Sunday 31 August 2014

Vietnam - Sheridan M551


These have been on my desk for a while, as with the SU12, if its fiddly or involves extensive modification it requires more time... and these were both fiddly and extensively modified! The basic kit is the 20mm S-Models Sheridan, sourced from Plastic Soldier Company.




 I saved some build pics as I went so the Mods are detailed as below:


One hull was opened up to add a driver, and the bird cage mounts have been completed. I now use Sgts Mess .50 cals for models intended for gaming as they are much sturdier than their plactic counterparts. Various additional stowage has been added to the front of the turrets, along with headlight gaurds and ammunition box straps.


The rear stowage boxes were tricky. A basic cage was formed from wire and then mesh added, green stiff and resin stowage then covered any inperfections. 


Here is the initial base colours, no specific fancy techniques here, basic airbrush highlighting to achieve some tonal variation. Whilst modulation is all the rage at the moment, these are to fit into an existing commission which has scale appropriate colouring.

The crew figures are a mixture of S&S Models SHQ. 







Ta Da! all done. 
I have a few Vietnam pieces just finished, included is an infantry platoon ( yes, I do figures as well.....and aircraft, ships, spaceships.........

Off to the shed now for some extended airbrushing hours, but will post up when I get five.

As always, more pictures on my flickr which contains my complete portfolio of work, 


and there's a link to the side where you can subscribe to my intermittant postings.

3 comments:

DeanM said...

Great work on converting and painting these up. I served in the 3/73rd Armor back in the early 80's. They had the last operational Sheridans in the Army inventory at the time. The unit had a nickname of the "Only Airborne Armor in the Free World" :)!

Troop of Shewe said...

Cheers dean, any particular weathering experienced with the aluminium hulls? I've "chipped" in grey, but wondering what they really looked like?

DeanM said...

The tanks were kept pretty pristine when I was there. I was assigned to them right after Grenada - which the 3/73rd didn't participate in (as a unit anyway). They were painted in the camo scheme of the period. They used to airdrop them, as well as LAPES them out the tailgate of C-130s - one time with tragic results - right after I left them for Korea. The interesting thing was that the crews were still assigned M3 Grease Guns! As far as weathering, the chipping looks accurate. Best, Dean

Current FOR SALE items

1/56 Weasel
Will update soon, contact me for details


Blog Archive