It only appears on Page 200 of Joe W. Wilson, Jr.'s reference book The 761st "Black Panther" Tank Battalion in World War II (McFarland & Co ISBN: 0-7864-0667-4). I purchased this book from a reseller via Amazon.com. I like this book the best for its content and photo coverage of the unit - you will find many interesting subjects to model. I'm planning on dedicating 2005 to modeling 761st TB subjects. It would be great to see you do some too!

Gunnie

Thanks for that info Jim. Now i just gotta save up the money to buy that with a couple other books.


Thanks again

Matt

Though I missed the campaign deadline - I did want to post photos of the model finishing. I made it tough on myself by deciding to cut off the Academy tracks and apply a set of RHPS links. To these I added AFV Club "duckbills" because the RHPS duckbills hadn't been released yet.

Uuuuugh - this took some patience and time...

Anyway, since the campaign ended, I'm just weathering and working on wrapping the model up leisurely. I've just begun the weathering process and working all the parts and figures into the final mix. This was the first time I modeled an African-American crew too. Not as hard as I thought at first. It was a bit of a trick finding figures to mimic the physical stature of the crew - so I came as close as I felt comfortable.

The model is set a day or so before VE Day in Austria. The tank and crew are scouting near their bivouac with the Russians not too far away. At this time, there was no concentrated enemy resistance in the area. "#4" was a newer vehicle and didn't exhibit extensive wear, combat damage, or overload of gear at this stage of the war.

I still have some equipment to attach to the model and weathering to complete before calling it "done"...

Gunnie

That's good Gunnie - it may have missed the campaign but I'm glad you showed us the finished item.

Excellent work. I think I have some pics of Cool Studs #4. Looks great

Thanks Dave and Alan! I really like coming home and messing around with the model. Sometimes I can only steal 10 minutes to sit at the workbench - but it is fun to just do a little at a time. Shermans can hook a modeler...

Gunnie

Ain't it the truth Jim? That is why I am thinking of starting another Sherman campaign next year :-) :-)

Heh heh - I'm already in!

Gunnie

Jim ..What more to say ..awesome ... just watch that decal in picture #6 in front of the serial number ..might need a little work ... Beautiful job all round ...Hey if you're too late for the one of our tanks campaign ,add it to the VE campaign instead.


Rick

Thanks for the heads-up Rick!

The gloss is to protect the dry-transfer (applied wet-style) during the weathering. I weather over the gloss finishes and then dull/satin the overall model finish at the end. I haven't gotten to that state yet - many areas of the hull still show gloss/satin areas. It all shapes up in the end overcoats...

It would be appropriate for the VE Campaign, wouldn't it?

Gunnie