Tamiya 1/35 M51 Super Sherman

Here's my Tamiya M51 Super Sherman. The kit was built OOB (out-of-box) with no extras added.

This kit goes together very well (it's a Tamiya after all, right?). No fit issues, no putty, just shake the box, add some glue and paint and there it is. If you have armor modeler's AMS then this kit is the cure.

The Sherman was finished with a base coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 followed by pre-shading with Tamiya black. The color coat is Model Master Acryl US Sand. I then used oil washes using burnt sienna and black. I also used Vallejo sand and mud weathering pastels. I didn't go overboard with the weathering. The tracks are the kit supplied glueable vinyl. I gave them a light coating of my own custom mix of Tamiya panzer grey and their XF-56 dark metal. Then the outside treads were sprayed again with Tamiya's dark brown while the inner portion had some dark panzer grey streaks applied where the road wheels would make contact. The treads were installed after the basic tank had been painted then were weathered with the Vallejo pigments.

The crew members are the ones that come with the kit. I mixed up some custom green for their uniforms with some Vallejo acrylics. They were then post shaded in the crease areas followed by an enamel pin wash to pop out some details. Lastly they were dry brushed with a very light/pale green.

The markings don't represent any specific unit but is intended to depict one from the 1967 war.

That's it. A quick, easy project. Tamiya certainly has a winner here.

18 additional images. Click to enlarge.