Axeman 585 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 It has been several months since I posted on my D7. I was working on the Eduard 1/48 P-51D-5, one photo below. But I am back and working on a new kit. Some of you may remember I was working on an M4A3 Sherman and scratch building the interior. Well now we have it in kit form. I will probably bring back some comparison pictures from my original build. I started on this kit by removed a lot of circular mold markings as well as the molded in wiring which I am planning on scratch building. Also the rear engine hatch I drilled holes and added wire so the door opens and closes. That is it for now. 6 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 Also have some additional detail to add and try, MJ Miniatures light guards and us clamp tool set, ammo tool clamps, and friulmodel T-66 type tracks. 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bomber_County 10,158 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 9 hours ago, Axeman said: Also have some additional detail to add and try, MJ Miniatures light guards and us clamp tool set, ammo tool clamps, and friulmodel T-66 type tracks. Looking forward to this, haven’t built RFM yet, what’s your opinion?...... 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted January 11 Author Share Posted January 11 The detail is great and is accurate. Just a lot of the mold release marks in the middle of big pieces. I am sure they need those to get the detail. It has not been bad removing them just time consuming. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harv 10,457 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Oh cool !......harv 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 Did some more work this week. Glue to tub side walls only tapping the rear engine door and inserting the transmission at the front to ensure the fit is good. removed the molded wiring from the upper engine walls and the fuel tanks for test fitting. finally did work on the engine. Added an Anyz line connector to the fuel pump (item with the photo etch) as I want to add wiring between front and rear carburetor. More to do this week. 10 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bomber_County 10,158 Posted January 19 Share Posted January 19 9 hours ago, Axeman said: Did some more work this week. Glue to tub side walls only tapping the rear engine door and inserting the transmission at the front to ensure the Looking good, really impressed with the quality of the detail, will you pose this without the turret? 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted January 19 Author Share Posted January 19 I was thinking of building either a clear stand to hold the turret or a stand you might see in the factory to hold it so I can remove it and display it with and without the turret. 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted January 25 Author Share Posted January 25 More engine and engine compartment work this week. Added the fuel lines between the front and rear carburetors via the fuel pump as well as the primer lines. Most of the engine is together. Added the engine supports and the fuel filters. The first picture of the vertical fuel tank shows the molded in filter which was the same on both sides. I replaced it with a more accurate representation of the filters. The filters have holes drilled to add the lines. Fuel tanks are together and look like the real thing. Test fitted the engine. That’s it for now. 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 6 Author Share Posted February 6 Progress is slow. Trying to work through how to connect the “electrical lines”, fire extinguisher system, and fuel lines but at the the same time keeping the fire wall removable. Drilled out the fire extinguisher nozzle openings, and added lines back the the fire wall. Bottom of the compartment is part of the fuel lines and then the electrical line on the sponson cover plate wall. Added a few details to the fire extinguisher cylinder heads. That’s it for now. 8 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bomber_County 10,158 Posted February 7 Share Posted February 7 12 hours ago, Axeman said: Progress is slow. Trying to work through how to connect the “electrical lines”, fire extinguisher system, and fuel lines but at the the same time keeping the fire wall removable. Looking great, amazing attention to detail.....I have just ordered the RFM Pz IV H, no interior but does have an engine so following your lead on engine compartments........ 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 Thanks. Looking forward to seeing your work on the RFM Pz IV H. 6 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 16 Author Share Posted February 16 Most of the engine bay electrical, fuel and fire extinguisher system wiring/plumbing is done. Only ones left that I will connect after the engine is installed. added some photo etch to the back of the oil cooler. That was extra I had for the P-51 I was working on previously. The pattern of the photo etch is better than bare plastic. Also did some work on installing the electrical lines in the fighting compartment. That is all for now. 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
One-Oh-Four 915 Posted February 21 Share Posted February 21 Wow, great build, great resource!! 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 Continued on the engine compartment dry fitting the fans and worked on the fan belts doing some scratch building as I am trying to get two belts showing were the kit has only one. Scratch built the periscope holders on top of the transmission housing since the kit has them molded in. Below the power train assembly is what I scratch build for the M4A3 I was building from an Asuka kit (previous work in progress that I did not complete). Came pretty close to what the kit has in size and dimensions. On the differential housing I added casting marks (under the primer holder, photo etch). Added the clutch and throttle linkage and test fitted the floor plate for the drivers seat. Put together the kit seat and then compared it to one I scratch built. I actually think I prefer the scratch built one. Anyone have thoughts on which seat to use? 7 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harv 10,457 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Looking killer!....harv 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools 3,463 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 Terrific progress on the Sherman and the super detailing is very impressive Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
One-Oh-Four 915 Posted February 22 Share Posted February 22 11 hours ago, Axeman said: Continued on the engine compartment dry fitting the fans and worked on the fan belts doing some scratch building as I am trying to get two belts showing were the kit has only one. Scratch built the periscope holders on top of the transmission housing since the kit has them molded in. Below the power train assembly is what I scratch build for the M4A3 I was building from an Asuka kit (previous work in progress that I did not complete). Came pretty close to what the kit has in size and dimensions. On the differential housing I added casting marks (under the primer holder, photo etch). Added the clutch and throttle linkage and test fitted the floor plate for the drivers seat. Put together the kit seat and then compared it to one I scratch built. I actually think I prefer the scratch built one. Anyone have thoughts on which seat to use? Hi Axe, The details on your scratch built seat frame ar much finer, so I'd prefer that one. The RFM unit looks to be somewhat smaller, so I hope you'll have no trouble fitting the seat between the sidewall and the gear lever(?). On your last photo it looks as if the bow gunner/radio operator's station has some more room for the seat? On the other hand, how visible will the seat frame be? Are they only observable through the front hatches? IIRC, the Sherman doesn't have a bolted down hull roof like the Panther and Tiger II did, did they? Are they visible if the turret is placed next to the hull or is there some big-ass bulkhead in front of it? So; clearly visible: definitely the scratch built items. Hardly visible: the kit items, use your time and energy you save by NOT building the second seat for the rest of the interior. Or: hardly visible: but you WANT them to be there and are happy to know that it's much better than RFM's efforts: use them! 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 22 Author Share Posted February 22 The second seat was already built. I was thinking of shortening the depth of the seat and using the kits seat cushion and possibly the back of the seat if I can get it to fit. When you take out the turret the seats are visible. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Test fitted the scratch built seat. I think it should work fine. Just need to shorten the depth of the seat. 6 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
One-Oh-Four 915 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Okay, I'm sold! Use the scratch built items! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
One-Oh-Four 915 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Maybe a stupid question but I could never figure out how the driver was able to keep using the foot pedals without adjustment while cycling from under armor to head-out-the-hatch-driving. Looking at the illustration of the seat, it moves up and forward? So the driver, when under armor, actually sits a bit behind the hatch-opening instead of straight under it? He'll have to watch the back of his head, though, while going under armor, those hatch-openings weren't that big, even on the big-hatch hulls! But they sure were hard! 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HubertB 4,301 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Very nice work ! Hubert 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools 3,463 Posted February 24 Share Posted February 24 Looking mighty good Keep 'em comin Peter 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Axeman 585 Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Good question about the seat. The seats were adjustable, being able to move up and down and backward and forward. I do have another picture were the driver and asst. driver seats are not parallel. In addition, the asst. drivers seat can fold forward for better access to the escape hatch. Not sure if the drivers seat does that. That got me thinking and I needed to double check were my seat was placed. I just checked and I think the seat was leaning backwards (as it was only held down with blue tack) and the plate underneath slid backwards. I adjusted both of those items and it looks correctly positioned compared to the actual photo. The front edge of the seat is even with the generator regulator. Looking down through the open hatch and the seat is underneath. The height of the seat looks good also as the seat is around the height of the sponson which is the same as the photo. Glad I checked and made sure it was ok. Great spotting. Tim 6 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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