1/76 Franken-Sherman

[Ron Bell]

Sometimes projects just get away from you. This was to be a simple conversion of the Matchbox Sherman Vc Firefly into a straight M4A4, but it got away from me. The model now has parts on it from at least five other kits plus a bit of scratch building. They all came out of the spares box so I don't even know from what kits they all came. It is interesting, though, how some parts from 1/72 and 1/76 scale kits are actually the same size. I know there are small scale kits of M4A4s out there, but what fun is that, eh? 

[Firemodeler1]

👍  That's a lot of detail for something so small!  Well done!

[ghodges]

I'm glad you posted the pics of all of the parts you used to detail and modify the kit, as I wouldn't have enough knowledge to spot the differences in your finished model they're so seamlessly (pun intended) blended! Good to see some stowage on there too... something I need to consider on mine going forward!

 

Gil 

[Mark Deliduka]

Once again Ron you do it again! Another brilliant masterpiece across the finish line. I would have been lost trying to figure out what details to add to make it an M4A4, but you nailed this perfectly!I love the color modulation too; that is something I still struggle with. It's nice to have a fellow Braille scale modeler who can show me how things should look!

[Ron Bell]

Thank you Mark. As to the color modulation, as you put it, I don't favor the current trend of pre/post shading. I think it just looks too, I don't know, "miniature" like. It's a personal preference. What I do is this. 

After the color coat is on and details such as molded in tools, etc. are painted, I gloss coat the whole model. I then apply any decals. You may want to gloss coat over these if you suspect any silvering to avoid the wash accumulating under the decal. Next, I mix up a wash of, usually, black water color pigment (although you can use other colors as the situation warrants), water and a drop or so of dish soap to break the surface tension. I then apply this wash liberally over the whole model, one face and/or side at a time and I keep that face horizontal until the wash is dry. The dish soap allows the wash to flow into crevices and corners. Don't worry about any bubbles, most will pop and we'll deal with the rest later. Then I move to another face, keeping it horizontal and wash it and so forth until I have covered all six sides, top, right, left, front, rear, bottom. Then I let it all really dry for a day. Next I get some clean water in a dish and a paper towel and a suitably sized older paintbrush. I wet the brush, dab excess water off on the paper towel and then proceed to scrub the wash off the model where I don't want it. Rinse the brush often and wipe it on the towel to keep it clean. Keep going until you have the level of wash left that you like. The wash will have 'stained' some areas, but that's ok because that's what provides the 'modulation' you spoke of. Then apply your final gloss/flat coat to seal it all up. The best thing about this method is that you really can't mess it up. Don't like the results? Just wash it all off with water and start again. One word of caution, use watercolor pigments, the type you get in little tubes in craft/art stores NOT acrylics. When acrylics dry they are set and stay where they are and you cannot work with them at that point. Another caution, don't do this over a flat finish as the wash will not come off. It takes a little practice, but its really pretty easy once you get the hang of it. 

[Mark Deliduka]

Excellent! Thank you for that technique! I'm gonna try that myself, as I agree with you about the pre- and post-shading thing. I don't use that technique either. My modulation technique is to spray the basecoat; then use a lighter version of the base color to hit certain highlights and surfaces. Then later a wash and dry brush help enhance that. However, that only works on a single-colored vehicle; your technique should work wonders with a multi-colored camouflage pattern.