Scuttlebutt
Modeling the U.S. Army in WWII

This is Dragon's 1/72 scale M4A3 105mm Howitzer, built out of the box. The vehicle was painted and weathered according to photo of a 6th Armored Division howitzer tank in Luxembourg in January 1945 featured on page 55 of Zaloga’s M4 Sherman book.

The diorama setting was inspired by this same photo. A coouple infantrymen swap rumors with the crew of parked Sherman. The gear is from Grief, Academy, and Verlinden. Figures are from CMK, Hasegawa, Revell, and Caesar; I didn't spend much time trying to detail the small and rather indistinct faces. Fiberboard containers and brass casings are from Evergreen rod.

This happens to be my first 1/72 scale diorama.The Dragon Sherman has very nice detailing. I've enjoyed the relative easy of building these small kits OOTB and it's quick work to put together a diorama in a weekend.

And here is the period photo that served as inspiration.

 

Modeling the U.S. Army in WWII © Timothy S. Streeter