I apologize for the poor photo quality. I will upload more, after I have added spare track to the right and left hull and sprayed some exhaust, above the mufflers.

Hi Matt,
I really like your Sherman. Its much better than I could do. I really like the paint scheme and markings.
I have a couple of minor comments. It may be the lighting but the track guides on the spare tracks mounted on the hull look too silvery to me. Maybe a dark wash would help or a little rubbing with a graphite pencil. The second concerns the stuff on the wooden board up front. The rolled tarp appears to me to be floating above the board. I know that it is resting on its molded raised folds but there is a lot of open space visible underneath. Could it be sanded down some or better yet replace it with a scratch built like you have on the back deck. That one is very convincing and realistic. Also I would think the map case would not be heavy enough to stay on the board on uneven ground without securing it some way.

Regardless this is a great effort and like I said, much better than my diminishing skills could ever produce.
John

Thank you for the kind words. I almost threw this kit away, for some reason I no longer remember. I will address straps for the front stowage, today. The rolled tarp I can replace, as can the map case. I was trying to use up what's left of my stowage stash and those two items fit. I believe the "silvery" seen is due to the rust pigment creating a greater contrast with the connectors. I will try to tone it down a bit, without losing uniformity of color to the links, themselves.

BTW: The DS tracks included, with this kit are excellent. I will describe the process I went through to achieve the effect. First, I primed them with MicroSol Satin acrylic. I went over this, with Tamiya acryl White. Vallejo Violet Brown was next. I applied sand, using white glue. I broke up the monotone, with Tamiya Brown and NATO Brown. I then sealed with Model Master Dullcote(lacquer). I set the tracks down, flat on a piece of mdf board and left them for a month. When I applied them, they were still nice and springy. The only difficult part was connecting the ends, as the paint made the pins a little larger and the holes a little smaller. I have conquered my fear of the "nightmare" stereotype that they have achieved.

Great work, Matt. You did a nice job on the finish and weathering.

Chris

Fixed the front stowage. Added spare track. Applied exhaust. And, off to competition I go.

Nice weathering Matt!!
Only thing I might tweak is the sandbags on the front. they look a little stiff. Looks great though.

Good effort Matt.

excellent weathering Matt. Hopefully I will be able to do my next lot of weathering as well.

Thank all of you for the kind comments.

I just don't have time to fix the sandbags. I do plan on building a diorama around this tank and will address that issue at a later date.

If I may make a couple of constructive comments?

The track-armour on the hull and turret really should be reversed such that the tips of the end connector teeth are touching the surface and not the track pad. These were held in place by welding the teeth to the hull or turret. In the orientation that you are showing, there is no way to keep the track in place. The track pads can not be welded as they are rubber block.

Being rubber block, the base colour of those blocks should be a very dark grey with the end connectors being well rusted.

On another note, the MG ammo cans on your glacis are both post-war 7.62mm cans and not WW II .30 cal cans. That they are located on the glacis unfortunately makes this pretty obvious.

Finally, the red-white-red armoured force markings should be in the middle of the rear hull overhang plate and midway down each side. They were pretty strict about that.

All the best,

Paul

[quote]If I may make a couple of constructive comments?

The track-armour on the hull and turret really should be reversed such that the tips of the end connector teeth are touching the surface and not the track pad. These were held in place by welding the teeth to the hull or turret. In the orientation that you are showing, there is no way to keep the track in place. The track pads can not be welded as they are rubber block.

Being rubber block, the base colour of those blocks should be a very dark grey with the end connectors being well rusted.

On another note, the MG ammo cans on your glacis are both post-war 7.62mm cans and not WW II .30 cal cans. That they are located on the glacis unfortunately makes this pretty obvious.

Finally, the red-white-red armoured force markings should be in the middle of the rear hull overhang plate and midway down each side. They were pretty strict about that.

I have seen a photo of tracks mounted a like I have them, as they are not the rubber block type. I followed the instructions and photo references for the placement of the divisional markings.

The track are different than what is on the tank itself? What's on the tank are WE210 rubber block track, However, if they are steel track than they can be welded as shown, yes. It was unusual, but possible.


Well, the red-white-red isn't a divisional marking, it's an overall armoured force marking in use in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. There are no divisional markings visible at all, actually, which is fine. The markings on the front fenders are shipping markings for the landings, I do believe. Still, if the red-white-red is shown on the fender in the instructions, you've built it the way they said, even if what they said was incorrect. I've never seen nor heard of that marking on a fender.

Paul

Thank you for the clarification on the clarification on the markings. I have a Firefly in the works and will apply this knowledge to that build.

On another note, I took bronze and IPMS Orlando Regionals. I believe my biggest fault was not painted all of the spare track the same color. I painted half of them one day and the other another day. I didn't have time to correct this, so I applied a black wash in hopes that it would appear to be grime. You may be able to spot the difference, in the photo.

I will be posting photos of the event as a feature, soon.

Thank all of you for your insights.


I see a long line of Shermans ahead of me.