M4A4 Sherman V
For this past Christmas, a small
number of my internet friends banded together and sent me the Formations
Sherman V update set and the DML Firefly to use as a donor kit. It was with
great anticipation that I started this conversion after all of the great things
that I’ve heard about Formations products. I certainly wasn’t disappointed as
all of the bits and pieces were superbly cast. As it turned out, I had an
entire M4A4 hull kicking around so I was able to save the DML Firefly for
another day.
I chose to use the included markings
for “Condor” of the Three Rivers Regiment in Sicily. After a bit or research, I
found that Condor needed a smoke discharger added to the side of the turret
which I scratchbuilt using bits and pieces from the parts box.
As with all Sherman kits to date, the
upper hull suffered from concave weld seams. I’ve always struggled with
creating these weld seams using the “normal” methods of applying putty or
plastic rod soaked liquid cement, so I embarked on an experiment using solder
wire glued into the trough and then contoured with a broken hobby knife blade.
I am quite pleased with the end results of this first trial and will continue
use this technique for my future builds.
Condor was finished using Tamiya
acrylics and then given a fairly light dusting of pastel chalks. The stone base
is a rough hewn piece of Italian marble from a local flooring store.
Completed
Pictures
Click on thumb nails for larger pictures.
