How To Build A Bunch of Tanks

Recently I was able to pick up a few Paul Heiser Models M4A1(76)W Sherman Medium Tank, HVSS Track, Late Production, Large Hatch resin models in HO scale.  My hope is to get a full battalion of 54 of them but for now I have a dozen of them.

First I review the model itself and the instructions.  I also look at photos of the real tank, ideally in the wild rather than in museums or of other models.  Sometimes those are the only choices if it is a rare vehicle.

Then I scope out the parts very carefully, gather my tools and get started.

I use little trays to keep each project together so things don't get lost and they can be moved around easily.

First thing I do is build one sample of the model to get an idea of how the parts really fit together.  Sometimes I decide to leave parts off, and I decide what alternate parts to use and any special parts that I may want to add to the kit.  After building a few individual kits I then start mass production of the kits. For the Sherman I am building seven of them at one time in these photos.  I built two, one at a time, and then built four all at once, and finally the remaining seven all at once.  They are built assembly line style, all the parts are removed from the sprue and lined up in their tray.  All parts of a specific type are all done at the same time.  First the flash is removed on all the parts.  I did the wheels first, then the track links, and finally other parts.  Then construction proceeded in the same way.  All the little wheels were glued on first on all the tanks.  Then the other pieces followed until all the tanks were done.
I have done as many as twenty tanks all at the same time in this manner.  For this tank, 12 down and 41 to go.