Author Topic: Codename: Sherman 2016 - 3pc Differential Housing Conversion 210122  (Read 300806 times)

Feldwebel

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #600 on: August 21, 2020, 04:33:04 am »
@Feldwebel - It had always been a struggle to include all possible insignias and markings onto a decal sheet for a model kit.  This is particularly true when the kit can be used with the Commonwealth, US, or any other lend-lease allies.

In most instances, on the forum (and sometimes on Facebook), we would post our decal sheet design a few days before we send them to print.  With feedback and some additional research, we might update the design for more comprehensive coverage of "everything" in general.

TBH, being modellers ourselves, our decal sheet does cover a lot of ground for each kit when compared to other manufacturers on any scale.  Don't you agree?  ;)

I absolutely agree, and please don't feel like my comment was an attack in any way.  The new kits are incredible, and the decal sheet does cover so much.
The lengths you guys go to on feedback is unparalleled and my comment was I think more of frustration that I realised the only correct decal I had right now is made by that other company and thus glossy and oversized.

Basically I was upset that what I had wasn't made by yourselves!   ;D

Rubicon Models

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #601 on: August 21, 2020, 11:46:12 am »
@Feldwebel - Not to worry.  We always take comments & feedback in a positive manner!

The community here is very helpful as you can see.  Feel free to visit as frequently as you can, and enjoy!  ;)

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4 Roadmap to Victory UPDATED! 200518
« Reply #602 on: December 23, 2020, 07:42:09 am »
And those older models served till the end of the war . Here's that M4A1 VVSS knocked out in Nuremberg 1945 as noted in RFT's last post


Has anyone built this tank with the new M4A1 kit?

I believe the new kit has most everything you need to male this except the steel cages for the sand bag armor.  You may also have to source the extended connector track from another kit. 

ripley

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #603 on: December 23, 2020, 08:49:33 am »
The extended track comes as extras in the M4A1(76mm) & M4A3(E8) kits . Only problem is you would have to change the molded in wheel sets as they are the later HVSS type . I don't have any Rubicon Shermans at to check , but their T-34s ( 3 wheel types) matched each other as to placement of track teeth so it was easy to swap them around , hopefully the Shermans are the same


SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #604 on: December 23, 2020, 10:53:31 am »
The extended track comes as extras in the M4A1(76mm) & M4A3(E8) kits . Only problem is you would have to change the molded in wheel sets as they are the later HVSS type . I don't have any Rubicon Shermans at to check , but their T-34s ( 3 wheel types) matched each other as to placement of track teeth so it was easy to swap them around , hopefully the Shermans are the same


You are correct, it wouldn’t work, the Nuremberg wreck had M3 style bogies.  It would be a matter of scratch building the extended end connectors onto the track set provided :0 

I just don’t see how I’d be able to swap the boggie units out without damaging the track.  If I end up building it I’ll probably just skip the extend end connectors.  these tanks also had some remnant features from the north African campaign, like a rack over the engine deck and the welded plates over the air filters.

ripley

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #605 on: December 23, 2020, 11:55:41 am »
Maybe see if anyone in the Rubicon community has a track set with connecters they don't want , then you can cut them off and super glue them to the early track set . A lot of the connecters are missing  ,so it would save you some work . Notice the turret has a late vision commanders hatch , does it also have a loaders hatch ? Wonder if there are other photos of this tank ? The tricky part will be the fire damaged rubber wheels and track pads , maybe build it pre fire ? The bow MG is gone so maybe set on fire after it got knocked out


Tracks

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #606 on: December 23, 2020, 01:58:30 pm »
Quote from: ripley
Maybe see if anyone in the Rubicon community has a track set with connecters they don't want , then you can cut them off and super glue them to the early track set.

Instead of super glue (cyanoacrylate), I would recommend using a good plastic model glue for attaching the bits. Remember, Rubicon Models uses a different and better quality of plastic.

Have a look at this old thread about what glues/cements to use for Rubicon Models.
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=707.0

When building a RM kit, Tenax-7R is one of my favorites, but I also like Tamiya Extra Thin.

I have not tried it, but I hear Plastic Magic works too.

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #607 on: December 23, 2020, 02:52:13 pm »
Maybe see if anyone in the Rubicon community has a track set with connecters they don't want , then you can cut them off and super glue them to the early track set . A lot of the connecters are missing  ,so it would save you some work . Notice the turret has a late vision commanders hatch , does it also have a loaders hatch ? Wonder if there are other photos of this tank ? The tricky part will be the fire damaged rubber wheels and track pads , maybe build it pre fire ? The bow MG is gone so maybe set on fire after it got knocked out


Ripley, there are tons of photos of this vehicle online.  Apparently the tank lay wrecked there for a long time and was moved around a couple times to accommodate a victory parade event.  It was a curiosity to the GIs in that area so many people took pictures on it and around it.  In the pictures as time passed, the vehicle degraded as it was moved around, probably with bulldozers and also maybe even scavengers took things off of it?  I think nowadays as a modeling subject it fascinates people to think a survivor from north africa could've made it all the way to germany. 

The tank had some fascinating features too.  It still had the African mods but the early low bustle it came with had been refurbished  with the late shield and mantlet, cheek armor, and the late cupola.  Interestingly tho the hull add on armor was not kit issue, it looks like it was a “homemade” custom job.  The cages for the sand bag armor had similar construction as other tanks from the 756TB.   

A wrecked version would be very challenging for me without help from AM stuff.  I’d be happy to build it pre-wreck.  Unfortunately, my PC crashed years ago and I lost the file I had on the tank with all it’s information and all the images I had collected a lot of images of it.  I had it backed up on a memory stick but I think that’s gone missing :(

Once I found a german modeling forum that had a big thread on it, including a snapshot of a dead german soldier some 30-40 yards off to the right of the tank.  I presume he may have destroyed the tank at the cost of his life.  The image shoes him covered with a blanket and the tank in the background the turret had started turning in his direction but didn’t make it all the way around so presumably someones else shot the panzerfaust wielding german but not soon enough.  I wish I could find the thread again there were tons of images collected there of the tank.

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #608 on: December 23, 2020, 03:03:19 pm »
Quote from: ripley
Maybe see if anyone in the Rubicon community has a track set with connecters they don't want , then you can cut them off and super glue them to the early track set.

Instead of super glue (cyanoacrylate), I would recommend using a good plastic model glue for attaching the bits. Remember, Rubicon Models uses a different and better quality of plastic.

Have a look at this old thread about what glues/cements to use for Rubicon Models.
http://forum.rubiconmodels.com/index.php?topic=707.0

When building a RM kit, Tenax-7R is one of my favorites, but I also like Tamiya Extra Thin.

I have not tried it, but I hear Plastic Magic works too.

Thanks tracks,

I recently built the M4A1 and it’s an excellent beautiful little kit, the tamiya super thin worked great, almost too great.  Super glue occasionally allows me to snap things off whole without breaking them off when I make a mistake but that tamiya bonds the RM plastic so well that you can’t separate parts after proper glueing and bonding, they seem welded.

I chose the A1 kit because there is no compromise on rear track detail.  It’s surprising RM didn’t release T51 tracks as those would also require no compromise in detail and there are tons of images of different sherman variants using them (including M4A3E2) during the war.

ultravanillasmurf

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #609 on: December 27, 2020, 03:27:42 am »
Interesting text here: http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m4a1mlw/grizzly.html
Quote
Montreal Locomotive (or its subcontractor) used standard rolled armor appliqué plates made to fit welded hull Shermans. They were then cut to fit the contours of the Grizzly. With 5 sections, the plate on the right front (1) seems rather elaborate, but is what is most commonly seen on surviving examples. Number 59 on display in Poland is the single unit we have encountered with a "record" 7 section plate.

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #610 on: December 27, 2020, 11:47:22 am »

Wonder if there are other photos of this tank ?



Here you go Ripley, enjoy:)








« Last Edit: December 27, 2020, 11:53:38 am by SheriffSherman »

ripley

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #611 on: December 27, 2020, 01:19:15 pm »
Very nice , a couple there I hadn't seen before . That 1st  picture gives a nice turret top view which when blown up shows it didn't have a loader's hatch, at least that's what I see . I would think the dead guy had no part in the destruction of the tank , unless he was killed by another tank / troops while running away , he's way out of Pfaust range for that Sherman . Might have build the tank in 1/35 as Bronco and a couple of other companies have single link track sets that would work as fire damaged ,  in 1/56 , not a chance  ::)

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #612 on: December 28, 2020, 02:23:43 pm »
Very nice , a couple there I hadn't seen before . That 1st  picture gives a nice turret top view which when blown up shows it didn't have a loader's hatch, at least that's what I see . I would think the dead guy had no part in the destruction of the tank , unless he was killed by another tank / troops while running away , he's way out of Pfaust range for that Sherman . Might have build the tank in 1/35 as Bronco and a couple of other companies have single link track sets that would work as fire damaged ,  in 1/56 , not a chance  ::)

Ripley, I apologize for not being clear about your hatch question in my earlier post, yes, the tank had no loader hatch, it was a remanufactured early turret.  There was some debate on the old missing lynx site as to whether the pistol port was welded shut too. 

About the dead guy, there is a concrete or stone ledge he may have been hiding behind up ahead and then  tried to run back across and behind the ledge using it for cover before bolting away from the area and behind the stands. But someone hit him from behind and he fell backwards after being hit?  On the last picture if you look at the ledge below the standing GIs it certainly appears high enough for someone to take cover behind it, maybe 2-3 foot high?  He/she lays about 50 yards from tank and the maximum listed range for the panzerfaust was 100 meters.  Also, judging by the thin forearm, (the boots don’t look very big) my guess is this German soldier was very young, like a teenager or very thin from malnutrition.  The forearm just looks so thin almost feminine.

The tank was hit on the right rear directly behind the gas tanks (very small hole) but appears to have burned all the way to the front.  My theory (a lot of theories and speculation here) is that the tank caught fire and the crew managed to bail out.  Then the tank then burned for a long time and completely after the ammunition lit up.  I think the right sponson floor directly under the ammo racks is blown downwards too but hard to tell from the photos, it could just be a shadow.  According to someone on missing lynx there was color film footage (british pathe documentary?) of the wreck and that most of the olive drab had been burned clean off the tank creating a very rusty range of colors on the bare metal.

This tank would not have had wet stowage even with the remanufacturing of the turret and add-on armor.  The sand bags were blown clean off the right side as they took the brunt of the blast the jet then penetrated thru all that and entered the engine compartment.  The co-driver hatch appears partially opened but was directly under the gun so hopefully the co-driver found another way out.  On the right side hull only a couple pieces of sand bag frame remain welded on the vehicles side.  A large section of the frame sits right next to the tank on the grass.  On the left the tank burned as well causing the sand to fall to the ground next to the suspension as the sand bags were consumed in the blaze.  But the sand armor brackets look intact on that side.  The tank features North African style rack over the engine deck and air filter armor covers.  It clearly had rubber block track, my guess either T48 or T51
« Last Edit: December 28, 2020, 09:30:15 pm by SheriffSherman »

SheriffSherman

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - M4A1 & M4A4 Sprues 200529
« Reply #613 on: December 28, 2020, 02:50:06 pm »
After the tank was moved and who knows how much time passed before it was finally removed.  The tank also appears to have an old Ammo crate welded on the rear hull top behind the engine deck rack.  Probably used as crew or tool storage.  If you pay attention to the brush guards on the rear lights, they were a very odd type that flared out in a circular fashion.  The guys on missing lynx were able to pinpoint the exact factory that the tank was manufactured in just by that detail.  Sorry, didn’t save the thread and it’s been years, I don’t remember the finer details :(   Everything I’ve written here is from memory things that stood out from that thread. 

Steven Zaloga has speculated that this tank belonged to the 756TB because they were in the area in 1945 and because of the style of cages for the sand bags.  Unfortunately no one seems to have any information about an after action report involving a Sherman being destroyed at Zeppelin field nurnburg Germany 1945.  I would love to know the details about this tanks demise.  It’s kind tragic that a 2 year combat survivor initial production M4A1 DV would be lost in the last few days of the war after making thru North Africa, Sicily?, Italy?, Southern France, Hurtgen Forest area, and into Germany only to then be destroyed.  Zaloga also speculated it might’ve been a HQ tank which would explain the long journey.













« Last Edit: December 28, 2020, 03:32:02 pm by SheriffSherman »

Rubicon Models

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Re: Codename: Sherman 2016 - 3pc Differential Housing Conversion 210122
« Reply #614 on: January 22, 2021, 05:02:46 pm »
For people who are not sure how to fit the 3-piece Different Housing onto other M4 Sherman kits, we have created a step-by-step document for you to follow through... plus an overview M4 Sherman guide for ease of references.









Enjoy!
;)