Building Tamiya's M51 Super Sherman

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

M51 box art by Brembo2012, on Flickr

I've been keen to start this kit ever since i started research for my recently completed tamiya M1 IDF Sherman. For some reason the M1 seems to have the name 'super sherman' attached to it also, but for me the M51 is the true Super Sherman....its wider, its bigger, its gun is enormous and it represents the ultimate extension of the Sherman lineage.


armour 006 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

So i had to be paitent and wait till the M1 was completed before i started this one! its a typical tamiya build....no fuss, good fit, clear instructions and there were no surprizes in the initial build up.
There was some minor filling and sanding to be done around the mantlet canvas cover.


armour 004 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

i also added my own towcable from lead wire, fashioned an attachment point on the front hull trans cover, and also put in the front guard supports from plastic card ( these are always missing on Tamiya kits).
Lastly i replaced the headlight cover with a lead foil replacement which is much thinner than the placky bit. in this pic i've also added a set of packs to the rear of the turret bustle. adding more stowage was the next step!


005 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

from here i organised a number of items for the rear deck, as in service pics show these tings festooned with eqpt, and that was the feel i was looking for. So to the rear i've added rolled and covered canvas tarps (from milliput) ammo crates and extra packs around the turret rear.


P1020560 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

im close to laying some paint down, so that will be the next step...

[DieselRocket.]

I love this kit! Every time I surf Sprue Brothers I am tempted. Your photos tempt me more. But, I have the Dragon version in my stash... just can't get past the guilt I would feel buying another one!

[TRM]

Buy 2, buy 2!!! ;D ;D

Looking real nice so far...keep it going!!! Mmmmm....Paint!!!

[spud]

very nice

[Deleted]

Yes indeed another fine build and probably a kit that will find it's way to the stash soon! Nice work so far

[wbill76]

The ultimate Sherman, looking forward to seeing what you do with this one!

[bigjohn]

Nice kit, and nice progress!

Kyle, the guilt will go away, LOL

[bbd468]

Sept 18, 2012 20:26:32 GMT -5 bigjohn said:

Nice kit, and nice progress!

Kyle, the guilt will go away, LOL

John, ill talk him into buying it and sell Dragon kit to me cheap! ;D

Brembo, That is one sweet build bud! Im looking forward to see more.

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

Well Nemo, I'd be keen to take your academy M51!.....if for no other reason than to compare it with the Tamiya build. But it is also the later version of the M51 and that in itself is interesting (to me). So place it in the matter transporter and key in ...N...Z...LOL.....and i will turn it into the tamiya one.

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

latest progress....


P1020567 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

M51 gets its undercoat/basecoat in Tamiya flat black...I love the smell of acrylic in the morning...


P1020569 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

Hull is not quite done, getting into those nooks and crannies is quite an art. I'll leave this coat to tack off and come back in the morning to seal up the missed areas and tackle the turret....

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

models 2 019 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

blackity- blacck...sherm.

[wbill76]

I agree with Dicky...looks awful mean in the straight black!

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

Moving on.....started doing the base sand coats today


models 4 009 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

The Tamiya instructions specify a spraycan colour TS 46 desert sand, i prefer to use acrylics, so at this stage the base is done using XF 58 Desert Yellow, thinned down to 50/50. This way i can build up the colour base in layers and still retain a pre-shade effect


models 4 013 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
In this pic the hull has had its initial shader coat, the turret is still to be done


models 4 012 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
this overhead shows the preshade effect quite well. There are still plenty more layers to do, but best not obliterate it on the first go


models 4 014 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
this is the completed turret on the chassis, which is looking a little darker than the hull. I had to do a remix for the turret and there was some initial variation on the paint thickness. i'll even this out as i progress through with additional layers...

[bigjohn]

Looks sweet! I like how your building up the layers of color.

[bbd468]

Fine work there brembo! Love the paint job.

Gary

[wbill76]

Nice job with the shading, coming along nicely!

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

adding the Blend coat:


models 6 023 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

the next colour used was Tamiya XF57 Buff, which is used both as a highlighter and as a blender to tie in the dark to light contrast. This helps give that modulated overhead light effect, as the top and upper surfaces receive a little more highlighting than the sides and lower chassis parts. There's no special secret to this technique, i do it by eye and by studying pictures of the real thing and looking at how the light effects differant surfaces (B&W pics are really useful for this).


models 6 024 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

This pic of the turret shows the difference in colour between the first base colour (as seen on the hatch inner surfaaces and the canvas mantlet cover) and lighter buff coat, quite well.


models 6 027 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

The completed high light coat on the chassis!.....next step is to start blocking in all the detail painting on the tools, stowage, j-cans and spare track.
after that i will prepare for markings....dry rubs first, then gloss coat prior to decals.....still plenty left to do! but its starting to come to life

[Deleted]

really nice work I can see that the variations in colour will really help pop out the details

[wbill76]

Nice work with the color variations, really starting to come to life now.

[bbd468]

Love the color tones you have applied...looks fantastic!!!

Gary

[wing_nut]

Generally not a big Sherman fan. But I am becoming a Super Sherman fan. Looks great.

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

managed to squeeze in the block painting on the stowage, tracks, j-cans etc...today

models 8 002 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
i've been trying out these new Italeri paints on this task and so far so good.

models 8 004 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
at this stage im just getting the base colours in place, i'll attend to shading a little later on, after i get done with filters and washes.

models 8 003 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
Ive also added in the 2 oil cans on the front fender...a late addition to the vehicle stores but quite commonly seen in this posi on IDF shermans.

another layer of detail added....the more i do the more i want to finish it!

giddy up ;D

[bullardino]

Nice, I like it

Can't wait to see another update.

[bigjohn]

This is looking pretty sweet!

[wbill76]

Detail work is really adding some nice contrasts and bringing this one to life!

[danb.]

You cant go wrong with a Tamiya kit this build is looking awesome a Super Sheman i like keep up the good work

Dan B

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

Todays Updates:

I finaly re-located my dry rub israeli markings which had been holding things up a little. so today the turret numbers were applied

models 9 001 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
these are the verlinden markings and were prettystraight forward to apply (i had used the same sheet on my M1) and i have to say that many years of doing those patterson blick dry rub picture books as a boy came in quite handy... ;D

models 9 002 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
i consulted my reference for the extra inspiration to move things forward, in this case the excellant article titled 'Sinai Warrior' in Tamiya model magazine.

models 9 003 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
after the dry rubs were settled in a coat of Tamiya acrylic gloss was applied liberally in prep for both the waterslide decals and the initial washes/filters. Shiny tanks are a bit of an aberation in my mind but a neccesary evil as part of the process...

models 9 005 by Brembo2012, on Flickr
this is now left overnite to dry off.....decals tomorrow

in the meantime a new bit turned up today to add to the tank
So, i was tempted by the new Tasca M2 50 cal kit for vehicle mounts.
the kit 50 is ok but this one looks better!

models 9 004 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

also the crew got a shake out today, these are the Verlinden isreali crew
and i will be using 2 of the 3 figures for this tank, havent decided which ones yet, so i'll play with the poses to see which ones look best.

models 7 012 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

[`Boots`]

Looking real sweet Rich............great work so far

[brembo--Rest In Peace]

Decals on today.....

models 9 004 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

putting thos white inverted 'V's on is a fun job . hot tip start at the top an work down!

models 9 003 by Brembo2012, on Flickr

the rest were a doodle..

So...........now it's time to start the weathering, let the games begin

[wbill76]

Markings look good! The Tasca .50 is one of if not the best available on the market in styrene. Looking forward to the weathering!