WWII American M36 Jackson TDs, 15mm Command Decision

 

This is a platoon build of five WWII American M36 Jackson Tank Destoyers, from April 2009. It was the third 15mm miniatures build project I'd done. A Command Decisions platoon bag, this was my first departure from Flames of War to the all metal, hollow hull miniatures produced by  Old Glory Miniatures . Old Glory were cheaper to buy, and had a great range of miniatures. Not as heavy as FoW, but still a very nice weight to the individual minis. Exceptional metal units and accessories, the detail is marvelous... the only thing missing are the decals, though I'd already bought some from another market to outfit several sets over time. 

The turrets, main gun and arms, treads, and accessories are loose and require assembly. Unlike the FoW minis, rare earth magnets would not work in the case of this miniatures line to secure them in place, nor BluTac, so you must use a bit more care with loose turrets.

 

 

Assembly

The barrels of the main guns were tricky to mount, because of the narrower mantlet on the hull front armor. Using gel CA glue, which holds the loose parts better while drying, I needed a little assist from the effects of gravity by propping them up in a modeling filing awl, and the assembly was left to cure for several hours.

 

Next came the treads, with the same method I'd used on my FoW miniatures, where using gel CA glue, you need to pinch with your fingers like a vice, holding the metal treads to the resin tank body with firm pressure for several minutes... that's long enough for the CA glue to grab and hold, after which you can set the tank down to cure for several hours for a secure bond.

 

...the tricky thing with this line of miniatures being that the main hull is not solid, so it requires a tad more dexterity in holding the three parts together in a plumb manner. I adore the machine guns on the turret of this line of minis!!!

 

Painting

A basecoat of Folk Art Black acrylic paint was handbrushed on the entire surface of the miniatures -- I'd pre-cleaned them with a soapy dishwasher detergent wash, but forwent the priming. Next was a coat of Olive Drab of the same paint line, and then some details and highlighting...

 

 

The Finished Work

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other reason I'd picked these up are to fill in the gap in my Axis & Allies Miniatures OOB!  I’ve been meaning to go back in and paint the stowage and weather them more, but they’ve served the purpose in wargaming.

I'll be going back into these at a later date soon, to add some much needed field weathering and color to the stowage. Dust them up a bit. When painted to this point, I'd not added a clear dullcoat at the end, but they haven't suffered any wear, which really speaks to the durability of Folk Art Acrylics! And on that product, I've since learned Apple Barrel is better quality, and luckily, I need a restock!!!