Anne's M4A3 Sherman GPM - Page 10

**Amccombs3** · #91 08-01-2020, 04:56 PM

It’s amazing how much you can get done on other projects when you’re avoiding the one you “should” be working on! It’s been well over a year since I did anything on this model. After my last post, I attempted to fit the tracks to the model, and (not surprisingly) things went badly. A fair number of those many teeth broke off, or part way off, on the first track. It doesn’t fit as well as I’d like, either. So I collected all the stray teeth and set the project aside.

I have since been advised that superglue is the solution to my woes with the teeth, and I have some suitable glue. But I can’t quite bring myself to return to the track. In the meantime, I have completed several other models.

Now I’m trying to ease myself back onto the Sherman project. I started by tidying up my workbench drawer, which was attempting to become a junk drawer (rather successfully). Once I gathered up the parts and separated them from a Maly Modelarz that I started for some obscure reason, I found that I was in the mood to cut out frames. So I’ve been doing that for a couple of days. Most of them are frames for the turret, and I haven’t looked at the plans yet to see how far out of sequence I might be, but at least I’ve gotten off dead center.

**Don Boose** · #92 08-01-2020, 05:05 PM

Ganbatte!

Don

**Kevin WS** · #93 08-02-2020, 04:59 AM

Good luck - I find restarting an old model one of the hardest things to do...

**Amccombs3** · #94 08-02-2020, 06:56 PM

Truer words were never spoken, Kevin. I repaired all the broken and missing teeth on the left track today, and it wasn’t too hard — BUT — this model just isn’t looking good to me. The fit of the track is poor. It doesn’t even touch the tensioner wheel (or whatever you call it) at the back. The track is longer than it need to be, and I had trimmed several links off the length (it’s a band track, not individual links), and I should probably have trimmed it one link shorter. No way on earth that I’m going to fix it, but now I have to decide whether to make the right track match the left and be too loose, or shorten it by one link and not match (but then it might be too short).

The next steps aside from the tracks are a bunch of tiny fiddly details at the back like a pintle hook, tie down brackets, a hatch, and two exhaust pipe-like things of extreme complexity. I had cut them all out just before setting the model aside, and I looked them over tonight and got even more discouraged. I can do fiddly bits, but not when I’m already feeling down over my inadequate skills.

Also, it looks like parts 23 (the pintle hook bracket) don’t fit each other. I think one of them should have been laminated to beef it up, but the relevant parts were not asterisked for lamination — I have a scan for reference, and I chacked, so this time it’s not my error.

I’m sure once I sleep on it I’ll feel better, but right now I’m understanding why I set it aside for so long.

P. S. Don, “Ganbatte!” Is not in my vocabulary, but I’m assuming it’s encouragement.

**Don Boose** · #95 08-02-2020, 07:41 PM

Anne -

Ganbatte (がんばって), the inflected form of ganbaru (to persist), is short for Ganbatte kudasai (Do your best; go for it; hang in there; keep at it).

Often said with both fists held at shoulder level and then pumped downward.

I hear (and say) this a lot when I am with my Japanese language classmates.

It's a useful expression. Similar to the Korean Sugohaeyo (수고해요).

Don

**Mike1158** · #96 08-03-2020, 02:51 AM

I'm confident that uoi will find a workable solution, you are a very talented builder so time and lots of breaks.

**aansorge** · #97 08-03-2020, 05:40 AM

Its morning. Is it done yet?

(All in its time. But what a great group of encouragement!)

**Amccombs3** · #98 08-08-2020, 04:23 PM

Well, yes, I am feeling better about the model, though I’m still afraid of the second track, as will be evident in the photos. Many thanks to all for the words of encouragement.

I’ve spent the last week working on the fiddly details at the back end of the tank. These are all parts that I cut out before I set the model aside, and they were very detailed, so it took a while. I think they came out all right. The most difficult was the pintle hook, which is rather frail — I’ve already had to glue it back on after dislodging it at least once. There is also a hatch, tie down brackets, and two stacks (exhaust stacks, perhaps?). All these details will be mostly hidden by the exhaust deflector, which glues onto the large white area visible in the pictures.

The next steps are to glue the exhaust deflector and the second track. I’m a bit phobic about the track, but it’s got to happen. I expect there will be a few stray teeth which will get knocked loose and have to be glued back on. Fingers crossed!

**Don Boose** · #99 08-08-2020, 04:54 PM

It looks like good work to me. The weathering of the tracks is very realistic.

I trust that by next May the Corona Virus will be dormant, if not vanquished, and the Usual Suspects can gather here in Carlisle for the Paper Modelers at Army Heritage Days event so you can show off this creature.

Don

Don

**Kevin WS** · #**100** 08-09-2020, 02:15 AM

Anne - if you are going to put it on a diorama base think about how you do it. You could then cut out half of the right right track if it was say standing in mud or a huge puddle!

If have done that sort of thing before.

I suck at making tyres and I botched one up on my last model. So I made a jack and depicted it as deflated!