Hobby-How-To: Building the FoW Open Fire Plastic Shermans

Welcome to the first "Hobby-How-Too", a short guide on a certain technique or hobby kit.

So, like many, I was full of hobby froth when Battlefront announced the new 'Open Fire' starter set full of amazing looking models. Then, sadly, I too was full of hobby sadness when I struggled to put the Sherman tanks together in any sort of respectable fashion.

After having put two box sets worth of Sherman's together, I've found the weak spots of the kit, and can now make them look respectable with the minimum of effort - they are great plastic kits, and really great value!

The Enemy

After clipping the model out, and dry fitting the hull together, you'll notice that the right hand track just doesn't sit... right. That's because the back of the hull 'T' is too long. By clipping this down, you'll be able to sit the right track easier. Don't worry, the top of the hull covers this up, so unless you're specifically looking you'll not see the hole.

DON'T GLUE ANYTHING YET! This take a bit of effort, but by holding the hull together, you can test fit the top on:

And there is problem number two! Don't worry, its a simple fix. Don't forget, these are Battlefronts first attempt at a plastic tank, and they've managed to capture their style instead of the Plastic Soldier Companies lovely Scale model approach.

Onwards! By careful trimming then test fit then trimming again of the areas below, you can get a much better fit of the hull:

Then comes the fun fun time of gluing. I glue the bottom, sides and top of the hull all at once with plastic glue, and carefully hold them using the patented Fez-grip:

Nice. But how'd I take the picture....?

I've you've filed everything nicely, it shouldn't take long to dry.

The Rest its rather easy, just make sure that you use enough glue on the barrel, as it is a pain when they pop off....

Any questions, pop them below!

Fez

Pew Pew - Take that Jerry!