JohnW Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 (edited) A 1/16 scale Tamiya M4 Sherman kit with the 105mm howitzer. In U. S. military jargon it a medium tank M4 (105) HVSS. This was a Christmas present from back in the 70's. The original peak of my model building hobby. Radio controls were never fitted, so it spent most of its time as a static display. Seeing some pictures of Shermans with the longer 76mm gun, a new barrel was carved from a wooden dowel. Modelling accessories were unkown to me back then. A crew figure was also carved from wood. One of the model boxes in my collection had a picture of a Korean war Sherman with the fierce tiger face. That was the paint scheme used. Jumping forward to 2003, my father had just passed away. He had a collection of boxes stored in his house. One box contained the Sherman tank. No worse for wear. A few years ago, while browsing the internet, M4A3E8 upgrade parts were found. A new T23 turret and gun were obtained. Back in June a summer project seemed like a good idea. It gets pretty hot here in Texas, so an indoor activity is not a bad idea. Based on all of the parts available on eBay, the decision was made to work on the old Sherman. The newer kits have many more features like turret rotation, gun elevation, and gun recoil. That seemed like a good challenge. There are even more M4A3 parts available now. The project began by collecting parts and materials. My first thought was to use the original gear train. The looks of that old system has some appeal to me. It original cam with 2 gearing options. The two motors could drive one gear and a clutch system to handle turning. Probably not that different from how the real Sherman's are steered. The second option used two different gears to separate the motors for left and right operation. One of these optional gears was found in my electrical part box. It was surprising to me that this gear could still be found after over 35 years; unfortunately, the second gear has not been found. An unsuccessful attempt was made to find the gear. In the end, the decision was made to go with a new set of gear trains. Some of the track end links are also missing. Another set of tracks was found on eBay. The track links are metal on the exterior. That will work well on carpet or outdoors. Some tracks with rubber pads would be ideal for hard surfaces in the house. 07/29/2017 - Post Photobucket updates to linked images. Edited July 14, 2018 by JohnW Girlscanplay2, dpastern, andromeda673 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted August 27, 2015 Share Posted August 27, 2015 Awesome Project John, Oddly Enough, I just inherited a 1974 edition of the E8 last week and was lucky enough to get Nick Agular's T-23 Turret and new transmission cover as well. I havent decided what to do with mine yet, its still got all its original"guts" so RC may be in the distant future for it as well. I'll be following with interest. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 The newer kits have many more features like turret rotation, gun elevation, and gun recoil. That seemed like a good challenge. Don't worry if you find yourself swearing during this phase, you will probably just be suffering from acute turrets syndrome Girlscanplay2 and LSP_Paul 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyT Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 Sol do some nice crew figures BTW, you can see them here on their resin 1/16 sherman tank http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SOL-Model-NEW-MM179-1-16-M4A3E8-Sherman-Easy-Eight-KOREAN-WAR-3-Tank-Crews-/111010369812 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted August 29, 2015 Author Share Posted August 29, 2015 (edited) I have the Tamiya figure parts and a resin head. The SOL figures look really good, but the price is a bit much for me. Taking inspiration from Jerry, some experimentation with resin molding is being considered. We'll see where that leads. Edited July 14, 2018 by JohnW Girlscanplay2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Some work on the turret. A Pershing recoil unit is fitted. The bracket is from the M51 Sherman kit. A piece of 3/8 inch tubing is used as a liner for the barrel. It is an almost perfect fit. A 0.30 cal. machine gun barrel is modified for the coaxial gun. The back end of the barrel is used. I like the way it looks. The LED is very bright at 5 VDC. The front of the turret needed some cutting to allow the recoil system to fit. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW Uilleann, LSP_Paul and Girlscanplay2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Paul Posted August 30, 2015 Share Posted August 30, 2015 Looking Great John! I cant wait till I get my F/O Panther here soon. Then your Sherman will have something to shoot at.. I finally found a source that has STOCK of the Impact parts for the Sherman and Panther upgrades.. check out the tracks and sprocket set for the Sherman.. all metal detailed like resin. http://mitosal.com/811.htm Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted August 30, 2015 Author Share Posted August 30, 2015 (edited) Thank you Paul. The Panther is a nice looking tank. It should be a nice RC tank. The website is interesting. That one is new to me. The tracks with rubber pads might be good for running on hard surfaces in the house. The turret drive motor mounts and guide wheels were added to the older hull. Aluminum tubing threaded for M3 screws and inserted into various sizes of plastic tubing made the mounts. Tried using thread to cut out the hull hatches. It works well. Some threads work better than others. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW Girlscanplay2, andromeda673 and Uilleann 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andromeda673 Posted August 31, 2015 Share Posted August 31, 2015 pretty cool, watching this one closely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted September 3, 2015 Author Share Posted September 3, 2015 (edited) This is the conversion set purchased from Nick Aguilar. The originally purchased turret. The hull pieces obtained recently. Some additional Tamiya parts from the American Armoured Foundation, Inc. (AAF) Tank Museum. Prices for original Tamiya parts is very good! The latest gearboxes used by Tamiya for the newer editions of the M4 Sherman kits. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW Girlscanplay2, Uilleann and Out2gtcha 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted September 3, 2015 Share Posted September 3, 2015 Cool! This is really interesting to watch come together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 (edited) Made a periscope for the gunner. Looks better with something in there. A resin cast periscope was purchased from East Coast Armory, but it is too small in my opinion. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW Girlscanplay2, andromeda673, LSP_Paul and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted September 6, 2015 Author Share Posted September 6, 2015 (edited) More periscope work. Periscope guards from Shapeways. An internet service for 3D design and printing. Six periscope guards and a 0.30 caliber Browning M1919 machine gun. M6 periscopes and holders in the hatches. A small vertical end mill, compound table and rotary table would be nice to have. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW Uilleann 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnW Posted November 1, 2015 Author Share Posted November 1, 2015 (edited) The front hull hatches are cut out. Some details have been added. The thread method was used to cut the plastic around the hatches. It works very well. Finding the best, most durable thread was the most challenging part. The 105mm gun travel lock mounts have also been removed. More work has been done on the hatches and M6 periscopes. Since the gun elevation is limited by the standard M4 turret rotation components. Modifications are being tried to find what works best. The top of the turret ring gear is covered with plastic sheet. Material is removed where it interferes with the gun recoil unit. The rear engine deck has been removed. Some supports for the new resin parts needs to be made. Edited July 29, 2017 by JohnW BiggTim, Girlscanplay2, Uilleann and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andromeda673 Posted November 1, 2015 Share Posted November 1, 2015 nice!!!! I still have yet to build a large scale 1/16th tank, but rest assured, I will at sometime, might even sell off a bunch of 1/48th scale jet and prop kits to fund that purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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