King & Country
Captain
- Joined
- May 23, 2005
- Messages
- 5,103
Hi Guys,
Many thanks for the comments and appreciation on the “Pondering the best Sherman” thread ...
Here are some of my own memories, photos and personal favourites from the very earliest days of K&C Sherman Production ...
1. The Very First Sherman K&C ever produced.
This was hand-carved wood, made in China thanks to a girlfriend I had at the time who knew a wood-carving factory on the mainland that up until that time was making ornamental, hand-carved, hand-painted wooden birds and other animals.
Just one sample produced and it’s still in the K&C Collection.
2. The Second hand-carved Sherman made in China and Vietnam
We placed a small order for 50 x Shermans with this factory and they requested a ‘simpler’ Sherman so we chose the “Jumbo”.
At the same time we gave them an order for 50 x Panthers and 50 x Tigers.
After that they said it was all too difficult and we moved to Vietnam!
The “Desert Sherman” you see in the pix was made in Vietnam but is basically a “Jumbo” which, of course, never served in the Desert but was painted in North African colours. We never did build any models in Vietnam.
3. Third and Fourth Shermans ... Made in the Philippines.
Back in the 1990’s we were making a lot of hand-carved, hand-painted aircraft models in the Philippines ... If they can make a Spitfire or an ME109 why not a wooden tank...?
Well of course they could ... BUT they were very fragile and EXPENSIVE! However we did go ahead and for a couple of years produced all kinds of tanks, vehicles and aircraft there.
Here you see an American Sherman and a British one.
4. Our FIRST polystone Sherman ...
By accident, attending a gift and premium trade show in Hong Kong we discovered a company in Shanghai making all kinds of polystone (marble dust and resin) cars, trucks and ... some kind of a jeep vehicle.
“Can you make a model tank?” We asked. And so, they did.
Now, by today’s standards pretty **** crude I admit, BUT it was cheap and cheerful and fitted the bill for our growing band of WW2 collectors.
Many thanks for the comments and appreciation on the “Pondering the best Sherman” thread ...
Here are some of my own memories, photos and personal favourites from the very earliest days of K&C Sherman Production ...
1. The Very First Sherman K&C ever produced.
This was hand-carved wood, made in China thanks to a girlfriend I had at the time who knew a wood-carving factory on the mainland that up until that time was making ornamental, hand-carved, hand-painted wooden birds and other animals.
Just one sample produced and it’s still in the K&C Collection.
2. The Second hand-carved Sherman made in China and Vietnam
We placed a small order for 50 x Shermans with this factory and they requested a ‘simpler’ Sherman so we chose the “Jumbo”.
At the same time we gave them an order for 50 x Panthers and 50 x Tigers.
After that they said it was all too difficult and we moved to Vietnam!
The “Desert Sherman” you see in the pix was made in Vietnam but is basically a “Jumbo” which, of course, never served in the Desert but was painted in North African colours. We never did build any models in Vietnam.
3. Third and Fourth Shermans ... Made in the Philippines.
Back in the 1990’s we were making a lot of hand-carved, hand-painted aircraft models in the Philippines ... If they can make a Spitfire or an ME109 why not a wooden tank...?
Well of course they could ... BUT they were very fragile and EXPENSIVE! However we did go ahead and for a couple of years produced all kinds of tanks, vehicles and aircraft there.
Here you see an American Sherman and a British one.
4. Our FIRST polystone Sherman ...
By accident, attending a gift and premium trade show in Hong Kong we discovered a company in Shanghai making all kinds of polystone (marble dust and resin) cars, trucks and ... some kind of a jeep vehicle.
“Can you make a model tank?” We asked. And so, they did.
Now, by today’s standards pretty **** crude I admit, BUT it was cheap and cheerful and fitted the bill for our growing band of WW2 collectors.
