Pete's Place

[BurtWolf]

Oh man those look so cool - love the track... it is remarkable, even something so small as your windows receive great attention. Fantastic stuff!!

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, SPlod, Begemot and Burt! I really appreciate it.

SPlod - I will try to post more pictures of my Arab-Israeli stuff soon. I need to do some more Israelis and also get some of the Egyptian T-62s and infantry done.

Begemot - We do try to give our trucks a little variety in the canvas colors.

Burt- I'm glad you like the softskins. Thank you!

Pete

[pmskaar]

I finally finished my 8 Shermans I have been working on for the past couple months. These are M4A3 types including 2 M4A3E8s, 5 M4A3 76s, and 1 early model M4A3 75mm. It is my understanding that the earlier M4A3s actually started arriving in the European Theater in late 1944 as replacements. I already have some of the later type M4A3 75mm done and thought this would add a bit more variety to my collection. I have also added both the early and later versions of the T-23 turret to my M4A3 76s since they used both types.

[chrisswim]

Sweet looking armor.

[Hoth_902]

pmskaar,

what do you use for the antennas and how do you attach them?

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Chris!

Hoth, the antennas are made from black nylon thread. I picked up a spool at Joanne's Fabrics a number of years ago. I spool will last for a very long time.

I attach the antennas with Elmer's white glue. I do not put antennas on all my vehicles but for some reason I don't mind doing it on my Shermans. My antennas are 1/4" long when cut. When mounting them, I cut off a length of nylon thread a bit longer than 1/4", dip the end of the thread in a drop of glue, and insert into the pre-drilled hole. When the glue dries, I then measure and cut to 1/4". I don't actually attach the turret to the model until this step is completed which is at the end of everything.

I have also attached antennas to some of my T-34s as well. The earlier T-34s had the antenna mounted in the hull. For my Russians, only platoon and company command and above get antennas until the arrival of the T-34/85.

[redleg]

You are my hero Pete! Fantastic tanks!

That area on the back deck of the tank that I am assuming is the exhaust - do you paint that area a different color, or is the coloration a result of a wash?

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Redleg! You are very kind. The back deck is basically the engine grill vents and I used a wash to bring them out.

[redleg]

Thanks for the info Pete! Amazing work!

[pmskaar]

Thanks again, Redleg! I appreciate it.

I am looking forward to GHQ's just released M4A1 with the single piece transmission cover. I recently painted a platoon of M4A1s for my late War Americans. These are kitbashed with the the 2 new M34A1 turrets that GHQ now makes. Both have the split hatch as opposed to the later commanders cupola. One type has applique armor on the side and the other has a distinctive bulge in lieu of the applique armor. The hulls are all of the earlier 3 piece transmission with the distinctive flanges separating the 3 pieces of the cover.

Here again is a picture of my platoon of M4A1s. These are good for Normandy as is the newer GHQ release.

[Begemot]

Pete,

Great work. Those Shermans look real. Outstanding.


Begemot

[BurtWolf]

another set of realistic looking tanks, your work is fantastic Pete! Do you dry brush your tracks? If so with what color(s)? Thanks!

[Hoth_902]

Simply magnificent.

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Begemot, Burt, and Hoth! I really appreciate it.

Burt, the way I did my tracks on these is to paint the roadwheels and tracks Humbrol #67 Panzer Gray. This is a very dark, charcoal gray straight out of the tin. It makes a great scale black for 1/285th.

I did a very dark brown wash on these Shermans, then highlighted the base color. I did a "dusting" on the tanks by spraying a very thinned down earthy brown color from a distance, especially around the roadwheels and tracks, the rear and a bit on the front as well. This represents the dust buildup that occurs in the field but I did not want to overdue it.

One of the final steps is to us Humbrol Polished Steel on the end connectors and when dry, burnish with a finishing nail. This provides the metallic highlights on the tracks. For all steel tracks as those found on most other nations tanks, I paint the tracks a fairly dark, slightly reddish brown color. On those I put the Polished Steel on the end connectors and track cleats as well to show where the wear is.

Pete

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Cama! I am currently working on some M4A1 76mm Shermans to add to my M4A1 75mm Shermans.