The end of a M4 1:35

[fam43]

There is a lull in building the TA-152-C and I got a bad cold and a cut in my fingers from the bread slicing machine.
So I use the oppertunity to post another Tank vignette I did in the past. As usual all started with a pic in Wheels Tracks.

I don't know the exact place nor the date of the pic. It shows an early Sherman M-4 75 mm which got more than it needed. Again I don't know what happened to it so I decided it was hit in the right side by tankfire. By the clothes of the GI you see it must be cold. So an Europen battlefield is most likely.

The kit:
There is no burnt rubbertrack on the market as far as I know so I decided it wears steel tracks.
Kitbashing again. The upper hull is MD the lower hull Tamiya and the turret is an old Nichimo part. The running gear is a mix of italeri, Tamiya and Nichimo - just what I found in my trash box. I once made some resin parts which doubled for the gear. A P-47 of my youth days delivered some engine parts. And last but not least many wires and thin metal sheet from mustard and ketchup tubes.

Time for some color

Ny fingers are aching so more when they calme down.

 

[Wayne Little]

Wow, Michael that's a great job mate!

 

[rochie]

amazing, the rust seems just right

 

[mikewint]

Michael, fantastic detail and an excellent job very creative. But I ask the same question I came up against when I built the B-29. All that work and detail on the interior are lost when you put the hull in place. Any way to still see all that detail and hard work?

 

[fam43]

Yes mikewint,
when you look through the open hatches you can still see what's in. But This is a problem with every vignette. You can follow the pic or you open up the tank with lookthrough holes. Myself I prefer the first.

Thanks boys for the nice comments, My fingers are better now and I can do the rest of the story. By the way I did this vignette in 2007. Will leave it as it is but for future projects the link to burnt tracks is worth all its money. http://www.perthmili...a_skeleton.html Thanks to the guy who send me this link.!

Now to The base:
For the base plate I use an old wooden chopping board on which hundreds of sandwitches were cut before. I hope no more fingers! When my wife buys new ones i get the worne out boards. I love this boards and with some friends I compete in doing tank-vignettes exclusively on this small boards.
The ground was build up from fine sand stolen from the strands of the isle Amrum in the North-Sea mixed with PVAC-glue and wallpaint.

The GI:
He is of italeri origin. I fed him with the help of some modelling clay till he got a little more cockered up.

The last pics:

 

[Airframes]

Really excellent work Michael, very good indeed. The terrain in the original picture suggests maybe Italy, and it could be near Monte Casino, as I've seen a pic of a similar wreck taken near the river, below the mount.

 

[woody]

Really excellent work fam43.

 

[mikewint]

After the B-29 and having to cut holes in the fuselage to see the interior compartments I've just decided no more interior detail unless it is visible in some way. I did the engines on the Ho-229 because there were covers I could glue open.
I do admire your artistic skill and wish I had some to do those dioramas

 

[Njaco]

Excellent diorama! Great work!

 

[fam43]

Hi Mikewint,
tank wrecks are predestined for interiors because they are broken up. The trick with "dioramas" is to start one. The rest is a fast-selling item. Try one.

 

[A4K]

Schönes arbeit Michael!

Evan

 

[mikewint]

All you talented guys make it look so easy, would not even know where to begin. Took me 40 years just to learn how to do decals correctly
Vielen Dank, aber wenn ich versuchte, so etwas wie, dass es scheiße aussehen würde.

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

IMPRESSIVE!

 

[Tony Hill]

Great stuff!

I love the "burn marks"