This year planning to complete some more Israeli tanks for the 6 days war and Yom Kippur. A long time ago I purchased a number of Cpl Obervy Sherman 1/72 conversions for the Israeli M50 and M51 tanks. These conversions are for Dragon or Hasegawa Sherman kit’s, predominantly with the HVSS chassis in mind, although some M50s were on the vertical chassis. Dragon 1/72 are becoming more and more rare, plus expensive, but hasegawa still are quite available, however with 3d printing available I printed the chassis I required.
There were no instructions so I spent a number of hours watching videos whilst I cleaned up the kits. After gluing a deck on one of the vehicles the video informed me that the exhaust system was different on each variant. Frustrated I thought I would search for info and come across some explanations of a build. This explained the different chassis and turrets I had much better!
The kits are very cleanly cast in resin, with lots of spare bits, Jerry cans, wheels, boxes and track boxes, spotlight, barrel brace, although I scratch built some more Track Boxes as some M51 seemed to have them on both sides looking at images. The 50 cal is particularly nice, but be careful trimming the hatches as the points are particularly fine, I think I only successfully cleaned up one without breaking it. I would have like a 30 cal also for the M51 and a closed up front hull mg port.
Unfortunately it seems that CPL Obervy has closed shop, so your only choice is 3d printed kits now. Looking forward to getting all of mine assembled and painted over the next few weeks.
M50 conversion kits
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| Replacement engine deck with the extra welded plate in the middle between the air filter intakes |
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| The original dragon chassis, the later master for the Hasegawa |
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| M50 dragon on the left, hasegawa on the right |
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| The rear plate conversion, add your block outs or exhaust depending upon mark |
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| M51 Hasegawa conversion kit, I also received baggage, fuel drums and boxes |
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| M51 turret, dragon on the left hasegawa on the right |
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| M51 dragon on the left Hasegawa on the right |
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| Instructions for the hasegawa chassis |
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| Deck and rear plate exhaust arrangements for both M50 and M51 |
Cheers
Matt
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