Part 2: The Build

After doing some research, the idea of turning this into an Israeli Defense Force M1 Sherman was quickly dismissed. It appears that even though possible, it is highly unlikely that this version of M4A3 was used in the condition that the build has you make. Most of the original M4A3 76mm Sherman's that the Israelis' referred to as M1s were purchased from the French and they had some modifications. Most notably was the replacement of the power plant with a radial engine. This of course can't be done with the parts included in the kit but is very easily done with some aftermarket items or a different version of engine deck from Dragon. The other factor was that the Israeli's did not favor the rubber track. The duckbills are fine as they were actually used on M1s and some M-50s before being converted to HVSS. This is not to say that the Israeli's never had a M4A3 (76) W with a diesel engine and rubber chevron with extended end connector track. I am saying that as far as I can tell, they never rolled one into combat with these items included. As always, my builds start with assembling as much of the turret and hull first. I just have to insure that any holes are drilled before gluing it all together. In this case, Dragon shows you where to drill the necessary holes for the BII and turret lifting rings. I did neither and I am sure it will all work out just fine. The hull was easy to get together. As stated in the first look, the front transmission area needs work. To make this easier for me, I used .05 styrene and made two templates to be glued to the left and right final drive plates. This cuts down the amount of sanding required to make the final drive housing flush. Plus, it still allows for the lips to be maintained at the lower hull join. Then the drive sprocket housings have their locating pins shaved off and this is attached as normal. My hope is that this will insure a clean look and by moving the sprocket forward, I will have little slack in the track. The track was also glued together at this time. I truly love Dragon's DS track. No pin marks, glues together with super glue, takes paint well, and looks incredible. The rear hull where the idler mounts needs to have putty added before adding the idler mounts. If you don't, you will end up with a small V near the lower hull that you will need to fix. Once again, Dragon has not fixed the rear tow pintle mounts. These should either be drilled out or have hooks added to them. If you plan to drill them out, do so before attaching the rear plate to the hull. It gives you more room to run the drill bit through. The fronts are the same, but Dragon has included two pintles to put there. I drilled mine out as there is no rear ones included. The outer mounts don't quite fit into the locating holes and you will need to use some form of filler. I used stretched sprue attached with liquid cement and carefully shaped to match the contours. Be especially cautious when attaching parts G12/G13. These are the rear sponson fillers and there are no lips to attach to. I aligned mine as straight as I could and when I matched them to the upper hull, they had a distinct inward toe to them. Also, the grouser box covers need to be sanded off as this version did not carry them. Dragon shows this in the instructions but there is very little room to accomplish this task. Beware when installing part A41. This is the center towing pintle. Assuming it goes the way Dragon wants, it sits too low. I made it through a whole two weeks of transporting it back and forth to work with no incident. However, after having it home on Saturday, I broke off the handle and it has become another casualty of the carpet monster. I replaced it with a piece of .10 Evergreen rod. I would make this an almost last item to install. The front horn is a clear part and has no face detail. You might want to consider replacing this with a spare item or one from an aftermarket set. The turret is a nice little item as well. There is nice texturing on the turret but after attaching the upper and lower halves, there will be sanding that has to be done. Pay attention to the rear spare machine gun barrel holder. The molding process leaves distinct lines under each mount. These require careful and cautious cleanup. Once I was happy with everything, I covered the turret side with Mr. Surfacer 500 and stippled it with a toothbrush for effect. Also, there is no antenna mounts included in this kit, even though the box art shows Thunderbolt VI with one mounted on the right rear. I altered the left one simply because I had already glued on one of the plugs over the right side opening. I then found and used a mount from the spares box. This means I will not be building that particular tank. The TC hatch periscope cover is not quite big enough to cover the opening for the periscope. You will have no problem if you install the periscope up but if you plan to install it down, use caution and patience. Work on the bogies started next. I pre-sprayed all the suspensions parts Humbrol Olive Drab as many of the items will be harder to access once assembled. The pressed solid road wheels are nice but I couldn't seem to get the inner hubs to lock into the divets that Dragon molded into the parts. Overall they turned out nice but to be safe, I ensured that the inner hubs were all on the inside of the suspension parts. The track skid plates are separate items which makes for great cleanup of both the skids and the bogie units. The four bolts are not included on the skids but there are 12 on each V sprue that you can shave off and attach if you are so inclined. I mixed up some squadron green putty with Testors liquid glue to make a smooth brushable paste to apply to the bogie units to cover the join marks. After drying, this was sanded down and the return roller skids were added. I also shaved and attached the bolts to this. I only lost one and I made sure that it was located in the rear next to the hull so as not to be too noticeable. The spare track shoe holders were done next. These are very simple in design but can generate headaches as it is best to liquid glue these and form them. Make sure you have it square and true or you will regret it later. You need to fill the holder locating indents on the rear hull with styrene strip or you will be able to see these when the model is complete. The lights are clear affairs. I mounted the rear lights and realized Dragon gives you the option of plastic only. Why is that? You get the brass or plastic for the front light guards and brass only on the front fenders. Come on Dragon, get your act together and either give it all in brass or all in plastic! Don't be mixing and matching at your discretion. Let the model builder decide! Are the rear lights less seen and therefore don't need brass replacements? It is definitely NOT because the rear styrene guards are more realistic than the front ones are. Also, as I was getting ready to mount my styrene rear light guards, I realized that both of mine were broke where they meet the rear support in the middle. After liquid gluing these and allowing them to dry I started the cautious cleanup. As I attempted to place them over the lights, I realized that the lights were too tall. I had to pull the lights off and sand down the mounts to lower them to get the guards to fit over them. The Etched brass stuff was left till last. The main reason was I hate putting it on and fear of damaging it if I put it on too early. The fenders were their usual terror. The right one went together fine and the left took four attempts. These were then glued in place. I decided to give the tow cable locks a try. On the M4 "Tarawa", I tried and failed to bend them properly. This time, other than the hump on the locking bar, they turned out nice. I have a feeling the wing nuts are going to be blown off during airbrushing but we will see. The sand shield rails were great. They are thicker than Tasca's and therefore held up to my heavy handling while installing them with no bends needing to be smoothed out. The turret, hull and bogies were all painted Humbrol Olive Drab and set aside to dry. The Vehicle was then given a flat black camouflage pattern to match vehicle number 5 (on the instruction sheet) that belonged to the 714th Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, in Germany of 1945. I chose this vehicle because of the camouflage and abundance of markings. The tracks were also painted black at this time. Once dry they were given an ample gloss coat to prepare for the washes. The bogie wheels were painted with my trusty bold 3M pen and while painting them, I noticed I needed to go back and touch up the return roller wheels on almost all of them. The hull, turret and bogies were all given a few coats of clear gloss in preparation of decal application and washes. The decals were applied using Micro Set and Sol. They appear to have gone on well. Two notes. The rear engine decal called out for was too large. It would have never snuggled down over the lift handles on the deck. I chose a smaller one from the sheet that fits in between the lift handles. It doesn't quite sit on the louvers and a better option would be to stencil and paint it. Also, the star that goes on the transmission cover was an issue. Dragon has you place it where it would cover the center tow cable hook. Since I had already attached mine, I just lowered it. A better plan would be to add this item after the decaling process. I ended up having a couple decals silver. I am sure that was my fault for probably not having a smoother surface. I am still experimenting with clear coats. I did notice that these decals absorbed the paint into them which has never happened to me before. I added the .50 caliber and painted and glossed the head and tail light and it looks pretty good. All in all, this is another fine kit from Dragon. As this neared completion, Dragon has announced they will be releasing their DS track as separate kits. Their first two releases are a set of Tiger track and the T-48 without duckbills. I hope these are hits as I can't wait from them to release their T-80 and both sets of the Tarawa track. I would like to thank Dragon Models for a fine kit and IPMS/USA for a place for others to see the build and finished product.

Information, images, and all other items placed electronically on this site are the intellectual property of IPMS/USA ®.