RC M4A3E8 Review by PS

This photo of a M4 A3 E8 Sherman is what I used as inspiration. This tank has a few of the features I wanted to include in my project. The .30 cal in front of the commander’s hatch and additional armor.

First I have cut out the engine deck. Take note that the front edge of the Backyard armor deck has a jog in it. I will have to fill this later.

I cutout the driver and assistant drivers hatches. Fairly easy to do. The only trick is to cut the hinges apart so they can be cleaned up and used. I used a large file to thin down the hatch thickness. Then filled in the small recess under the periscope with filler.

For anyone that has not worked with cast resin parts before. You may be surprised on how much work is needed to clean up and shape the parts. This gets very messy. Backyard armor has done an excellent job of reducing this work. (Compared to my castings) I found a coarse grit sand paper works well for hogging off large chunks when a power tool would be inappropriate. The fine detail work is made easy with small hobby files. Then finished off with fine sand paper to remove any sanding or file marks.

I used a rotary tool with a new, sharp cutter to cut out the resin casting in the hatch openings of the turret. This is where the VERY messy part comes in. I recommend a 3M mask for this operation. The light weight resin chips are very easy to inhale and get stuck in your throat for days. (Yes, I am speaking from experience!) In order to allow the turret to rotate 360 degrees it was necessary to reduce the diameter of the base of the turret by approximately 1/4". To do so I mounted the rotary tool in a router table. This maintained the height of the cutter, the depth I controlled by eye. Then I blended the area that was cut into the rest of the casting with a coarse grit sand paper. I added a 1/4" square bar stock of styrene to the inside edge of the turret so that the bottom portion of the turret could be bolted on instead of being glued. Some day I would like to add a recoil.

Cutting out the mantel & it’s associated mounting components was also made easier with the rotary tool.

Assembly of the mantel/gun mount is very tricky. Before applying any glue test fit the components and ensure proper alignment. The BYA parts fit just like the Tamiya parts, they are keyed for left and right hand side and top and bottom. Also install the metal arm for the barrel elevation before gluing. The opening for the barrel needs to be centered and the mantel needs to be level. There are no means provided to align the mantel to it’s mount. It must be aligned by eye.

To cut out the openings in the engine deck. I scored the edges (about a million times) Then cut an "X" through the center. Then bent the triangles downward to break them free. I could have used the rotary tool here as well. I was just sick of the mess by this time! The rotary tool would have required allot more clean up work. After scoring and removing the triangles only a light filing was needed. The photo etched engine grills were a little too long to fit into the cast in place access door frames. I used a small hobby shear too trim them down. My cut was not straight. But neither was the top edge of the door frames, my crooked cut almost match the frame perfectly.

At the rear of the tank you can see the exhaust louvers, engine hatch, hitch and tow hooks. All of this required a little clean up. I drilled out the tow hook hinges to allow them to move.

I have added additional armor to the front glacial plate. In order to achieve the look that it was cut with a torch, I cut the styrene with a band saw with a 24 tooth per inch blade. The plate on the final drive housing is propped up with short pieces of angle styrene. Similar to the tank in the photo. In order to reinstall the lights I had to cut tiny pieces of styrene tube to the same angle as the front glacial armor. I also moved the barrel transport support up, similar to the real tanks.

The cable is cotton rope I purchased from a hobby store. I found a very similar rope in the jewelry aisle at a craft store. Look closely at the hooks on the chain. I used neckless clasps. Hey, it was cheap!(99 cents per pair) I cut the clasp off, filled in the openings, then filed the whole thing to shape. The clevises were hand made from brass rod and styrene tube.

The driver and assistant driver busts are resin copies of 21st Century’s tank driver. If these figures where readily available and at a decent price I would have purchased two and cut them down. There is an amazing number of colors on these figures. Painting the busts has turned into a project of it’s own.

The split loaders hatch doors are made from styrene stock. While the ring or frame is a resin copy of one that came with a T-23 turret I purchased from Dav4what.com. I had to cut off the hinges on the resin copy and make new ones. When the part was white the dimples from the air bubbles made it look more like a casting. But once painted it just looks bad. I will have to remove it and fill these dimples in.

To date the paint is Tamiya olive drab thinned with water. This gives the paint a faded weathered look, more water equals more of a fade and the lighter the coat of paint the grainer the finished look. The paint chipping is a mixture of gun metal and flat black. I found that a stabbing motion with a OO brush gave a good chipped paint look. I then lightly dry brushed areas that the paint would have been worn away.

Future work will include the addition of the .30 cal machine gun on the turret roof, front tow hooks, periscopes on the drivers hatches, periscope guards and finally some mud and weathering.