Time out: Italeri M4A1 Sherman 'Calliope' 1:72 kit - part 1

A different set of challenge..

I was browsing through the aisle in one of the few remaining plastic model kit store in Sungai Besi and found an Italeri 1:72 M4A1 Sherman 'Calliope' tank.
This is a special kit that comes with a rocket launcher. Probably during the later stages of World War II.
There was an opened box, so, I inspected the contents and decided to buy it.
At RM49.90, this kit is pretty expensive. But, later, I found out that the kit retails at US$17.55 (RM61.31 excluding freight and tax) via an on-line store. 
So, that said, the 1:72 kit is cheaper here without any doubt.

A snapshot of the kit's box

The parts in the kit

Way I see it, the Italeri kit has been lying on the shelf for some time. The interior of the box was already moldy.
But the decals and instruction sheet seems to be unaffected by time and humidity.
When I laid out the kit, my challenge was to assemble the tank's hull which came in five separate pieces.
To get a solid undercarriage, the fitting must be precise. Any gaps in the seams has to be filled with putty and sanded smooth.
So, in terms of quality, I'd say that the Italeri kit kinda exceeded my expectations. As a matter of fact, I was really surprised with the engine detail on this little package.

The details.. 

There's a six-piece assembly required to build the tank's engine and it comes with an axle and a transmission box. 
If you prefer to kit-bash, you can do a cut-away to show the tank's interior. Once fitted with the upper hull, the details vanish.

The engine and transmission box

Lower hull assembly

Preparing for weathering

Assembling the hull was a nightmare. 
There's no margin for error as you might end up tearing the kit apart and building it back again.
I started by spraying the kit with a Tamiya spray paint (TS-5 Olive Drab). I don't have an airbrush system, so, aerosol spray would do. The rest of the kit was touched-up by hand with a brush and Tamiya Acrylic paint.
For the engine assembly, I used the Tamiya XF-84 Dark Iron arcylic paint to give it a raw and matt finish.
And with the Tamiya weathering master applied, the engine really stands out with two tones of metallic colour. In short the dark iron base acts as a primer to accentuate the colour of the engine and transmission box. 

Bogey and track assembly

Sherman tanks are built with a Vertical Volute Spring System (VVSS) with a set of three bogeys (similar to what you see on a train coach) and roller wheels.
These small parts comes in halves and has to be glued together. What's interesting is that the wheels are free-rolling in the bogey assembly.

Reference from a real tank's VVSS bogey

Details on the roller wheel

The completed bogey assembly and sprocket wheel

There's really no issue putting together the VVSS suspension. But, painting the roller wheels - is a bitch!
I started by using the Tamiya XF-1 flat black paint on the surface of the wheels (the real wheels have a layer of rubber on it) and found that there were ugly splotches on most of it.
Later, I individually painted the wheels to give it an even coat and touched up the mess with the Tamiya XF-65 olive drab acrylic paint. 

In some cases, modelers skip painting the roller wheels as seen in this reference 1:72 model kit by Dragon models. (reference from http://www.172shermans.com)

With the VVSS bogeys in place on each side of the hull plates, I glued together the lower hull to create the tank's undercarriage assembly.
It takes about 30-minutes for the liquid cement to set and a full day to cure. So, I worked on the weathering on the bogey and roller wheels. 
It turned out pretty good as the flat black paint brings out the highlights from the silver weathering cake from Tamiya's weathering master set C (Orange Rust, Gun Metal and Silver). 
Next, I worked on setting the tracks. It was a near disaster as the heat-bonding nearly melted one of the tracks.
I re-worked it a bit and managed to save the rubber track from completely wasted.
Slowly and gently, I fitted both sides of the tracks and noticed that the matt black paint that was sprayed on it was peeling off. 
If I had applied a primer coat, this won't be the case.
With the lower hull completed, I applied weathering on the tracks and called it a day.. 

Model Kits: A dying hobby..

Facing the generation gap..

I went to a hobby shop located on a basement in Bandar Utama.
It was my lucky day because I met an old-timer who was manning the store.
There, I asked if there are classes for model kit building.
"We hold workshops once a month on weekends, everyone can attend," he said.
Then, I went along, having a conversation with the man.
He told me that in Kuala Lumpur, there are only two hobby kit stores.
One was the Tamiya outlet in Bandar Utama where he is based, the other, a legacy store in Sungai Besi.
Kids nowadays, said the old-timer, are not keen in building hobby kits.
"It's different from our generation, we have move lively hobbies back in the days," he said.

An old-timer at work on his kit

Hobby kit modelling clubs such as this one is becoming scarce

Honing patience..

My late father used to buy hobby kits for me.
Back in the days, I remember building a set of Tamiya British Soldiers (1:35 scale) that he bought for RM3.80.
In the 70s, these kits were quite affordable. At the time, the Japanese Yen was even lower than the Malaysian Ringgit.
As time progresses with inflation, the same kit costs 10 times as much.
My first "serious" kit was an Airfix warplane. 
After school, I spent my time at home building it with a tube of Airfix glue.
That was it. I haven't the skills to paint it.
Later, when I was in Secondary school, the first kit that I built and painted was a Tamiya German Panzar Kampfwagen Ausf F/G.
It was hand-painted and I added camouflage to it. To me, it was a small achievement. Having built something out of box and seeing it take form as a tank.

The British Soldier set

One of the first tanks I built and painted

The reality

Kids aren't interested anymore in hobby kits.
Today, we have the Sony Playstation and X-Box generation.
And at school, kids have tremendous pressure to perform. Right after classes, they head straight for extra classes to prepare for exam.
This was not the case when I was a teenager.
Despite having to fetch my granny from our family shop in Jalan Raja Bot and head home on a taxi to Jalan Genting Kelang, I found time to keep myself occupied.
Even when I became employed, I still have the penchant to purchase a hobby kit.
The last piece I bought, was a Tamiya Early Production Tiger I tank.

I bought a 1:35 scale kit similar to this six years ago

To get the details correct, building a hobby kit can be time consuming.
Straight out of the box, you will be staring at pieces of plastic.
If you put in some effort to paint the parts before assembling it, the components will slowly take shape and form into a miniature military vehicle.
Some people even showcase their skills by taking part in modelling competition. 
They will display a diorama and judged according to their skillset.
Nowadays, such events are unheard of.
It's no surprise that in the years to come, hobby stores will cease to exist...