Sherman M4A3E8

1/35 scale Rye Field Model kit #5028

This kit brings me out of my 'comfort zone', as I never made any American WWII armor and I wanted to fix this error, and also to try one of the new brand that have emerged in recent years.

And I'm not disappointed, what a beautiful kit ! Very fine, lot of details, not so much adding needed !
One con of this kit, the choice of the T80 type tracks, instead of the T66 which are more common seen on photos ..

Firstly, the main hull and running gear.
It only needs to refine some details, and remake the handles in 0.3mm brass rods.
As well as the rear rack remade in 0.13mm styrene, because the kit part was definitely too thick...
I also modified the exhaust pipes by adding a plastic rod so that I could dismantle them to paint them apart ! (I also drilled the secondary exhaust)
Note also the idler wheel which remains mobile in order to facilitate the tension of the tracks, as on the real vehicle.
I also add some details on the tools, just by adding a few details and refine all the parts details.
I also add some straps using masking tape.
The hull machine gun is not glued yet, to be painted separately.

Secondly, the turret.
I transformed a little some shapes by using Tamiya Epoxy Putty, then reworked a bit the casting texture using Tamiya Putty and a brush or a blade to spread it as a casting imperfection.
Note about it, the texture is very realistic from the kit, but a bit to smooth in my opinion, photos reference show a more rough texture, with a lot of defects …
Then I decided to remake the lifting hooks using 1mm plastic rod, because there are molding line on the kit piece, and as I wanted to remake the welds, they were nothing to salvage.
Speaking of welds, references images shows very smooth welds, instead of the very textured weld beads of the kit’s parts .. Next, I focused on the tarp fixation things, which are not in the kit. They are 2 gun mantlet provided, one smooth, and the other one with tabs to glue the tarp on.
But as I’m here to add detail, I grabbed my 0.5 brass, some styrene, a very small drill bit and added a lot of pieces.
Last step, the machine gun ! Which is very detailed, and also way too complex in my opinion … (Special thanks to my photoshoot who let me see a lot of CA glue squeeze out to clean …)

Here is a tutorial on how I assemble the workable tracks !

RFM provides some guides to assemble the tracks, but imo they are not very usefull .. Because I use extra thin cement, so everything was covered in glue, even if I was extra carefull !
And assembled like explained in the instruction, there were some gaps between 2 pad parts at the end .. So here is what I ended with :

1 - Here is all the needed parts, all sanded and prepared for assembly (and it tooks a loooong time !)
2 - Beware of the connector side when assembly !
3 - Apply glue only on the middle of the pad, or only on the red area, but not more !
4 - Position the connector (quickly to not let the glue dry !)
5 - Glue the top half of the pad, be careful of glue squeeze out on the connector axle !
6 - Repeat the operation with the other pad
7 - Use a little amount of glue to seal the joint between the two halves
8 - Do the same on the other side, be extra carefull to not put too much glue, or it will ruin all we did ... !
(note the shi**y Mr Cement S brush ...)
9 - Almost done, here is 1/152th of the entire job !
10 - Move all track link component to be sure everything went fine
11 & 12 - Cut the axle, leaving 0.5 - 0.8mm on each side (more or less will cause trouble later ..)
13 - Assemble the track by clicking each pin previously made. The inside of the pads are beveled, who helps !
14 - Repeat operation until you have 76 links per side !
Final - The track is now fully movable, pretty strong, and I added a brass rod to properly close it !

Hope that's clear, and helpfull !

Here is the tank I"m reproducing.
It looks to be in Germany in 1945, wearing the same tracks as the kit. And the most important, it looks camouflaged !

For the painting I was (heavily) inspired by Uncle Night Shift T29E3, and use the same mix for base OD, shade and lights - Which is 60% XF-62 Olive Drab + 30% XF-49 Khaki + 10% XF-57 Buff + some clear, shade was darken with black, light with XF-20 Deck Tan.
I really enjoy the tones and definitly use it in the future !
Weathering with oil washes then dusts/dirt using Mig Splashes.