Tankers !!!
Let me show you the build a kit that I consider to be an excellent therapy:
M4A1 Sherman Toon-tank. A genius idea from MENG, transforming so-called
chibi vehicles or cartoon vehicles into a kit.
These kits are part of a series called World War Toons and they are very well made, cheap and extremely fun to build.
And, for a change, allow a multitude of improvisations and modifications. So, let's have fun!!!
The kits is a snap kit, but I don't trust in fittings. Glue rules!!
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| The two halves of the chassis glued ... |
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| Notice the fitting pins ... Huge ... |
Well, the kit comes with some parts very "cartoonish"... The bogies, tracks and wheels, for example. I know that the whole tank is a caricature, but these components get very "toy looking". I decided to modify the little Shermie adding some details closer to the real, to give a more "credible" identity to the "tank-chibi "...
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| Boogie, idler and sprocket wheels verycartoonish... The track is awful.... |
My recipe: use old spare parts (including some horrible things from "serious" kits such as bogies and tracks from Tamiya's M3 Lee) but still infinitely more real than the ones of the Meng's kit. The old Lee bogies shows wrong wheels and tracks with wrong end conectors, but...amazing for my Chibi-Shermie!!!
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Old and useful parts...
Much better than the Meng ones... |
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The Chibi-Shermie... soooo cute!!!
Kawaaaaai!!! |
And the rivet-counter virus strikes again... Closing the heretic errors in the turret and in the hull...In the clockwise; aerial made with acupuncture needle, metal handle in the Commander hatch, turret front handle in cooper wire, armour shield dragon for M34 mantlets, .30 coaxial MG (Dragon) and 75mm gun Dragon (shortened about 25%), .30 Browning in the glacis (Dragon) and extra steel armour in the right side of the hull. Finally, I closed, sand and eliminated the right pistol port of the turret : supreme Meng heresy!!!
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| The Chibi-Shermie with modifications: right side |
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| Rear view: aerial and engine doors handle... |
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Left view: Dragon turret's pistol port and metal handles... Notice the
holes closed in the vertical sides of the hull... |
Details, left side; 75mm Dragon gun and .30 Browning, reshaping the loader's hatch, handle in the commander hatche, correction in the hull and .30 browning in the glacis...
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| Chibi-Shermie - Left side |
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| The bolt-line of the transmission cover (Dragon) and plasticard to improve the adaptation of the part... |
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| Notice the loader hatch. |
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| Ready for painting.. |
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| Kojak was very pleased with this Big Girl... |
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| Detail: kept the hatch covers movable |
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| Primer AK: stinky but good .... |
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| Fifty shades of olive-drab... |
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| Future and decals Meng and for my spare parts box... |
And the M4A1 Sherman Toon-Tank was ready!!
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| Chibi M4A1 Sherman. The Commander is astonished... |
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| Kojak in their station. |
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| Two Shermies; M4A3E2 and Chibi M4A1. |
Well, I loved this very, very fun and swift project. Congrats, Meng...These little models are simply amazing!!! I admit that I'm going to buy some more of them !!!
Bye, for now !!!
