FINISHED - M-50 Israeli Sherman - MP Models - 1:35 Scale

[CDW]

In the mid-1950's Israel became alarmed at the growing strength of the Arab armies, especially in the growing numbers of Soviet supplied tanks. As a partial solution, Israel and France teamed up to develop a modified Sherman tank mounting a high velocity 75 mm gun, as used on the French AMX-13. The first of these arrived in time to see action in the 1956 Suez Campaign. Over the years, the M-50 Shermans were modified with more powerful engines and HVSS suspensions, enabling them to soldier on through the 1967 and 1973 wars.

 

This build will model one of the later modified M-50 Sherman versions from the 60's through the 80's.

 

 

[CDW]

I've begun the build by cleaning up and assembling the Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (HVSS) units and road wheels.

The kit is from the 1980's and not on a par with modern armor kit offerings from Tamiya and other Asian manufacturers of today, but by taking the time to clean up the considerable parting lines, ejector pin marks, and flash, this model can be built to a very nice replica. I remember when armor modelers were entering and winning lots of regional IPMS contests with it in the 80's and 90's.

 

Here is the progress thus far with the suspension components:

 

 

As you can see, there is a considerable parting line right down the middle of each road wheel that requires time and attention to remove. Additionally, some holes must be resized by drilling out the holes in the suspension units where the road wheels attach. Definitely not a shake and bake kit.

 

 

The kit provides individual track links, something that was found on very few if any other armor kits at the time this kit was produced. But again. painstaking attention must be given to clean up each link, as the ejector pin marks can be clearly seen in the photo.

 

 

 

The model comes with a very nice resin turret and accessories, a turned aluminum gun barrel, and a sheet of photo etch.

 

[ccoyle]

Reminds me of an old Avalon Hill simulation I used to have, Arab-Israeli Wars.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, ccoyle said:

Reminds me of an old Avalon Hill simulation I used to have, Arab-Israeli Wars.

Never played the simulations, but I used to see a lot of guys playing on tables at the hobby shops. Those games seemed quite involved.

[mtaylor]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

Never played the simulations, but I used to see a lot of guys playing on tables at the hobby shops. Those games seemed quite involved.

 

They were pretty involved.  The hardcore players usually had reams of docs, etc. to keep things straight.  I use play their "Jutland" game back in the day.  Often we set the board aside and used either a large table or the floor.  Today, my back would scream at the thought of a 8-15 hour game session on the floor.

[lmagna]

We played Wooden Ships And Iron Men. Usually once a week or so on Tuesday. The day when we all had common time off. For me it was after a full shift on Graveyard before I went home to get some sleep. Once in a while we would do Richthofen's War or War Of  The Roses instead. One of the guys would take on anyone in Stalingrad So long as he was able to play the Germans. He LIVED for the day once a year or so where he would win and take Stalingrad! Jutland would have been good as well but like Mark said it took up a large room to play in and we didn't have the room needed.

 

Avalon Hill produced some pretty good games back in the day. I think Wooden Ships And Iron Men is still available as a digital game that you can play on your computer. And of course there is World Of Warships available these days.

[mtaylor]

Richthofen's War was excellent also.  We seemed to be stuck in WWI back then.

[lmagna]

I think it was nice much in the same way as WSIM was. The speeds were easy to handle in a limited area and the aircraft/weapons were relatively simple as were the strategy and tactics. More modern planes would be a whole different situation.  

[Cabbie]

I know nothing about the tank or games being talked about, but thoroughly enjoyed every post here.

Hmmm some more things i have to find time for to go and look up, funny what comes up when you have

a quick random look in another type of model log.

Looking forward to seeing more CDW.

Cheers Chris

[CDW]

23 minutes ago, Cabbie said:

I know nothing about the tank or games being talked about, but thoroughly enjoyed every post here.

Hmmm some more things i have to find time for to go and look up, funny what comes up when you have

a quick random look in another type of model log.

Looking forward to seeing more CDW.

Cheers Chris

Don't be a stranger, Chris. Come back soon.

[Edwardkenway]

Looks like another good model on the way Craig and I never realized the Israeli army used Shermans. The things you can learn with this forum 😁

2 hours ago, lmagna said:

We played Wooden Ships And Iron Men. Usually once a week or so on Tuesday. The day when we all had common time off. For me it was after a full shift on Graveyard before I went home to get some sleep. Once in a while we would do Richthofen's War or War Of  The Roses instead. One of the guys would take on anyone in Stalingrad So long as he was able to play the Germans. He LIVED for the day once a year or so where he would win and take Stalingrad! Jutland would have been good as well but like Mark said it took up a large room to play in and we didn't have the room needed.

 

Avalon Hill produced some pretty good games back in the day. I think Wooden Ships And Iron Men is still available as a digital game that you can play on your computer. And of course there is World Of Warships available these days.

I never played any of those but then I was stuck in the Napoleonic wars and the AWI which I preferred as you didn't need huge armies.

[CDW]

Just now, Edwardkenway said:

Looks like another good model on the way Craig and I never realized the Israeli army used Shermans. The things you can learn with this forum 😁

 

When Israel became a nation in 1948, Shermans were available in significant quantities as surplus from WW2 military equipment stockpiles. Many armies the world over had Sherman tanks in their military inventories.

[Old Collingwood]

When things get back to some kind of normal  and travel is easier  you should pay a visit over the pond  here  - 

 

https://tankmuseum.org/home

 

I have been  and its a Fab place.

 

OC.

[CDW]

25 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

When things get back to some kind of normal  and travel is easier  you should pay a visit over the pond  here  - 

 

https://tankmuseum.org/home

 

I have been  and its a Fab place.

 

OC.

Indeed, I would love to do that.

[Old Collingwood]

Just now, CDW said:

Indeed, I would love to do that.

They even do live displays  of car crushing  by tanks.

 

OC.

[Canute]

We had a long running series of American Civil War games at our alert facility in Germany. Some magazine published a new game every few months and it kept us occupied. Beat the alternatives.

[CDW]

Just now, Canute said:

We had a long running series of American Civil War games at our alert facility in Germany. Some magazine published a new game every few months and it kept us occupied. Beat the alternatives.

My maternal 2nd great grandfather was a Florida pioneer. He bought his homestead in 1843, being one of the first to settle in what is now Sumter County. Back in those days, he was living in the middle of nowhere, but a Confederate Marshall found him and conscripted him into the Confederate military where he served in the 2nd Florida Cavalry, H Company, under JJ Dickinson. The same was true for my other maternal 2nd great grandfather, only he lived in Alachua County and served with the Florida 9th Regiment after he was conscripted. In those days, you either served or could be shot for refusing to serve.  

[CDW]

4 hours ago, lmagna said:

 

And of course there is World Of Warships available these days.

Have you played World of Warships, Lou? I've played a few games.

[ccoyle]

Craig, my paternal great-great-grandfather was born and raised in Gaffney here in the Upstate, but was living in Mississippi when the "Late Unpleasantness" broke out. He enlisted in the 9th Mississippi, which was training in the Florida panhandle when he was discharged for "debility." He made his way back to SC and enlisted in the 18th South Carolina; when the army reorganized in 1862, his company elected to join the Palmetto Sharpshooters, with whom he served from Frayser's Farm until The Wilderness, where he was captured and afterwards spent a year as a guest of the Federal Government at Fort Delaware. My maternal 3x-great-grandfather was in the 39th Georgia, captured and paroled at Vicksburg, then fought in the Atlanta campaign until he was wounded (permanently crippled in one arm) and discharged. Ironically, Confederate Memorial Day is still a government holiday in SC, so my wife got this past Monday off, but not me, and she hasn't got a drop of southern blood in her -- unless we're talking about southern Norway.

 

Back to the topic, though -- the Israelis quickly mastered the art of armored desert warfare, and their tactics and skill made their Shermans more than a match for the Egyptian T-34/85s they encountered in the earlier conflicts.

[mtaylor]

As I recall, some games were strategy pure and simple... not individual aircraft or troops but armies, navies, air forces with one piece representing a whole unit or more.   Others,  like Richthofen's War and Jutland were individual planes or ships. 

 

Depending on where you are in the States, there's lots of bases that have museums.   Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland is quite large, for example.  I've stumbled across some others when driving cross-country.   Sign on the highway with something like Fort XXXX next exit. Museum next exit.  One could probably spend decades driving between military museums and still not see them all.  Add Revolutionary, the Recent Unpleasentness (thanks for the reminder Chris) there's even more.

[lmagna]

3 hours ago, CDW said:

Have you played World of Warships, Lou?

I probably would if my kids did. But I never got into video games like they did. Probably a good thing as I would have possibly gone under and never surfaced again.

 

One game I did play back when I got the kids their first Nintendo was Silent Service. It was WWII US submarine warfare at a tactical level., they never cared for it much but I LOVED it! I remember one night when I started playing it not long after they had gone to bed, 9pm? and was still playing when the sun came up in the morning. It seemed that no time at all had passed in the meantime! NOT the best way to live for a working guy with a family and other responsibilities.

 

Being that I worked hours that were outside of normal people with weekdays and in many cases days off while working nights I had many hours of my week where my family life was somewhat limited anyway. Sometimes my son especially had a hard time trying to understand why daddy was always sleeping while he wanted to play on his weekends. He didn't understand that I was working while he was sleeping. I would sometimes try to make it up a little by staying up on my "Friday" after I got home from work and have the extra day to be with family, and doing much the same on my "Monday" by staying up before my shift and then working through the night. 

Edited May 14, 2020 by lmagna

[Old Collingwood]

Remember the board game   Risk.

 

OC.

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Old Collingwood said:

Remember the board game   Risk.

 

OC.

I enjoyed that game a lot.

 

[Canute]

Oh, yeah! Played that one when I was doing air defense alert at Eglin AFB in FLA. Only 4 guys in a single wide for 24 hours. Only TV was over the air, antenna was on a rotor. We had 2 stations from Pensacola, FLA,  1 in Dothan, Alabama.  Pulled alert with squadron mate who was heavily into super-detailing a Revell 1/32 F-4E. We'd go out and sit under the jet, tracing the assorted lines of hydraulics and other plumbing in the wheel wells. He'd call a line and I'd trace it from here to there in the wells. Reinforced a lot of the systems I learned in my initial F-4 training.

[Roger Pellett]

My great grandfather, James H. Speer served in the 7th Ohio Cavalry from the regiment’s initial muster in the fall of 1862 until January 1865 when he was discharged for disability.  The regiment fought at the siege of Atlanta and at the December 1864 battles of Franklin and Nashville, TN.  He died in 1896 and is buried at the Ohio Soldiers and Sailors Home at Sandusky, Ohio.

 

His brother served on the Federal Navy gunboat Baron DeKalb, a model of which is currently being built on the forum’s scratch building site.

 

Roger

[CDW]

Assembled the lower hull and primed it with Vallejo Panzer Gray Primer. Each link of the tracks are glued together along side of a metal ruler to keep a straight alignment. 

I like the way they have included the casting numbers in the hull parts. The kit includes the parts to do several iterations of the M-50, but I have chosen to model the 1973 version with this build.

 

[Cabbie]

Looking good CDW, very keen to keep following and see how you progress.

I feel like a minnow among all the other posters here, too many models and not enough time.

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Cabbie

[CDW]

Never heard of them, but it seems their prices are in Canadian dollars.

[mtaylor]

Cabbie,

You got your answers on the other topic you posted.

[CDW]

Interesting video about the Sherman tanks, including this model/version and the subsequent purchase of the tanks by Chile. A long, storied service life of the Sherman tank.