M4A3 (76) HVSS prepared for shipping overseas
![Album image #1 Album image #1](/albums/img/0/2/1/883021-66321-21-720.jpg)
Rear grille replaced by plastic card to give the same depth, so as to not waste the nice kit part
![Album image #2 Album image #2](/albums/img/0/2/4/883024-66321-21-720.jpg)
Grille, engine access door and exhausts taped up, using 1.5 mm wide strips cut from Tamiya masking tape, and secured in place by wiping superglue over it
![Album image #3 Album image #3](/albums/img/0/2/3/883023-66321-52-720.jpg)
Hull front with spare Dragon hatches, again so the nice Tamiya parts aren’t wasted.
![Album image #4 Album image #4](/albums/img/0/2/7/883027-66321-87-720.jpg)
Hull front with hatches, machine gun mount and headlight sockets taped up
![Album image #5 Album image #5](/albums/img/0/2/2/883022-66321-54-720.jpg)
Tamiya turret with a spare Asuka vision cupola and Italeri hatch, as using the Tamiya cupola would be a waste of a well-detailed part
![Album image #6 Album image #6](/albums/img/0/2/8/883028-66321-29-720.jpg)
Engine deck, turret front and muzzle brake taped up
![Album image #7 Album image #7](/albums/img/0/2/5/883025-66321-38-720.jpg)
Scratchbuilt pallet for engine deck
![Album image #8 Album image #8](/albums/img/0/2/6/883026-66321-24-720.jpg)
Pallet in place on engine deck (but still loose)
![Album image #9 Album image #9](/albums/img/1/3/7/884137-66321-63-720.jpg)
Crate for left side of engine deck
![Album image #10 Album image #10](/albums/img/1/3/8/884138-66321-69-720.jpg)
Suspension units with tie-down brackets added
![Album image #11 Album image #11](/albums/img/7/2/6/887726-66321-78-720.jpg)
Commander’s hatch and gunner’s periscope taped up, and springs on loader’s hatch cut away, with attachment points replaced by aluminium strip (most of which will be covered by tape later)
![Album image #12 Album image #12](/albums/img/7/2/5/887725-66321-27-720.jpg)
Loader’s hatch and periscope now also taped up
![Album image #13 Album image #13](/albums/img/0/8/1/888081-66321-39-720.jpg)
Both crates for the rear deck, the smaller from the earlier picture and now also the larger; both scratchbuilt from plastic card and very thin plastic sheet (Tamiya “pla-paper”)
![Album image #14 Album image #14](/albums/img/0/8/2/888082-66321-25-720.jpg)
Pallet with crates in place on the engine deck, though still loose
![Album image #15 Album image #15](/albums/img/8/8/6/888886-66321-52-720.jpg)
Acrylic gel put over the tape with a spatula, to fill gaps and (hopefully) suggest some folds that aren’t possible with just the tape; this was smeared in the direction of the tape, to avoid obliterating all the edges
![Album image #16 Album image #16](/albums/img/8/8/7/888887-66321-46-720.jpg)
Rear deck with tail lights covered in tape, and holes for tools filled but not yet sanded down
![Album image #17 Album image #17](/albums/img/4/7/1/889471-66321-41-720.jpg)
Turret glued to hull, and gap between the two then closed with plenty more strips of tape
![Album image #18 Album image #18](/albums/img/0/9/1/891091-66321-17-720.jpg)
Tool brackets added to rear hull from aluminium plate, as tools would have been stowed inside and/or in the crates
![Album image #19 Album image #19](/albums/img/0/9/0/891090-66321-66-720.jpg)
“Comb device” added to hull front, with brake lock cable running through machine gun mount
![Album image #20 Album image #20](/albums/img/5/8/5/891585-66321-96-720.jpg)
Hull front now with headlight and horn guards, from an Asuka M4A3E2, which doesn’t need them
![Album image #21 Album image #21](/albums/img/5/8/6/891586-66321-46-720.jpg)
Springs added to loader’s hatch, from copper wire and a few bits of plastic strip
![Album image #22 Album image #22](/albums/img/5/8/7/891587-66321-56-720.jpg)
Rear deck with stowage shelf, taken from an ancient Italeri Sherman and detailed, because the Tamiya part is moulded in the open position
![Album image #23 Album image #23](/albums/img/5/0/8/892508-66321-56-720.jpg)
Sand shields, from an Asuka M4A4 so widened by 6 mm
![Album image #24 Album image #24](/albums/img/5/0/7/892507-66321-57-720.jpg)
All the bits except for the tracks
![Album image #25 Album image #25](/albums/img/3/0/3/899303-66321-98-720.jpg)
Model sprayed Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab overall
![Album image #26 Album image #26](/albums/img/3/0/2/899302-66321-93-720.jpg)
Added highlights in centres of panels, an overall black wash and drybrushing with lighter shades of olive (Revell 42 Yellowish Olive and 45 Light Olive)
![Album image #27 Album image #27](/albums/img/3/0/1/899301-66321-41-720.jpg)
Applied stars and shipping codes from Archer dry transfers
![Album image #28 Album image #28](/albums/img/4/4/4/911444-66321-88-720.jpg)
Markings added from various Archer dry transfer sets
![Album image #29 Album image #29](/albums/img/4/4/5/911445-66321-88-720.jpg)
Par-al-ketone waterproofing coating added with semigloss black paint, sprayed slightly not thin enough to get spatter effect, and deliberately not neatly
![Album image #30 Album image #30](/albums/img/2/3/7/936237-66321-40-720.jpg)
Track painted and installed … the wrong way round 🙁
![Album image #31 Album image #31](/albums/img/2/3/6/936236-66321-26-720.jpg)
Now both on correctly!
![Album image #32 Album image #32](/albums/img/4/6/4/936464-66321-10-720.jpg)
Right front of finished model
![Album image #33 Album image #33](/albums/img/4/6/6/936466-66321-19-720.jpg)
Left rear of finished model
![Album image #34 Album image #34](/albums/img/4/6/5/936465-66321-19-720.jpg)
Left side of finished model
![Album image #35 Album image #35](/albums/img/4/6/3/936463-66321-72-720.jpg)
Antwerp dock worker motioning for the crane to come closer
Коментарі
11 25 November 2020, 21:26
![](/profiles/img/66321-723-s.png)
Probably not, though I toyed with the idea. Two main reasons: first is that about the only available options for a flatcar are 1) German or 2) scratchbuilt. Though I can imagine captured German rolling stock being used by the Allies, reason No. 2 is that I hardly have the room to display the tank at the moment, never mind a flatcar that's twice as big 🙁
1 December 2020, 19:31
![](/profiles/img/43210-278-s.jpg)
Here's one that looks to be the right era: grw.trains.com/news/..del-products-flatcar
I believe MTH (Mike's Train House) also makes 1:32 US prototype flatcars from the 1940's era.
2 December 2020, 13:16
![](/profiles/img/43210-278-s.jpg)
Piko and Marklin also make or used to make them. I have some Marklin 1:32 us prototype flatcars on my garden railroad.
2 December 2020, 13:19
![](/profiles/img/66321-723-s.png)
Thanks, I'll check that out and decide whether I have the room or not 🙂
3 December 2020, 09:22
Album info
The Tamiya M4A3 (76) HVSS kit, with waterproofing and crates as the real tank would have been shipped from the USA.