(Login koschrei) Registered Users Posted Jul 10, 2009 10:34 AM
That's precisely what I was thinking about. The best book on the Sherman is still Hunnicutt, which has recently been reprinted. It covers all the major variants in detail and has lots of photos. Specifically to the small hatch composite I have not seen plans but would welcome any others comment on that. I would expect that the break point would have been in the same place as on the later variant (Hunnicutt has a plan of the later variant in it), and the overall length of the vehicle pretty much determines the rest - looks to me that you got it spot on.
Speaking of Sherman parts, there were so many variations in the hull components that (absent a definitive photograph or production document which establishes the specifics of a given tank) if the part was made at the time and it was in the supply chain that it is also possible that it was installed on any tank it would fit (engine deck parts being variant specific, but that's about it). Remember that at the Depot or (particularly) in the field, parts is parts. There is a book by Belton T. Cooper that discusses maintaining the Sherman in the field (Belton was not a fan of the armor protection of the Sherman, what a surprise) that points out how any tank that was recovered and not repairable was cannibalized.
This book may be of interest to modelers as it suggests ways to build rebuilds depicting recovered and reconditioned tanks with a mix of parts. A grim detail noted in the book was the use of the spent projectile to make the plug that was welded into the shot-hole. There is a brutal detail. According to Beltons book the welders would try to grind off the weld to make it hard to see, but I am sure the evidence of the prior penetration was unmistakable.