It's been a long day but I've been looking forward to getting back home after the weekend, so that I can crack on with the last of the tank building for the What a Tanker! Battle of the Bulge project. This is getting close to the painting stage, in which I'm planning to blitz most of the models in one go. I think this will be the quickest way to get them on to the wargames table, even if I have to cut a few corners in the painting process.
The only things I have left to glue together are a couple of Armourfast M18 Hellcats and three PSC M5A1 light tanks. The M5A1 kit is lovely, with one piece track units to speed things up, lots of options for mid and late war versions and even some crew figures to add to the turret hatches. I'll build mine as a mix of mid and late configurations. It will be interesting to see how they square up against a Panther or Mark IV, in a classic three against one scenario.
I also have a couple of old Armourfast M4 75mm Shermans that I was planning to use as M4A4 proxy models for the British. On second thoughts, this wouldn't look right so my Plan B is to cut off the sandguards, add some applique armour panels and cover them in stowage, to make them additions to the US collection. There were plenty of them around in late '44 and early '45, as they had been refurbished and up armoured to replace combat losses.
I may or may not get round to doing this but it would be an enjoyable modelling challenge and a worthwhile addition to the US tank arsenal. I have even found another source of 1/72nd scale resin sandbag armour on eBay, with four frontal pieces and some unditching log sections for the sides in each set. The range is specifically designed for the Armourfast kits too, which means I'm now kicking myself for not locating them sooner. I did get a very nice resin stowage set, however, that will be perfect for loading up the M4's.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/fogmodels
I've been enjoying your US armour series of builds. I agree that the PSC M5A1s are a great kit and go together well but I would suggest a couple of little tweaks. The hull MG supplied looks like a cannon compared to the main gun so best replaced with a bit of rod. The tow hook needs drilling out or it looks weird when painted. And if you are planning on leaving the turrets free to rotate the turret ring could use a bit of expansion during assembly - otherwise it is a very tight fit even if you manage to keep it completely paint free.
ReplyDeleteCheers, Dave
Thanks Dave,
ReplyDeleteGood advice and very useful. I've found the fit of the turrets on other PAC models to be a bit of a squeeze too.