Here is my version of the Taska Jumbo.


In addition to the Taska kit I'll be using the Kaizen T48 track set and their Duck bill set, also the Concrete armor and metal gun barrel from DEF Models.

Are you guys interested in this , or should I just keep it to my self ?
Donald

Yes please post photos and comments on your build!

I'm very interested as I have the same project with the same ingredients, except the tracks.


Cheers,

Christophe

Donald, I follow all of your builds. Even if I'm not that interested in the subject I still follow your builds. You do the little things that make your builds fun to watch.

Regards,

Eric

IMHO, you can never have too many Sherman based kit builds

My only question would be about that the concrete armor. Have you found any reference photos of a jumbo with concrete armor? The Jumbo already was taking the suspension to its limits with the extra weight of the thickened final drive cover and the extra 2" of armor on the glacis. The tank had 4" of sloped armor on that glacis.

Now I haven't seen a pic of a Jumbo with concrete armor but that doesn't mean that there isn't a photo out there of one with it. I guess I collect vintage WW2 images of Sherman variants on my hard drive and if you have one of a Jumbo with concrete armor added I'd love to see it and add it to the collection

I'd have to go back and look at my Steve Zaloga book reference material to refresh my memory as to what unit used concrete vs welded plate from ko'd tanks vs sandbag cages with sand bags vs logs. A lot of the units stuck with one form or another to the point where the additions become a primary form of ID for the unit the vehicle belonged to.

I apologizes for the rambling and please post as many progress photos as possible;)

We are talking about Shermans. Please proceed

Yep that's the one.
Donald

Hey Shermania, I also found these 2



They are suposed to be from the second armored .

There are a lot of sherman pics. at
www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/usa/tanks/m4sherman

regards.
Donald

Yes I'm interested also. I've been wanting to add a Sherman to my collection.

Thanks for uploading the reference pictures Donald!
I'm following too

Kind regards
Steven

Please go forward with that build Donald, it seems like a very interesting subject!

Yes, more please!

Of course we're interested!

I, for one, will be following your build! ANYTHING Sherman-related automatically has my attention!

Ok you asked for it.
First off let me say, that I have a slightly different approach to the assembly sequence .I like to build so the upper and lower hulls are separable to ease installing the track.

Here we have the Transmission housing, it's nice, but could use a little extra texture.

Here are the bogie trucks minus the top track guides. The assembly is a little tricky, but if you follow the instructions it all works out.

I only used two pieces of the foam in the front pair so they would set a little lower. According to my info the Jumbo was a little nose heavy, and with the concrete even more so.
I used the welded wheels, be sure the grease fittings are on the outside.

Here is where it gets different.
I cut the wings off the firewall, they get glued to the sponson floors.

The lower hull goes together perfectly , note the wings from the firewall on the sponson floors.

The transmission fits without a problem if you are careful with the bottom bolt strip.

Here the upper and lower hulls are test fitted together.

Here's a view of the inside, you should cut a small notch as shown on each side to ease joining and separating the two assemblies .




They come apart like so.


That's all for now.
Donald

I'm going back to the bogies to finish them up.
I drilled the four holes in the fronts, I know they look a little big, but after painting they should be just right.

I added some bolt heads to the rear side, just a little extra detail

Now to the extra armor on the upper hull.
You should clean off the raised detail first.

If you are careful the armor fits perfectly .

There's very nice weld detail.

Be sure to install the Mg. before the Concrete armor, otherwise you aint getting it in there.

The Concrete Armor from DEF Models is mostly a drop fit, verry little trimming is needed.

The bottom side.

Add the fenders to the underside of the concrete armor.

The underside





That's all for now.
Donald

Excellent! Thank you.

I'm bookmarking this thread for reference (my future build).


Cheers,

Christophe

Good stuff! I always like watching your builds Donald!

The spare track blocks are hollow and need filling, you can see them when they are installed.

Pioneer tools will be added after painting.

Here you can see the bottom of the blocks.





Except for the Bogie units this finishes the hull assembly
Donald

I have a little work on the turret finished.





That's all for now.
Donald

I have the Turret assembled.





Now to paint it and start the tracks.
Donald