A cheap Airfix Sherman turns Duck! (DD-Sherman conversion)

Mhm... never claimed I was sane. I am going to attempt a Sherman DD scratchbuild based on the Airfix kit. Nice and cheap. Only have to figure out how to make the screens, drives and assorted doo-dads. How hard can it be?

Box!


Parts!


Reference stuff!






Well, here it is; my first venture into vehicles in like... vorever! Uhm... I mean forever. This bit of scratchbuilding has been on my list ever since a D-Day GB turned up on the planning for another forum, so I'm pretty stoked to get on with it. Picking out pieces from the pile of pristene parts to put together was a bit of a put-off.... sooo many to chose from!

First I bodges together a bunch of bogeys...


Hilarity ensued when three halves made a whole hull...


My god.... I am not going to do this the whole build...

The rear-end of the hull has a couple of bumps which are supposed to look like actual drive-bits (hey, I'm not that indoctrinated by the Dark Side I know what all the bits are called... yet...) but I need to replace them with something that looks like the DD-gubbins. So off they go!




Keeping tabs on the hull. ya never know... it might wander off...


Oversized skirts are just not a good look on a Sherman. Good thing it's only a template from some thin styrene stock I'm tinkering with.


Trying to get the shape and size right with the help of pictures from the interwebs, reference material and ye olde Eyeball Mk.I


Getting there...


A good thing with using templates; you only need to get one side right, and just flip it over when you transfer it. In this case to 1mm styrene stock.


Template transfered thanks to tape, tenacity and a scribing needle... (so close... soooo close...)


It looks the business... just need to add some curves to the front.


Just a little dip... very subtle, innit?


The front needed a little more bending, and ofcourse broke... so I made an insert sligthly larger then the bit that broke, giving me the material to make the bends. Fixed in place with CA-glue, because I didn't trust the Tamiya Extra Thin with all the stress on the plastic.


Made a hole for the exhaust system. Some DD tanks actually had large funnels on top of those to vent the gasses out about the screen. I think I will just settle for the normal exhaust.


Time to close that hole in the front (bow? It is a boat of sorts, right?). A lot of tinkering with scraps of styrene. One side first...


Both sides done and trimmed.


Front done, a touch of putty on the seam on the inside. It will need a little careful sanding...


...as does the outside...


A little sanding did wonders for the bow. Inside...


...and out. Just needs a little more thin filler and it should be fine.


Next up; the exhaust trunk. Made from a bit of Evergreen tubing split in half and glued to a strip of 1mm styrene stock.


Cut to the size I need, and with two more bits of stock glued on to make the sides.


Excess fettled and sanded off on on one side...


...and on the other side...


Glued in place...


Sides cleaned up and a bit of rod added as a hefty weld.


And we have a trunk. Now it needs another bit of trunking/guard.


While looking for reference pics I actually found a site with a lot of CGI-models of all kinds of stuff. Among other things a DD Sherman! Score! Very nice clear pics when you are doing scratchbuilding.


Scratchbuilding sponsored by a well-known fast-food company. You get a nice bit of thin styrene stock, and a bonus ice-cream!


Origami for beginners... 6mm strip, folded and kept in shape with a little strip glued on the inside.


Cut to size, with a narrow strip added to imitate the folded edge they originally did to stiffen the sheetmetal.


And fixed in place. Just needs a little clean-up once the glue has set.


And on we go... Starting with taking the details off the front. The headlights need to be raised on stalks, to reach over the DD screens. And I wanted to do new hoisting rings as well.


Did the same to the rear. Also took off the tools, because the molding was quite soft. Cleaned up the splash-guard(?) and I made a start with new details. The air vents were blanked off with a plate welded on. New hoist rings made with copper wire.


Rings and closed vents on the back...


...and on the front we got rings too. And holes for the new lights.


New lights made from small discs of styrene...


… a bit of 0.6mm styrene rod. The little drop you see is CA-glue, to from the domed back-end of the light.


A staple turns into a little guardrail...


I had to repeat the drop of CA on the back of the light a few times to get the dome I wanted, and gave them a lick of paint just to check them.


Lights and guardrails in place...


Verrrry happy with the results...

A tiny piece of styrene rod and some lead ribbon on it's way to become one of the rear lights.


Another bit of lead over the top, and it looks kinda right... altho this might be redone... not as happy as I could be...


It looks kinda right... But I might redo them anyway...


Did some work on the turret, adding hoisting eyes, the ammo loading hatch and the little platform for the “captain” to stand on. The frame for hatch needs more sanding and putty, but it defeated me for now...


Still pondering if I should add the mount for the big .50 and the gun itself (I have one lurking around in the spares box.). Some DD tanks had it, others didn't.


Been tinkering with the tiller system, making little brackets. The “captain” could use it to steer the screws, although most of the steering was done by making one screw go faster then the other.


Tiller handle and rod...


It should look like this, but it's not going on until I've done the underside and the drives of the tank.


More sooon!

Rob

THat reminds me that I have around 100+ unbuilt military and aircraft model kits (airfix, matchbox, the cheapies) in the attic somewhere ... and that they probably will never see greatness achieved with them like you do with that build ...

this looks awesome!!

what about the Bus though? Where you at on that??

DaddyfromNaboo said:

THat reminds me that I have around 100+ unbuilt military and aircraft model kits (airfix, matchbox, the cheapies) in the attic somewhere ... and that they probably will never see greatness achieved with them like you do with that build ...

Click to expand...

Oooh... if you ever feel the urge to get rid of the Matchbox kits... lemme know. Looooove those kits! I'm actually building three of the Churchill Bridgelayers at the moment for the same D-Day GB... Might as well post that build here too...

Teddz said:

this looks awesome!! what about the Bus though? Where you at on that??

Click to expand...

The Bus is in the heavy planning/research stages, while I wait for the next resin workshop at my local model shop. I want some practice with resin and silicone on the cheap before I commit to making the parts that count.

Rob

Excellent work Rob! Love seeing these type of builds coming together. You have some great scratch-building skills!

1/76th scale!? my god sir you are a glutton for punishment...but you do excellent work

Quick question: What is this "Duck" that you're making the model into? I'm not familiar with it.

CB2001 said:

Quick question: What is this "Duck" that you're making the model into? I'm not familiar with it.

Click to expand...

The Sherman DD or Duplex Drive (which stood for two types of propulsion, a.i. Track or screws) was nicknamed the Donald Duck. It was one of the many weird vehicles concocted to storm the beaches at Normandy.

DD tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rob

Rob1970 said:

The Sherman DD or Duplex Drive (which stood for two types of propulsion, a.i. Track or screws) was nicknamed the Donald Duck. It was one of the many weird vehicles concocted to storm the beaches at Normandy.

DD tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rob

Click to expand...

Ah, okay. Thanks for letting me know. I can't say I've heard of it before. Learning something new every day.

Next: the canvas screens. I had several plans for those, and this is my first attempt at one of them. My other plans were;
1) Making ribs from copper or brass wire and covering those with tissue-paper drenced in PVA.
2) Making a mold and crash-molding the screens from thin styrene (a bit like the sails you get with kits of sailing ships) and doing the inside with styrene rod.

But for this first try I am going to build a box, add ribs to the outside and fill the space between the ribs with filler, which I will sand in shape.
The rear of the box section from 1mm styrene stock, with corners made from a 12mm Evergreen tube I split into four pieces. I added a thin strip of 0.25mm styrene stock on the inside of the joins to have more for the glue to grip.


Sides added. The box is going to be about 1.5mm smaller then the base all around to leave a bit of room for the ribs and the putty. I am going to add a rim of 0.25mm styrene stock around the bottom so the box falls over the base plate.


Some smaller bits of the tube added to make the next corner.


Poster tack is great if you need an extra hand. Put a blob between to parts and you can carefully push until it is in just the spot you want. Pressed too hard? Poke some of the tack you squeezed out back to seperate the parts a little.


Front bits of the box glued on. Took a bit of fettling to get the curve at the bottom right, but it fits like a glove.


I made a couple of spacers from some more tube to keep the box straight while I worked on the last seam.


First piece that forms a rib -and- the top of the canvas that covers the bow.




Trust me, under Clamp-o-Palooza there's a second rib going on...


And ofcourse you realize something is off in your scale calculations -after- you've glued together the whole thing. I was about 6mm off... oh well... Better now then when all the ribs and putty are on. Nothing a sharp knife and a saw can't fix.


It looks the part... And you can still see plenty of the inside when it's all done.


And the size looks about right now. And I can work on the tank itself and the screen separately now, switching to one when I am bored with the other.



Time for the ribs... It's a lot of fitting and fettling to get them the way I want. My initial idea of just copying the original shape and size of the base-plate using the template I made (and saved) turned out to be very annoying. So I decided to piece them together from separate corner, front and side bits. They are going to be covered with putty anyway.


Next was the bottom rib. I wanted to make it so it would fit over the base plate. I put 1.5mm worth of styreen stock between the tank hull and the screen to fix the distance on both side. Also put tape on the top of the base plate to stop it all becoming one great big lump as I proceeded.


There's a 1.5mm lip of the base outside the screen. I filled that out with a 3mm wide strip of 0.5mm styrene, and another strip of 1.5mm wide 1mm styrene. Where the strips joined I cut them at a 45 degree angle to have more surface for the glue to weld.


Rob's Pro-tip Of The Day; Need to do a lot of 45 degree (or any other angle) cuts on thin strips or stock? Don't feel like getting out your mitter box because it doesn't need to be that precise, or just can't be bothered? Flip over your cutting mat to the blank side (if it has one), grab a fine-tipped marker and draw a straight line, and use a set square to draw a line through it at the angle you need. Line up your stock to the horizontal line. Line up your knife blade to the angled line. Cut. Done. Sorted. Cheap too.


All the way around. It looks messy, but it just needs a clean-up with a sander.


A few swipes with a sander makes the screen sit nice and tight on the base.


Time for the rim. A strip of 0.5mm stock, a little over 3mm wide. Starting at the back, pre-stressed the strip by pulling the bit that goes around the corner across the edge of my workbench.


Working my way towards the front with patience, glue and clothespins...


Front done with a 10mm wide strip of the same stock. It will get trimmed later.


Mating the side and the front strip, at an angle again. I left the narrow strip just a hair to long, so the Tamiya ET could melt it for a solid weld.


Top of the wide strip trimmed to the 1mm thick strip underneath.


I marked the underside by putting the screen on the tank's base and using a pencil. Fettling away to get it close to the line.


A lot of careful fettling and sanding later the rim is flush with the underside of the base.


Just one rib to go...


Also splashed out 14 quid on a couple of screws for the DD-drive. Seems a bit steep, but you get free bonus parts to build a RAF Rescue Launch. (Was planning on getting another one anyway to build the late version and do a diorama...)


More soooooon!

Rob

Wow. That's impressive Rob, especially given how small that kit is.

1/76 sounds pretty small. We need a photo with a soda can for scale

Mike J. said:

1/76 sounds pretty small. We need a photo with a soda can for scale

Click to expand...

Darn... I don't drink soda... and I can't find my giant penny... oh well... A 1cm grid will have to do...


Progress is cool... not Fez-cool. But still cool!

Started by doing something that most owners of Vernier calipers will shoot you for. Using them to scribe. Set them to the distance I needed and used them to lightly mark where the last rib had to go...


Just a few tiny shallow marks, nothing more.


Last rib on, all the ribs sanded smooth and slightly rounded off. Basically the outside is ready for putty now.


Now that the whole thing has some structure to it with the ribs, I went to town on the inside taking out the little strips of styrene I used to strenghten all the welds. Made short work of them with my little engraving tool and a sanding stick.


Clean workbench! Scary sight...


I found some cheap (about a euro for a biiiig tube) of waterbased wood-filler. A quick sniff confirmed to me what I already suspected in the euro-store; it smelled suspiciously like Vallejo putty! I did a little test, and it dries like Vallejo too. So I am going to use it on my screen.


Some wooden stirrers and a big dollop of putty in a dish. My cat gets expensive food now, because a aluminum bowl to mix putty in is nothing to sneeze at...


De-greased the screen using another little trick I like to use. Lens wipes (again from the euro store) work great. They are soaked with alcohol, and are cheap as chips.


Pretty much slathered on the first layer with a popsicle stick...


Smoothed it out with a wet finger, and now we wait for the first layer to go off...


When it's dry, it's on with another layer and more smoothing until I have the effect I want.

First layer of putty attacked with a coarse sanding stick. The cheap putty works great, is pretty fine, odourless and grips the plastic well enough. Did have some bubbles, but I blame my haphazard slathering-technique.


Second layer on and smoothed. Almost perfect.


I did the top halve of the screen first, then started on the lower half. A little bit of tape stopped me slathering te top halve.


All done and sanded in to shape. Just need to deal with a few airbubbles.


All the airbubbles eliminated, and the whole thing covered in a two thin coats of CA. I used an old brush to brush on CA-glue, then quickly wiped it off with a bit of paper towel. I did this to stop the putty from being porous. When the CA has had time to really, rrrreally cure I am going to give the whole thing a last sanding and polish.




This one is on hold for a tiny bit, while I wait for some stuff to come in. I ordered some ComposiMold. I want to make a mold of the screen I made now, then cast a positive from plaster. Work on is a bit, saw it in half, then use those two halves to make masters to make new screens by vacuforming.

So... anyone still have any doubts about my sanity?

Cheers,
Rob

That's some nice progress!

...But I urge you to invest in a beverage can, for the sake of international relations.

Actually, if you want to really impress us, get one of those giant Foster's cans and tell us it's a regular size can

Rob1970 said:

...

I found some cheap (about a euro for a biiiig tube) of waterbased wood-filler. A quick sniff confirmed to me what I already suspected in the euro-store; it smelled suspiciously like Vallejo putty! I did a little test, and it dries like Vallejo too. So I am going to use it on my screen.
http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/a510/Rob_van_Doorn/IMG_0577_zps24205d2e.jpg

...

Rob

Click to expand...

As a resident of North America, I have to admit that it's weird for me to see packaging that has exactly no English on it. Over here, everything is in English, Spanish and French! This is good for me to know there's more to the world than I get to see most of the time.

(But I'm also proud to say I do know just enough German to muddle through what that tube does say...there's hope for me yet!)

Regarding the model itself... dang. 10 cm is not much. What you've done with such a tiny subject is quite cool. I look forward to seeing it through!

--Alex

That is some mighty fine detail work!

In case ya'll are wondering why there's been such eerie silence in both of my build-threads...

I name thee.... Infernal Contraption Mk.I!!


Combined with a 5 euro grill from the goodwill store...


SUCCESSSSS!!!!


There was some tearing when I removed the little Matchbox diorama-base from the styrene. I blame this on not using mold-release. The interweb suggests baby-powder. So I need to get that... Can you make your own? And just how finely do you need to grind down the baby?


All I have to do now is experiment with the best styrene-to-grill distance, because it was too close now, and it heated up the middle of the sheet so fast I had to use it prematurely, with the corners still cold. I also splashed out (a whole 25 dollars!!) on a bigger grill... I am going to build an Infernal Contraption Mk.II anyway, probably up to A4 size.

But it looks promising...

Rob

I never thought of the lens cleaners to degrease parts. They sell them over here by the box for like 3.00 for cleaning eyeglasses. They're handy for on trips. I wish my scratchbuilding projects look that good. I can't even cut styrene straight with a jig.

OOOooo,,, I like that infernal contraption... I may need to build my own...

--Alex

The interweb suggests baby-powder. So I need to get that... Can you make your own? And just how finely do you need to grind down the baby?

Click to expand...

:lol Let us know how that goes.