M7 Priest "Early" - Historica Models (Ordnance Factory)

[pwranta193]

In my ongoing quest to have more builds going than I can finish, I'm posting my attempts at my first ever all resin build. This way I'll actually take pictures SBS, instead of trying to go back and recreate what I did...

As this kit was a gift from the Fabio Sacchi during the build of the master (I don't know how these guys do this stuff), my kit may miss some of the bits included in the commercial one - but as it was an amazing gift, I'm not complaining. I'll need to rustle up some tracks, and figure out the decals (I'm leaning towards Sicily <US or Brit> or El Alamein <Brit>), but so far so good. I'll need to track down some pubs, as well.

So to start, two things:

1) Any suggestions from you resin experts or Allied gurus is not only welcome, but needed , and

2) Let this build fall under the "tear out my heart" brutally honest build category. In fact if the Target Range is created, I'd like this to be migrated over.

Now, some pics:












So... more to follow. Now where did I put those Panthers?

[Andrew Hall]

Looks fun. Sicily, got to be! Some stuff





Chris Hughes sells a CD walkaround (well worth the cash going by the two I've bought from him)



Easy1 Productions sell a CD of the tech manual. Again, well worth the $20 if it's anything like the Flak 88 CD I got from Mike. It came with the US technical manual and a stack of very useful walkaround photos




Allied-Axis 17 did a feature on the M7

Andrew

[lquah]

Let this build fall under the "tear out my heart" brutally honest build category.

Ok..you asked for it The parts are still have not been removed from the carrier

Is it me or does the fuel tank look suspiciously like they were taken from a PzKpfw I?

Oh..and I won't say it looks great since it doesn't! Looks like a pile of...well, parts!

LQ

[MartinD]

By jove, what a splendid looking assortment of bits and pieces you've got there mate.
I'd go with the utterly interesting El Alamein assortment of ingeniously invented camouflage. Have you got the recent MM AFV Special? This contains some good shots of El Alamein Priests as well as the standard camouflage scheme

Cheers and keep it up chap!

[RickLawler]

In my ongoing quest to have more builds going than I can finish

??? I thought we were going to build a train station....What happened to the ChooChoo trains?

2) Let this build fall under the "tear out my heart" brutally honest build category. In fact if the Target Range is created, I'd like this to be migrated over.

There's a nasty seam line on the backdrop of your photographs...

[sharkmouth]

Here are a few references. Note that you (if located in the US) should be able to download the TMs for free and not have to shell out $20. By all means, buy Toadman's Tank Pictures CD as they are definitely a great value.

1. Hughes, Chris, “CD #15 Toadman's 105mm H.M.C. M7, M7B1, and M7B2 Photo Detail CD”, Toadman’s Tank Pictures.
2. TM 9-731E ( Carriage, Motor, 105-mm Howitzer, M7 )
3. TM -mm Howitzers M2 and M2A1; Carriages M2A1 and M2A2; and Combat Vehicle Mounts M3 and M4 )
4. FM 6-75 ( Field Artillery Manual: Service of the Piece: 105mm Howitzer, M2, Truck-Drawn )
5. Army Heritage Collection Online - here many Technical Manuals are available online.
6. Doyle, David. “M7 Motor Carriage”, Allied-Axis Issue 17, pp 77-96, 2006.
7. Hunnicutt, R. P. “Sherman, A history of the American Medium Tank” Presidio Press.
8. Mesko, Jim “U.S. Self-Propelled Guns in Action”, Squadron Publications, 1999

I used the above for the slightly later Academy M7 Priest Early kit. They are to help you with details and you can see how wonderful Fabio's work is...

When using the above link, enter the TM name into the DDS Search Panel and (this is important to not waste time) select Boolean from the next drop down menu. Now you can click search.

As for camouflage, let someone else decide but me.

Regards,

[pwranta193]

I knew about a couple of these, but had no idea that there was such a wide range to draw from - good to see the qualitative call outs - Grazie.

Andrew - always hard to guess what you have stored in your vault of reference/interests I've yet to invest in a Toad Tome, so this will be a good place to start. I think that the tech manuals will be needed for the Early model as well.

LQ - Pzr I bits??? I thought those were only used in Hi-tech Panther references (sorry - obscure tragi-comedy reference). Seriously, I've not ever seen the guts of a Pzr I to know - I am getting better at removing the bits from the carrier without impaling myself or grinding off needed detail. There is no warpage in the kit I have, which was a worry.

Thanks Martin, it is a beauty of a kit, I hope I can do it justice. He gave it to me 3+(?) years ago and I nearly broke out in a sweat, as it was pretty intimidating. I'm feeling a lot more confident at this point in my ability to get it together without trashing the most delicate bits (the gun and engine details are really the biz).

Rick! <the quote function won't work on this PC> "??? I thought we were going to build a train station....What happened to the ChooChoo trains?" Not to fear, this one will be the slow and steady while I A.D.D. back and forth on the other projects

This one has actually been good from me, as I am forced to slow down and really work through every part... or risk wrecking a bit that I'll never be able to scratch, or glueing my hand to the assembly. I am going to try and include what/how I am doing the clean up and construction for those who have yet to attack a resin kit - show the tools and such of my clean up - and hopefully add some value by getting some pointers from folks that do this all of the time.

Tiburon - I'll be jamming the airways this weekend downloading those manuals I've got my Hunnicut buried - I didn't remember the SP portion - time to finish the book box unpacking. As I recall, Fabio used to crew one of these back in the day?

[MartinD]

One addition to the reference list Saul posted:
Add the Tankograd manual, this is an excerpt from the original TM but includes the most useful photographs. It costs about 10 euro, so this will not break the bank.

Cheers, MartinD
PS Online camouflage ideas, check Concords website for a preview on their book US SP Artillery.

[sharkmouth]

Originally Posted by MartinD

One addition to the reference list Saul posted:
Add the Tankograd manual, this is an excerpt from the original TM but includes the most useful photographs.

Hi Martin,

I did not mention it since Paul should be able to download the TMs from the US Military History web site. However, it is good to mention for those who may not have access to the download area.

By the way, at one time .mil web sites used filtering to disable downloads from IP addresses not in the United States. This limited people's access to what was available for US citizens. This is exactly what allfiles.ru does to avoid anyone outside Russia to download.

All I can say is check and see if you can. If you can't, buy the Tankograd book as Martin suggested.

Regards,

[Stuke Sowle]

I remember looking over this bad boy at your place years ago. Nice to see you have started it up. I wish you the best of luck!!

Seriously, you do have quite a few projects going. Didn't you ever learn from my mistakes? The more you start the less you get done???