”Fury”………. 1/35 Tamiya Sherman and DML / Dragon Tiger I

Started by Louis Gardner · 74 · 4 years ago
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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Here's another one I plan on building soon for the Imodeler at the Movies GB... My Dad served in these "Easy 8's" Sherman's, and the M-26 / M-46 series of tanks in Korea. Dad also served in the Infantry while in Korea, and was a combat veteran. I was also a US Army tanker, so this one will have special meaning for me.

    The Sherman...

    and the German...

    I'll be starting out with the Tamiya M4A3-E8 "Easy Eight",


    even though the "real" Fury tank was an M4A2 76MM / wet storage with a T-23 turret...and HVSS suspension. (I'll explain this stuff later).

    Luckily for me, the noticeable main differences between the two versions will be covered up with the crew's gear storage, so I can get away with this and no one will really know. So I can use the Tamiya offering and make it happen.

    Time permitting, along with real life things, I hope to build the Tiger tank as well using the Dragon / DML Tiger 1 boxed as the "Tunsian Initial".


    This tank used for the movie is the worlds only operating Tiger at the moment. Here's how it normally looks.

    Please stay tuned for updates... But first I have a kit review in store for the recent Tamiya offerings in 1/35 scale of the "Easy 8". I took the pictures for this kit review at will be ready to post very soon.

    Thanks !

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    Craig Abrahamson said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Lookin' forward to these two, buddy...I've seen the movie several times (a favorite) - also watched the "making of" documentary (very interesting backstory).

    As an aside, I hope everything [else] is going well in your personal life.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Louis,
    I built the Tamiya Easy 8 kit. It’s a very nice kit. Love the idea, looking forward to the updates

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    Jeff Bailey said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Looks like another great topic from the Famous (or Infamous) Gardner Iron Werks. I look forward to it!

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Hello Craig @craigindaytona
    The movie is pretty good... I liked it. I haven't seen the documentary on it though. Believe it or not, the character "War Daddy" played by Brad Pitt supposedly existed in real life.

    I brought the misses home from the hospital on Monday. She was in there for 5 days after her cancer surgery was done. She seems to be getting a little better each day. She is still quite sore from the surgery, but man she's tough as nails... Our next hurdle is the chemo therapy...

    This is the main reason I have not had any spare time at the work bench.
    Thanks for asking about her... 🙂 I sincerely appreciate this.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Hey Matt. @coondog
    Thanks for responding to the build journal. I took a pretty detailed look at what's inside the boxes, and I'm very happy with what I have seen. I'm hoping that it will go together well and that I don't do some stupid blunder during construction that causes problems.

    Please stay tuned, and I hope to have some updates very soon. I plan on posting a kit review in a few minutes... once that's done, I'll get busy and will try to post regular updates, as long as things go well with my wife's recovery.

    She is my number one priority... and always has been.

    Thanks again.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Jeff B ! @mikegolf

    My fellow tanker brother... Good to hear from you !

    In my typical "Iron Werks" fashion, I'll be building two of these Sherman's at the same time. One will be for this journal entry and will be using the ETO kit.

    The other will be built and posted in Jaime Carreon's @jetmex
    "Nose Art" GB and it will be the Korean War version of the kit.

    You being a former US Army tanker like myself, I thought you might enjoy watching this one come together...

    Thanks buddy... 🙂

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    Michel Verschuere said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    This Dragon kit is really good, for a kit w/o interior one of the best on the market! Here is my take on it in DA Thomas's GB of last year.

    Battle of Kasserine Pass, Reloading the Beast!
    So good to see you on the bench again Louis, best of wishes to all.
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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks Michel ! @michel-verschuere

    How have you been my friend ?

    I will be using your Tiger build and David Leigh Smith's build for references. Both are extremely fine examples of the Tiger and both turned out fantastic. I watched them come to life with your regular updates.

    I still have your Tiger construction notes that you sent me... They will definitely come in handy now.

    Things are looking better here for now. I brought the misses home from the hospital Monday. She was in there 5 days after her surgery was completed... Our next big hurdle will be when she starts her chemotherapy... Cancer sucks !

    I hope I make you proud with my Tiger build... I'm walking in the footsteps of Giants...

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    Michel Verschuere said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    You are overdoing it Louis, the honor is entirely mine. I wish you and Sandy best of strength. Cancer is a nasty beast but therapy is ever more effective! All the best. Michel.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Louis,

    I had no idea your bride was in the hospital. Glad she's home. I'll say a prayer for her for sure. Here's a couple of pics of my Easy 8. I added the Browning .30 just like in "Fury" which makes a ton of sense. The rope is way out of scale, but I haven't taken the time to fix that.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks Michel @michel-verschuere

    and Matt @coondog

    for the kind words and well wishes for Sandy. I'm glad that she is home now too. Just recently she was diagnosed with peritoneal cancer...which is a very aggressive type. They found it quite by accident, and she was not having any symptoms at all. In fact when they were doing blood tests on her, it didn't even show up in her CA-125 screening blood work. Her first surgery was the day before Thanksgiving. This is some scary stuff ! and I don't scare too easy...

    She is going through chemotherapy next. It's supposed to last between 6 to 8 months, with a treatment at every 3 weeks. She gets a blood draw every week now. Poor thing has been like a pin cushion recently... I feel so bad for her. They told her she will lose her hair after the second week. Keep in mind that she has always had long beautiful hair for her entire life. This will be a dramatic change for her and take an emotional toll on her as well when this happens.

    Right now it's almost like a bad dream... a nightmare if you will. It just hast not sunk in yet... for either of us. When it does it will probably hit us like a ton of bricks.

    She has been so strong through this. A real trooper...

    Please continue to keep her in your prayers. I am sincerely grateful for that. Thank you... from both of us.

    Matt,
    Thanks for posting up pictures of your Sherman. It really looks great ! My Dad told me that on some of the tanks he served in during the Korean War, that they often had additional MG's added to the turret roof, since you had to be almost completely exposed to operate the .050 caliber MG where it was mounted. Dad said the .050 caliber weapon was there primarily for supporting Infantry to use. He said it was great for "shooting into the hills"... or for marking targets.

    He also said that most often they added a lot of additional storage for spare MG ammunition on the outside of the tank, using primarily the fenders... They did this on the Sherman's and the M-26 / M-46 tanks he crewed.

    Dad said he preferred the Sherman in the hills of Korea. He said it could "Go in places the Pershing's and Patton's couldn't". He also said it was a very reliable tank, and easy to maintain. He said the main drawbacks of the Sherman was the armor wasn't as good as it was on the M-26 / M-46 tanks. He also added the Sherman would "catch fire within seconds once it was hit. You better get out quick if it happens"... My Dad finally told me during his last days, that he was in 4 different tanks that were knocked out / or damaged in Korea through various actions.

    One Sherman he was in was flipped on it's side when it ran over an anti tank mine. This happened on a very narrow dirt road and the tank almost rolled down the side of the mountain.

    One Sherman was taken out with a satchel charge placed on the rear deck. I think he said this happened in or very near Seoul.

    Another one he was a crew member in was hit on the rear deck with a direct hit from a 122 MM mortar round. I do not know what type of tank it was however.

    The last tank he said was disabled by a T-34. He said that one of the tracks were shot off and the tank was no longer mobile. I think this last one may have been a Pershing, but I'm not 100 percent sure about it now. He said that it also caught fire when they received another hit. But he didn't specify what type of incoming fire set his tank ablaze. He said the North Korean and Chinese often used captured American bazookas... and knew the weak spots to aim for.

    Your Sherman will look even better once you replace the string... The crew figure looks fantastic ! That's an area I need some serious improvement with. You have it mastered.
    Thanks for sharing.

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    David Mills said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Louis, Good to see you've started this.
    We got back from Bovingdon late last night.
    While we were there we managed to bump into a few film stars!

    7 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Jeff Bailey said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Brother Tanker from another Mother @lgardner ! Looks like a great start.

    I'm really happy for Sandy and I wish you 2 "kids" the best ! I was lucky with my cancer in that when they removed half of my kidney, they (1) got all the cancer, (2) the remaining partial kidney still works, and (3) that will be 10 years ago this coming November. I didn't need chemo. But, like Michel stated "therapy is ever more effective."

    I'm really interested to "see" what, if any differences there are between your 2 kits, besides the markings decals. Like I said, I have the ETO version and it seems like a really good one - no interior, but we both know how LITTLE can actually be seen looking through the hatches. You really have to be inside to see the complexity of machinery that is inside the beasts.

    Here's a totally UN-necessary bit of information and also a question. My tanks were always "female" (in my mind) and I would often - especially if someone were with me who WASN'T a tanker - give her a friendly "caress" on the front slope and a kind word before ... uh ... mounting her ... it. (Climbing on to it !) Am I alone ? David, @dirtylittlefokker feel free to weigh in here! Uhhh ... I'd better go now. Too much information for some ...

    Seriously, you had to be there! LoL !

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    Morne Meyer said 5 years, 8 months ago:

    Hi Louis. I can't wait to see this taking shape. I am sure it will be a masterclass result as usual. I will keep you and Sandy in my prayers. My mom is a cancer survivor and it is a long road to recovery but she is in good hands. God's hands shall surround her and provide healing and comfort for both of you! God bless!