US M551 'Sheridan' Tank

The M551 Sheridan was widely used in Vietnam, especially in the Divisional Armored cavalry Squadrons, and although compared unfavourably to the M48A3 Patton which it replaced, nonetheless saw extensive service. This article presents the assembly and painting of a 20mm M551 Sheridan model from Britannia Miniatures and is intended as a guide to those who are considering purchasing this kit.

The M551 Sheridan (catalogue# VEH 2) is the second US armored vehicle from Britannia Miniatures 20mm Vietnam range. The model reviewed here was provided by David Howitt of Britannia Miniatures.

All models are from my own personal collection and have been painted and photographed by me.

Model Components

The M551 Sheridan kit comes supplied with the following components:

Single piece Hull/Chassis cast in resin
Vehicle Turret also cast in resin
Main armament barrel
Left and right running gear and tracks
A single .50-cal machinegun
Gun-shield for the .50-cal

The model, as supplied, came without the track commander who would normally travel in the open turret. I am informed by David Howitt that a complete set of AFV command figures will be made available in the near future so that you can use the commander of choice.

One striking feature of the model is the amount of stowage that has been sculpted on to both the top deck of the hull as well as around the turret. Contemporary pictures of the M551 support this and the variety of stowage items makes the model look a whole lot more interesting - and challenging - including C-ration boxes, ammo cans and kit bags etc.

The vehicle driver is part of the casting and can be seen in the picture above with just his head visible in the hatch at the mid-front of the vehicle.

In keeping with modifications made to the vehicle whilst in service in Vietnam, the commanders cupola in the turret is provided with the recognisable 'bird-cage' protective shields.

Preparation

As usual it is a good idea to 'dry run' the assembly prior to gluing anything in place so that you get a good idea of the fit of the components and get to see whether you need to do any work on them prior to assembly.

Both the resin cast hull and turret require no preparation, both being very cleanly cast. The running gear needed a little work using a needle file in order to clear away some of the flash from around the wheels but this was minimal and was really cosmetic rather than essential.

The barrel of the main gun fits into a hole that is present in the turret. I found that it was a good idea to glue the barrel in place at a slightly elevated angle. Again, this was really cosmetic and there is no reason other than appearance to make this slight adjustment.

The gun shield has an extruding pin on the back which again slots into a pre-drilled hole in the commanders cupola assembly. The pin is woefully thin for the size of the bore hole and is, to all intents and purposes, redundant. Still, I left it in place anyway. When the shield is aligned there is some misalignment since the aperture for the .50-cal is cut a little lower than the actual surface that it abutts. Nonetheless, this is hardly noticeable when assembled and will be totally invisible when painted.

There is a problem with the moulding of the turret ring. The hole in the top of the chassis hull into which the turret slots is not a true circle. The consequence of this is that the turret either partially gets stuck as you turn it or else it 'rides' up and then settles back down again once it has passed through the arc of that part of the circle. I mentioned this to David Howitt and he informed me that this is a result of having to cut the turret ring by hand and not quite getting a true circle. The end result does not cause too much of a problem and is easily accommodated. I am sure that there are a number of remedies to this.

Overall, the model was very easy to assemble, clean and straightforward involving a minimum of preparation. I did not glue in place the gun shield or the .50-cal machine gun since I will paint them separately and attach them at a later stage. This being the case, the only parts to actually glue at this stage were the running gear and the main armament.

Painting

As always, I undercoated the hull and turret using a black primer spray. The technique that I used for painting the base coat is exactly the same as that described in earlier reviews, namely by using what I term my 'sponge' technique (see Britannia M113 ACAV). Once the undercoat had dried I applied a base coat of Vallejo US Olive Drab (889) which is very dark. I then went on to apply the first highlight. For this I used Colour Party US Olive Drab (CA13). Remarkably, despite both colours being labelled 'US Olive Drab' there is a considerably difference in colour. The Vallejo is much closer to the real thing than the Colour Party but I find the Colour Party is excellent for highlighting - it is far too bright for use as the primary coat.

The final highlight is applied very sparingly with the sponge being almost wiped dry of paint. This takes a bit of patience since the colour builds very slowly and at first it is hardly discernable at all. Nonetheless, I mixed a little Sunburst Yellow (GW) into the Colour Party OD and applied it to the very highest points of the model and around the top of the hull./p> Back to Top

Blacking Out

With the final highlight completed I then proceeded to black-out all those areas of stowage that were going to be painted separately. This included tarpaulins, ammo, kit bags and so forth as well as the driver. The reason that I blacked out these areas is so that when I subsequently paint them they will have a black outline and hence high definition.

I then proceeded to paint all the items that had been blacked-out. Tarpaulins were painted several different colours as were the various kitbags in order to add variety. I also added a roll of anti-RPG fencing to the rear of the vehicle as well as a screen on the front - this idea was taken from a photograph. The screen was actually intended to protect the driver from foliage rather than RPGs. Both the screen and the anti-RPG fencing were made from fine wire mesh. I was not too sure exactly what the roll is that is at the rear of the vehicle just above the row of jerry cans. I chose therefore to paint it as though it were the stakes for the RPG fencing.

Weathering

Only a small amount of weathering was added - primarily as a result of this not being a particularly strong area of my painting. Using the same sponging technique, in effect all that I painted was the mud and dust on the lower part of the hull and in the running gear. I also lightly coated the other surfaces of the vehicle with a fine layer of 'dust' and mud. This has the dual effect of taking the edge off of the highlights and toning them down a little.

The Commander

Since there is no track commander supplied with the model, I simply used one of the two command figures that are provided for with the M113 ACAV kit. Whilst Britannia have informed me that they intend to produce a selection of vehicle command figures for sale as separate items, I feel that the kit would have benefited from the inclusion of at least a single commander figure so as to be able to complete the model. Nonetheless, with the commander sat in the turret armed with a .50-cal, the model looks complete.

As a final touch I added an aerial to the top of the turret. This was made from heating and stretching a piece of old plastic sprue. Although the aerial is not very clear in the photographs, it looks effective on the actual model.

Markings

In the photograph of the original 'Hard Core Two-Seven' (the vehicle was part of the 3/4 Cav) the name of the vehicle is painted on the short barrel of the main armament. I took the liberty of painting the name on the side of the hull since I wanted it to be clearly visible as well as the fact that I am not sufficiently skilled to paint wording small enough to fit on the barrel of the model. As a consequence, the vehicle identification number is represented as being to the rear of the vehicle in contrast to it's central position in the photograph.