Sunday, March 29, 2020

WIP: Tamiya M4A3E8 (1/35 scale)

Since I'm still considered "expendable," err... I mean "essential," by my job, I'm still going to work. Luckily, we're now working four-tens, so I get a three day weekend! With that extra time, I decided to crack open the well-regarded Tamiya M4A3E8 in 1/35 scale.

I've added metal barrels for the main gun and both the .50cal and .30cal bow gun. I've also replaced the molded on grab handles with wire rod and added simple tool straps with some strips of Tamiya tape. The color was achieved by priming black and then giving the entire model a coat of XF-27 Black Green to work as the base color. From there, I painted everything with my favorite olive drab color, AK Real Colors Olive Drab #9/#22 (RC023). I did some paint distressing with AK Real Colors Olive Drab Faded (RC024) by painting streaks and using a photo etch splatter template. The hull stars were masked and painted and the blacked out turret star was painted by hand to simulate how it would look after the crew painted over the white star. I painted the tools, spare track links, and stowage (from Value Gear) and other details on the tank with various acrylics and enamel washes. From here, I'll give the model a coat of satin varnish to help with the pin washes, attach the stowage, and then begin proper weathering. I'm also awaiting some MasterClub T66 tracks because I don't want to use the kit rubber band tracks.