appliqué armor on the turret and the sides of the hull off.
If you go back to post #52 you’re going to see the kit that you need. @Tank_1812 is building one of these tanks too. Looks like he used the late production kit.
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Every Asuka kit I’ve seen that has a three-piece transmission cover also has the rounded one-piece in it. Same for the 75 mm gun mounts: you always get both M34 and M34A1, to the best of my knowledge.
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Right, unaccustomed as I am to very much that is WW2, I’m going to give this one a go.
I like a challenge, and I seem to have a perverse nature when it comes to modelling. A modelling mate of mine has just started the Border M4A1. I thought I’d try and tackle the same, well, sort of. I chose this:
and will see what I can make of it, if very much at all(!)
Just to be clear, it’s a Nichimo kit from 1974.
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So that’s what that kit’s box looks like. I’ve seen photos of this model, built, but never the box art for it. As there’s no brand name on it, I was wondering until I read the last line in your message 
But didn’t that kit have early bogies, with the return roller on top?
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I’m afraid I know very little about Shermans; the suspension units look like this:
And the hull and turret just for general info:
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I would love to get my hands on one of those Nichimo kits. I’ve never even seen one in person. If for nothing else just to have that gorgeous box art. I probably wouldn’t even build it.
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Interesting, those are the later type with the return roller behind the bogie, but with a somewhat early skid on top.
(More than you’ll care to learn about Sherman suspension bogies here )
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I’m not too sure it even is buildable! A very old kit, in a brittle plastic and will take a fair bit of work. I will replace quite a few bits and pieces and add here and there with better versions eg MGs etc, but, I will build it!
The accessories and replacement parts will probably cost around twice as much as the kit itself, but what the hell? If I can bring it up to spec, or rather, a decent enough interpretation, then I think I’ll have fun with it.
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@BootsDMS
I’ve built a couple of vintage kits like this and CA is your best friend. Not sure I would even use cement just for fear of how the old plastic would react.
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Well so far, so good with normal cement; we’ll see.
A challenge certainly - this portion of the suspension for instance, is moulded solid:
To be honest, I’m not going to do anything about it; I’ll paint the recess black and have done with it. I’m sure that’s a heresy, but the aim is to try and turn this into something which looks half-decent, and not a complete re-build.
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I would make the same decision as that aligns with your goals, otherwise you would be in the salt mines for a long time.
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