M4A3 (90 mm) HVSS, Operation Coronet, 1946

[Jakko]

before I really went down the wiffy hole I'd built over 200 models..planes first then armour..since then even my time in the army didn't stop my building armored vehicles.. freaking hundreds of em

I've been building models for over 40 years, at varying rates depending on other interests, and though I've always built things that you could call either "what-if" or plain fantasy, for as long as I have considered myself a serious modeller, realism and accuracy have been important factors for me. Sure, I can and might build a model that's essentially random stuff from all kinds of others stuck together but I wouldn't call it a "what-if" model because I can't find the realism in, say, using a Panzer IV hull with T-64 suspension, Sherman tracks and a Bradley turret: there is no logical extrapolation that I can see to get from real-world things to a model like that. As plain science-fiction model that doesn't pretend to be a Panzer IV derivative, sure. As a fictional variant of a real-world vehicle, no. What I basically build in this genre is the latter. I need to work out to my own satisfaction how and why this variant might have existed, had history run slightly differently.

..for me..

This (even if it's a quote out of context), though, hits the nail on the head: we build models primarily for ourselves, so whatever works for you is how you should do it Sure, it's fun to share them with others who can appreciate them, but I don't think we should measure other people's models by our own standards. This keeps everybody happy

Oh by the way..bloody loving this build 😀 👏

Great

Let's finish this model, then ...

After shading and highlighting, I added decals for markings:

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They're from a number of of sources, mainly Tamiya and Italeri kits because I have decals going back almost my entire 40+-year modelling career ... Black stars on the hull sides, to represent them having been painted out by the crews so they don't form nice aiming marks for the Japanese, the turret number is from a Tamiya Sherman kit's Pacific theatre markings, the name is from yet another kit, etc. It doesn't really necessarily mean anything when added together but gives a good impression of typical US Army markings in the PTO.

After the decals, I could start weathering the model:

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This is a combination of washes, drybrushing, not-so-drybrushing, Tamiya weathering sticks, and more to give a very dirty lower hull (and a less dirty turret, but not pictured here). I looked into the soil colours in Japan so I could pick paints that seem to fit. In southern Honshu, it turns out the soil is often a fairly dark brown colour, which I tried to replicate. This makes it less visible than it could be against the OD of the tank, but I think I got it looking right for a tank that has been in-country for a while.

The rubber of the wheels and the inside of the track were painted with a dark grey and then given a wash of thinned-down Indian ink, roughly anywhere between 1:1 and 1:2 ink to water. After that dried, I drybrushed them with a few shades of grey again. I really like the look this gives to rubber parts, though you have to be careful applying a wash thinned with water over it, because the ink might run.

The tow cable, BTW, because I see I forgot to mention it earlier, is made with eyes from the kit plus copper wire. The wire comes from a length of electrical cable, that I twisted together with a hand drill and a hook I screwed into the wall above my work surface. The main difficulty is working out how many strands to use for the cable to fit the eyes, and I wish I could remember how many I used here ...

[Jakko]

And the finished model:

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The empty casings are from the AFV Club turned-brass 90 mm set, given a coat of Tamiya Smoke to make them look less like polished brass, and drybrushed around the open end with black. They're positioned on the engine deck as if they have been thrown out of the pistol port with the turret as in the last photo

Oh yeah, and the antennas are 0.3 mm spring steel — great for antennas, because it will bend back if you happen to hit it by accident (unless you break off the whole antenna mount, of course).

[Old Wombat]

OK, the masked TC looks a little like a Battle Gerbil but, other than that slightly disorientating element, that's come out really well! Weathering is looking exceptionally good!  


(And it looks like four strands of wire for the cable. )

[Wardukw]

Very very nice matey 👍 👌
Subtle weathering is bang on..that's what I call a very clean build..top notch stuff 😀

[Jakko]

that slightly disorientating element

That was pretty much the purpose of adding the gas mask Well, that, and because there was the fear IRL that the Japanese might use chemical weapons when defending their homeland.

that's come out really well! Weathering is looking exceptionally good!  

Thanks I'm pretty happy with it myself.

(And it looks like four strands of wire for the cable. )

It was more like fourteen The wires are something like 0.1 mm each, and it was definitely more than ten of them.

Very very nice matey 👍 👌
Subtle weathering is bang on..that's what I call a very clean build..top notch stuff 😀

Thanks Like I said, the weathering doesn't show up that well against the OD, it's more obvious if you see the model in the flesh. I'm not inviting any of you over to look at it, though

[buzzbomb]

Nice work. Weathering is very good.

[Weaver]

That looks really good - well done, and welcome to the madhouse! 

[Old Wombat]

Thanks Like I said, the weathering doesn't show up that well against the OD, it's more obvious if you see the model in the flesh. I'm not inviting any of you over to look at it, though

Rude!

[kerick]

Rats!   
Really well done. And it seemed to go pretty quickly. That would have taken me months.

[Jakko]

Thanks all

That would have taken me months.

Oh, this took me ... (checks the dates on the photos) ... from 25 January 2021 to 3 April 2021. So call it two months — which is pretty quick for me, especially considering I began building a medium tank M3 around the time the basic paintwork on this model was finished but before I built the tracks and did the weathering etc. Though, of course, it being two years ago is why I could post the whole thing here in just a few days

I've got a few other finished models I intend to post about here, and am still thinking about how to do an M247 Sgt. York what-if ... US Army M247A1 with Stingers? Israeli with Merkava tracks? South Korean with skirt plates? Something else yet?

[zenrat]

Thanks Like I said, the weathering doesn't show up that well against the OD, it's more obvious if you see the model in the flesh. I'm not inviting any of you over to look at it, though

Rude!

I agree.  I love to visit The Netherlands.  I was all packed, leave booked, flights sorted, and then this.
Now what am I going to do with the time.
 

Seriously though, good job.   

[NARSES2]

That's a terrific job 

That was pretty much the purpose of adding the gas mask Well, that, and because there was the fear IRL that the Japanese when defending their homeland.

And here's me thinking one of his crewmates had had baked beans for lunch ?  Either that or one of my American relatives was serving aboard her 

[Jakko]

I agree.  I love to visit The Netherlands.  I was all packed, leave booked, flights sorted, and then this.
Now what am I going to do with the time.
 

Despite not liking that city very much, I'm just following Amsterdam's lead

Seriously though, good job.   

That's a terrific job 

Thanks, guys

And here's me thinking one of his crewmates had had baked beans for lunch ?  Either that or one of my American relatives was serving aboard her 

Chances of that might be pretty high ... I just noticed (only two years later) that it also looks a lot like he's leaving the tank in a hurry.

[Wardukw]

From what read and if it's correct US WW2 baked beans would have you doing a massive drum solo very quickly ..so this is very plausible 
It's also a good experience for leaving a tank under extreme duress 

[Jakko]

It's how they trained for getting out ASAP when the tank got hit.