Kelly's Heroes

[Mark Aldrich]

Our model Club is doing a "Models in the Movies" theme and I decided on Oddball's M4A3E4. Big mistake.....I really forgot how crappy the Tamiya kits are. I purchased the cheap Formations conversion (which is sized for the Tamiya M4A3) and started making it without the conversion being here. Lots of work and still going.

[Olivier Carneau]

Looking at the number of modelers doing this M4, I don't understand that a dedicated model hasn't been issued yet.

Good luck for the following steps.

[Mark Aldrich]

Olivier,
Thanks! The problem was I should have waited to see if the Formations parts would have worked with the better made Tasca or Dragon kits. However, the Formations parts can take up to 2 months before I might see them. Of course, I would still need to alter items on any kit probably but it would not have been as bad. Luckily, I have a graveyard of Sherman parts thanks to Dragon and being able to buy Tasca sprues.

[Bryan Krueger]

Easy with those negative waves Mark. You're off to a good start.

[Mark Aldrich]

Thanks Bryan

My plan was to keep after market to a minimum. I have an extensive Sherman graveyard so most of the non-Tamiya parts have come from that. However, besides the Formations set, I ordered AFV Clubs .50 set ( I ruined the Academy barrels because the seam line was so huge), a Plus Model Milk Urn, a Aber 76mm barrel with thread protector (which had to be modified to the thin later style), and I am going to attempt the flower watering can this week. I am thinking Cold Basement stowage and some legends and it should look the part.

[Steve Hutchinson]

Nice choice Mark

Kelly's Heroes is in my top 5 retirement builds,

I have all the components for the Tiger and am collecting the Sherman stuff.

The classic scenario would be the paint shell up the a$$ in the back alley.

A great painter friend has already painted my busts of the 4 main characters, which are a great inspiration.

Keep up the good work, perhaps some photos of the other builders work too?

Regards

Steve H

[Mark Aldrich]

Steve,
If you are collecting, I would definitely suggest getting the conversion first. Once you have that, you can figure out if it is workable with a Italeri, Dragon, Tasca or the new Meng M4A3. I should have waited as well but once I realized it can take 4-6 weeks for the parts to arrive I pushed forward with the POS Tamiya kit. I've seen a couple of those dioramas but in my opinion, not well done because Oddball's Sherman is portrayed wrong. Even mine will be wrong. At the beginning of the tunnel attack scene, oddball is on a Sherman with an aircraft .50 but when his Sherman rolls out.....it magically has a HB .50 cal.

[Steve Hutchinson]

Hi Mark
A measure of poetic licence is going to be required, which ever part of the film you build.
Still haven't found a decent conversion set that is available locally!
I'm no Sherman expert either, so the base kit is still a mystery!
But I will get there, one day!
Regards
Steve H

[Philipp Gross]

That's an amazing project Mark!

Definitely one of my favourites. Ages ago I started a build using the Italeri M4A3 but it got stalled when the painting didn't work out. When I resurrect this I might first need to update all the basic details that I'm not happy with any more

Philipp

[Mark Aldrich]

Steve,
The base kit is any M4A3. The actual vehicles are all M4A3E4. Basically a early production M4A3 with a 76mm main gun and exhaust deflector added. These were all MAP to Yugoslavia. There are two reasons I wanted the Formations conversion. The first was the loudspeaker and the second was the exhaust deflector. The one on Oddball's Sherman is a two piece affair as opposed to the single unit seem on most US versions. This was probably a early model M4A3 that had the deflector added during MAP rebuild.

Philipp,
I understand about the painting. The few sites that talk about really are not very helpful. Bascially, I am going to go with a Light OD color and some cream/hemp added.