Another converted Sherman

[Captain Canada]

That's for sure !

[kerick]

Finally past the road wheel stage! If someone invented an automatic road wheel painting machine I would buy it!
I added the track temporarily to make sure I had clearance for the extra side armor. Looks a little like an M113 at this angle.



Here is the Bradley hatch cover taped in place and a new armor panel for the front of the Sherman. Lots of these to go yet.



The hatch cover needs some cutting down to make it look like it belongs there. 2mm strips provided the perfect spacing between the armor panel and the hull. More jigsaw pieces of armor to follow.

[kerick]

Thanks
Hmmmm.. A Sheridan turret but with a new gun! Interesting...

[Captain Canada]

looking good ! Does look a little modern from that side shot, but that's just the shape of the armour. Once to see the suspension and the pic from the front that goes away rather quickly. Love the look so far !

[kerick]

I ordered the boltheads from Tichy Train Group on 8/31 and they arrived today. And that was "standard" shipping. I ordered product number 8085 and they look like a perfect match for the bolts on the Bradley armor. Price was reasonable too. I'll be using them again!

[Captain Canada]

Cool. I'll have to go check them out !

[kerick]

Tried out the bolt heads and they work pretty well. Applied some non slip coating to the upper hull using Rustoleum American Accents Terra Cotta spray paint. This paint works well to simulate the rubbery stuff on the horizontal surfaces of most modern AFVs. Pics will follow as the cell phone battery died.

[kerick]

Now for a real update!
Here's the non slip coating applied to the top of the hull.



Here's the top view.



Bolts in place.





This is a box to hold TOW reload rounds. The black is part of a ship base that I cut off at a distance that seemed reasonable to hold several TOW missiles. Plastic sheet was glued to two sides and I sanded the edges flush. I made a hatch with hinges from the Bradley kit and a spring that was rolling around the benchtop. I attached one of the Sherman kit storage boxes and the field phone box to the rear. I may add a Sherman road wheel to the sides later.







I dithered around about the headlights and such and finally decided to use the modern ones from the Bradley. The kit includes the newer M2A2 units and the original type. I used the original ones and attached them M113 style.



Still a lot to do to get to the painting stage. I have to build the battering ram or mine clearing device yet.

[Rick Lowe]

Looking really good so far!

Cheers

[Captain Canada]

Great stuff. Love the anti-slip coating ! Great idea there. The TOW box and it's associated details look great as well. Nice work, I really like watching this one come together !

[Vorcha]

that armour is pretty impressive, looks amazing!

[kerick]

Thanks for the comments!
The Terra Cotta paint is really easy to use. Just mask off where you want it and give a good shot. No problems sticking to the plastic or anything like that.

[kerick]

Here is just a few of the pieces I've been finiggling with to put together a battering ram.



End result





Knock, knock. Who's there?



Good place for a couple of road wheels



The ram plastic is gray as the parts came from a ship kit.
I need to finish the details on the turret and see about some BUSK mods.

[kerick]

I'm considering this pattern or something much like it for a paint scheme.

http://media.wix.com/ugd/279ff1_4f5468b52e5943cabec26863f36e9808.pdf

[Captain Canada]

" Set the ram to battering !" lol

Looks good, excellent scratch building. That Berlin Urban scheme would look great on her.