[Amccombs3]

Thanks to all, and especially for the photos. Not being quite sure what I was doing, I did cut out the hatch openings, and I have started building a workable hatch hinge. If I botch it, I can always glue the hatch closed. I’m not sure which pieces get omitted if the hatch is able to be opened.

I’ve already put that long, thick part 66 in place, and it came out surprisingly well, but I still don’t quite understand how the lifted section of part 4 attaches to it. It looks like it’s raised only slightly? More photo study is in order. One of my problems has been that the design for these hatches changed over the Sherman’s life, and another has been that they sit fairly high, so between these two facts the details I need are rarely photographed in the closed position. And where does part 56 (the hook-shaped part) go?

I gather that there is a choice to be made, whether to have the periscopes deployed or retracted? I’m not sure how an extended periscope would work with the wire assembly on the top disk.

This is my first GPM model, and I’m finding the instructions/diagrams much harder to understand than my last challenging model, the Modelik Kettenkrad. Is this difficulty typical for GPM? My one comfort is that it’s not just me — many who have built this model have remarked on the difficulty of understanding the hatch instructions.

P.S. I’m suffering from Kevin confusion. Kevin WS, did you also build one of these models? I knew about Kevin Stephens’ and Greg Perry’s versions.