M4A3-E8 uparmoured

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fam43

Senior Airman
423
44
Feb 2, 2009
Southern Germany
I feel I have to break away from airplanes for the moment. In my "treasure chest" I found some usefull tankparts. From Italeri the hull of a M36 B1 and a T23 turret of their M4A1. With lead foil from a roovers shop I took some forms of an Academy Achilles namely the inner parts of the front bulhead and gear. A broken up kit of an Ironside HVSS tank delivered the running gear. The lead forms were backfilled with Plaster making them ready for taken a cast from them with fine artists plaster. I think this is the cheapest way to get relative rough castings adequate for tanks.

These are my results:






Good ole Monogram PzKw IV also deliverd some parts.




The engine and sidewalls are bits and pices from cars and plastic card. The fan is a part of an Italeri M-47 left over from my M-26 built.



 
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Some color always helps to control the construction.





AFV-news (AFV ASSOCIATON) VOL 25 N0.2, VOL 29 No.3 und Vol 36 No.1 has usefull pics for the uparmored Easy Eight.





And this is the poor fellow donating the armorplates.



The upper hull:





The exhaust deflector is more correct for after war versions of the M4A3. Will be changed when Ifound a correct one in my junk boxes.

 
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Meanwhile i started to uparmour the turret.









The track is a cut track from a Tamiya T-62 tank. Later I will change it to Trumpeter T-66 tracks.



The backdated exhaust deflector

 
as a base for the dio Itook a wooden plate normally used to slice sausages or bread on.



Again a filled sparebox is favorable to ad some things on my planned junkyard.





a coat of brownish glaze made the plate look better.





 
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time to dress up the interior of the hull.






A check with the upper hull fitted showed that no more detailing was needed because of the small openings which will be left on the completed tank.



 
The revolving stage for the gunner is part of the turret. Well as I planned to cement the turret on the hull it was easier to do the same with the stage.







Next I added some bits and pieces to the interior of the turret most of them you will not see through the openings and added the main gun the only weapon left in this war weary vehicle.





The turret will be fixed in this position.





 
HAPPY NEW YEAR


Time to finish the plate with sand, gravel. some seeds and a greenish brown color.
The tank got the Trumpeter track. What a nightmare! The tracks are too short by 25 mm. Tiny pins are thought to hold the track together. They don't. Trumpeter is interpreting "moveable track" in a strange way. It moves back to single track links when you try to handle it. Should have taken the nylon track of AFV. Well I have to live with this.













 
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