M4 Composite Hull Sherman
Manufacturer: Fine Scale Factory(Kit #TL 019)
I have owned this kit for abouta year now, and have been looking forward to building it sincefirst opening the box. Now that I am finished with the project, Ican honestly say, this was one of the most enjoyable models I'vebuilt. Not only because the kit was of very high quality, butalso because I feel that I have expanded my modeling skills onthis project. I have always felt that adding stowage items, andheavy weathering of tank models really added something to thecompleted product, yet I so very seldom actually did any of that.Mainly it was because I felt that I was running out of time, andneeded to finish a review project that I was commited to, butalso a little bit out of fear of ruining what I was working on.With all of the additional add-ons I've included with thisSherman project, I am encouraged to do this more often withfuture kits too. (Another reason I haven't been going overboardwith the additional detail lately is because when I build reviewkits, I tend to stay fairly close to out-of-the-box. However,since most viewers of this site are already aware of the highquality of FSF kits, I thought I would stretch it a little bitthis time.)
When I first began researchingthe late style of the M4 Composite Hull Sherman, I was concernedabout the accuracy of the early style turret without the loader'shatch, paired with the late style hull. After reading Faustnik'sPreview of the kit, Iwas comforted to learn that I wasn't imagining things, and thathe shared the same concerns as I, as well as introducing a couplemore. However, after further research, I think that we are in agray area here. Regarding the steel bar cleat tracks, I have seenseveral photos of US Marine Corps (USMC) Shermans with this styleof track, so I have no problem with using them. I have also seenseveral photos of USMC late hull Composite Shermans, so I decidedthat I was going to build a USMC version of this tank.
Regarding the turret, I have notbeen able to find any photo that clearly shows the early styleturret paired with the late style hull. I have found one photothat is a possibility, but not conclusive. What I HAVE seen however, is a line drawing within the Squadron/Signal bookSherman in Action, that is clearly of this exact vehicle. Sowhere did Squadron get their information from? I don't know. ButI am not interested in getting into another "Did it, or didit not exist?" controversy, so I am going to take someartistic license, and build what Squadron indicates. If it'sincorrect, then the fault is theirs :)
On to the kit:
As can be seen in my Preview for this kit, it is all resin, andcomposed of a fairly good number of parts for a resin kit. FSFcreated the hull by grafting together the front hull from an ESCIM4A1, and the rear hull of an ESCI M4A3, using the A1 enginedeck. Additional hull improvements include applique armor plateson the hull sides, and improved ventilator covers. There was somerudimentary interior detail provided inside the hull, which Ifelt needed to be added to, so that the hatches could be modeledopen. The turret is modified from the ESCI turret, with theloader's hatch removed, and applique armor plates added to theright cheek. Assembling the kit was fairly easy. Once all theparts were cleaned up, everything fit exactly the way it should.The exception to this was the tracks, which will be explainedbelow.
Turret
The turret was molded solid, butwith an open commander's hatch. Since FSF took the time to addsome detail to the insides of all the vehicle hatches(specifically periscopes), I decided that it would be unfair tonot show it, and decided to model all of the hatches open. Thisof course meant that I needed to hollow out the turret, which Idid, of a sort, but it is very rough and crude, and I did not addany turret interior detail. I planned on placing a commanderfigure in the open turret hatch, which would hide the lack ofinterior.
(As I am writing this article,it occurs to me how dumb I was in how I attempted to hollow outthe turret. I used a Dremel tool to dig down into the resin fromthe commander's hatch opening, which was very delicate anddifficult to do. I just now realized that I could have easilyhollowed it out from the bottom up!)
When FSF filled in the loader'shatch, the filler shrunk a little bit, leaving a slightdepression, which needed to be filled with more putty andsmoothed over. I added some brass details from the Eduard andExtratech Sherman sets, such as the commander's gun sight, .50cal machinegun details, hatch handles and periscope guards. Ialso added some hatch details from styrene, most of which can'tbee seen, because it is on the hatch tops. The lift rings on theturret sides are bent styrene rod, and the one above the gunmantle is brass wire. The searchlight was added from a spare ESCIkit, as was the gun barrel, since the FSF barrel was warped.
Hull
I made several additions to thehull: the machinegun protective shroud mounting rail was madefrom bent solder; lift rings were formed from bent styrene rod;two small handles were added to the engine access hatch frombrass wire; the tail lights were made from styrene with etchedbrass brush guards; a single headlight was taken from the kit(with resin brush guard removed) and etched brass brush guardswere added for all three light stations. Regarding theheadlights, the resin lights in the kit are copies of the fairlypoor lights from the ESCI kit. I have seen a great many photos ofUSMC tanks that have had some or all of their headlights removed,for some reason of which I am not aware. So I attached only asingle headlight, and left the other light sockets empty.
As can be seen in thein-progress scans, there were some other parts that needed to beprovided from a spare ESCI kit. I had to add the hull machinegunand ball mount, the two box air filters on the hull rear, the guntravel lock, and of course the AA machinegun. Handles and etchedbrass periscope guards were added to the hull crew hatches.
For the hull interior, the majorcomponents I added were the sponson storage boxes, the corners ofwhich will be visible through the open hatches. I also added acouple smaller items, such as control sticks for the driver, someplumbing, a canteen sitting on the bulkhead, and a jacket drapedover one of the storage bins. I added the drive shaft and raisedinterior floor from the ESCI kit as well, but you can't see thesewithout a flashlight and close-up view through the hatches.
Chassis
I replaced the two drivesprockets, because there was a small loss of definition in thesprockets in the resin parts. Unfortunately, the resin pieces arejust a wee bit wider than the plastic parts, which is importantin fitting the tracks. I found this out when I started attachingthe tracks, after everything was built and painted :( A bit ofcareful sanding of the sprockets took care of the problem.
I made mention in my JumboSherman review that theJumbo kit mistakenly came with four left side bogie trucks (wheelsuspension units), and only two right side units, so in order tobuild the Jumbo, I stole a right side unit from this Compositekit. Now that I needed one to finish this Sherman, I replaced itwith one from the ESCI kit. That ESCI kit is pretty muchscavenged now, and is only good for spare parts.
Painting
At this stage, I startedpainting. First was the interior, which I painted off-white, andhighlighted with white. After masking off the interior, I paintedthe hull and turret olive drab (Polly Scale acrylic), and then Idid my standard wash technique with a black wash, and then ahighlight coat of paint.
I started the weathering(drybrushing and rust and brown washes) while the vehicle wasstill disassembled like this, in order to reach behind thewheels, and more easily handle the vehicle. I painted andattached the tracks, and then weathered them extensively too.After applying the decals and dull coating, it was time to gluethe hull together.
Tracks
After attaching the wheels, butbefore gluing on the tracks, set the tank down flat on somesandpaper that has been placed on a hard, flat surface. Gentlysand the bottoms of the wheels all at once to make sure that allof them touch the ground evenly. Don't take off too much, becausethen the wheels may look flat! Just enough so that they sitevenly. If one or more wheels is so out of whack that you wouldneed to grind down the others to their rims, then perhaps youneed to re-attach it.
I'm not sure if I did somethingwrong with the tracks, but if I did, it was major. The tracks inmy kit were not nearly long enough. For a portion of the bottomtrack run (the length on the ground) I used some leftover track Ihad from my FSF Jumbo Sherman kit. Seven links on each side, tobe exact. Since those links are on the ground, you can't noticethe difference, unless you pick up the tank (which judges aresure to do, so I'll have to "attach" it to a base if Ichoose to enter it into a show). Tracks from an ESCI Shermanwould also work. I would be curious to know if others have hadthis same problem, because if so, then it is something that FSFneeds to fix for future kits. Six track lengths came with my kit;a seventh would have been perfect.
In order to have the tracklengths sit atop the track skids (or wheels or return rollers inother kits), apply some glue to the tops of the skids, slide thetrack into place, and stick in some small pieces of plastic rod(or other appropriate implement) to act as spacers that willpress the track to the skids. Remove the spacers when the glue isdry.
Finishing
Once the hull was joined, andthe necessary touch-ups done, I sprayed a thin coat of dust overthe entire thing. I wanted to do that after the decals, so thatthe markings would also be weathered, but before I attached thestowage, in order to make those items stand out more. I attachedthe stowage items and then added a lot of pastel chalks for theextensive weathering (which does not appear in the photos asheavy as it truly is). I was concerned that I was overdoing it,but after speaking with a Pacific veteren, I think I need to rustit even more. Metal stuff rusted extremely quickly in the saltair, and the tanks were no exception.
The markings were supposed torepresent a "generic" USMC tank, based on numerousphotos of real tanks. The large star on the engine deck, as wellas the smaller one on the turret roof, were for air recognition.The stars on the hull sides were painted over, so as not toprovide convenient targets for Japanese anti-tank gunners.
But then I made a very seriousmistake. I found some generic US serial numbers to put on therear corners of the hull, which is quite incorrect. Not knowingany better, I had assumed that the "USA" above theregistration number stood for "United States ofAmerica". Of course, I found out later that is actuallystands for "United States Army", which is a really dumbmove on my part. Live and learn. I won't be making that mistakeagain (there are plenty of other mistakes I have yet to makefirst). The stars and serial numbers are waterslide decals froman old Microscale sheet. The small "Betty Boop" logoson the turret cheeks are dry transfers from SMA/SSP.
The stowage items came from avariety of sources. The box on the engine deck and the bedroll onthe turret rear are from ARMO accessory sets, the gas can is froman ESCI WC51 kit (heavily modified), the .50cal ammo boxes arefrom MR Models , the rucksacks and bags are MarS (with strapsmade from lead foil), and the .45cal "grease gun"submachinegun is from MMS. The helmet on the front deck is cutfrom the head of an ESCI hard plastic figure, and the spare wheelon the hull front is from my "spare parts" ESCI Shermankit.
This was a excellent kit, andI'd like to thank Fine Scale Factory for providing the review sample.
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