Tracks' M4 Medium tank thread

[ripley]

I had a couple of those , probaly set me back a couple of weeks pocket money , all of about $1 lol

[ultravanillasmurf]

I had a number of the bagged aircraft kits, but do not remember having any tanks.

[Tracks]

When it comes to model tanks, I think the M4 Sherman tank is one of the most common model kits around. It seems like every major model company offers a Sherman tank in one or more scales. And now we have almost a complete line from Rubicon Models!

[Pinky]

The Airfix Sherman was one of the first tank kits I bought.  Along with their StuG and SdKfz 234.  My friend and I would ride quite a long way to the toy shop that sold them.  My friend and I didn't paint them - we only painted the wheels and machine guns black.  Even then, I wondered if there was a better way of doing the tracks than the soft rubber band tracks (which didn't always fit properly and rotted if they got dusty). 

Who remembers the excitement when the Matchbox armour kits appeared? 

[Ballardian]

 

Who remembers the excitement when the Matchbox armour kits appeared? 

- The Matchbox kits were the second stage of the addiction for me (prior to finding out about assorted hard to get vehicles by equally hard to get manufacturers from far off places, Japan, Italy etc).
 Still have fond memories of many of the kits - their Comet, Firefly & Wespe especially.

[ripley]

The Matchbox tanks were great  The  pre colored plastic was awesome so you didn't have to paint . IRC one came  in white , blue and orange ? 

[Pinky]

I loved the Matchbox Wespe.  And their Humber. 

The Fujimi kits were a revelation too - like their SdKfz 222.  Their figures were horrible though.

[Tracks]

Who remembers the excitement when the Matchbox armour kits appeared?

What made the early Matchbox kits stand out was that the kits came with plastic sprues in two different colors.

[ultravanillasmurf]

Memories. The sweet shop at the other end of town to the model shop stocked them.

The Comet kit. I suspect the crater lasted longer than the tank. It did some duties for 15mm Laserburn back in the mid 'eighties.

[ripley]

Your right , the bases lasted much longer than the tanks did .  Some of the bases were very neat with palm trees or rubble piles , I would love to find a few today to really add some extra detail to . Anyone remember the vacu- form style bases Aurora had in there "1/48 " box scale  mid 60s tank kits ? Those were sometimes the best part of the kit . Teally liked thar damaged bridge one that  came with the Centurian

[Tracks]

Getting back to the Sherman Dozer issue. I was thinking, why not just use a part from another kit. You know, one of those model kits of a heavy construction vehicle. What heavy construction vehicle kit would offer the best part to convert a Rubicon Sherman into a Sherman Dozer?

[ripley]

Well , you could add the blade from the Komatsu , but its probably too narrow , the support arms are too short and the lift gear is wrong . Not an easy kit bash I'm afraid .

You could go all out and scratch the blade and assembly  out of plastic sheet and shapes , but it would be a lot of work . Always liked the look of this one , maybe someday , but I would get the Company B kit to use as a starting point to build on to

[ripley]

Here's some pictures of various dozer parts











All info from TheShermanTank.com site ( article # 37 )

[ripley]

I checked on the Hobbysearch site ( they show the  plans, paint schemes and sprues  of most model kits ) , the Komatsu is 75mm long, it's blade about 35 ( guesstimation  ) . The Sherman blade is 65mm wide .  Really can't see a viable way to kit bash the Komatsu , arms and hydralics would have to be scratched as well . Not to mention your chopping up a $30 ( in Canada ) kit . With the Company B kit costing less than half , you  could probably get 2 shipped for about that price . Not wanting to hinder anyone in a building project , but its IMO way too much work for something thats already available .  Mind you the Company B kit will tax your skills with super glue and white metal , plus there's the additional things you might want to add ( control hydralic hose , guatd , etc ) If you do decide to bash the Komatsu , your a better man than I am ....

[ultravanillasmurf]

I have been tempted when I have seen it on the Great Escape Games stand at various shows.

So far I have forgotten to go back and buy it.

For reference: http://www.greatescapegames.co.uk/tanks-1/tanks-us/coyb-dozer.html

Of course this would be a perfect small add on kit for Rubicon.