Hi All;

Yup, I got it bad! The Sherman addiction has its hooks way into me now. This is my current silliness, it's an M4A1 76mm (Wet).

Now, several brave Sherman kits gave up their lives to let this project live to see the light of day. Here are a quick list of the mods....

Dark Green: Tamiya parts from the M4A1.
Light Grey: HobbyBoss M4A1 76mm (W).
Light yellow resin: Iron Division Turret and Hull. A huge thank you to Bob@IronDiv.
Etch: Hauler and some from the HB kit.
Also lots of small scratchbuilt details, i.e. episcope brushguards, all grab handles, etc.

Anyhoo, on to some pics...and please let me know what you guys think, good, bad, or ugly.















Thanks for looking, Lads, and Cheers, Pat

Hello, Pat:

Glad you have the Sherman "bug", a wonderful ailment to have, if I do say so myself.

The whole project looks great. I wonder about two things though:

1/ the lifting "eyes" for the hull in particular, look way too fragile to me. Surely these would be much beefier, esp. the hull four? They are the same thickness as the rails for hanging gear on the side of the turret, which surely can't be so?

2/ isn't this a later war tank: T23 turret, wet stowage, etc? If so, would they be using the rubber chevron tracks that late in the production cycle? I was under the impression that once the Japanese took over the rubber plantations in SE Asia, use of rubber ceased anywhere a replacement could be found? Hence the Shermans went to steel tracks, no rubber chevrons? This is just a question, not a statement of fact on my part. Others with more knowledge such as Bruce Culver might be able to shed more light on this matter.

Best Regards,
G.Patton

WOW, Colour me impressed!! that's my Euro reply. Down here it would be, "No Sh.t, he's still around?"
I do heartily concur on the thickness of the lifting thangs...need to about twice that thick, with weld "stuff" around the bases. Other than that-it looks right purrty!!
And, send those pics to Bison...let Johan pick a scheme for his upcoming Sherman sheet...WHOA-did I SAY THAT OUTLOUD?? Well, anyways...maybe he can pick a scheme just for you!! Make you feel sooo spec-ial!!
Personally, we need to get all the goodies together to do as many of the schemes in Harper/Squadron's new Iwo book. And forward THAT to Johan, also.
Any takers??
Can't wait to see your Sherman painted!! That sickness shur'nuff got ya, huh??

Hi Pat!
Another great kit is to come here!
I still remember yours great M10 TD so that is why I am looking forward for this piece of Sherman!
But what a mix, I suggest not to paint it
Keep us posted, great pics!
Regards Petr

Hi Pat,

Another great looking model, but I wouldn't expect anything less from you.

Isamu

Looks good Pat! Love what you've done with all of that.

I think I have to agree with the General about the hull lifting eyes. You may want to beef up the bases a bit more as they appear weak to me as well:


The other thing is the lifting handles on the engine deck door. On M4A1's they sat on top of the door and only raised up when you stuck something underneath them. You can see how they sat in the above pic and the one below:


But again,WOW!! Keep up the great work.




Chris "toadman" Hughes
http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com

Is your mantlet mounted too high? There's a sizable gap between the bottom of the mantlet and the turret front that birdies and other more offensive projectiles could fly in. PS; I think I will save these pics as reference if I want to make the same conversion/correction.

Pat,

I'm a BIG fan of your work and this Sherman looks to be another winner. Can't wait to see how you paint and weather it. I just have one observation: it looks like you used the straight return roller arm suspension. Didn't the later, big hatch, 76mm M4A1's have the later raised return roller arm units?

Regardless, it's an inspirational build.

Cheers,
Dave Clark

Early production M4A1 76mm Shermans did have the original flat trailing arms with the raised pillow blocks, though most of the later examples did have the raised arms. If the tank doesn't have the thread protector at the gun muzzle, it would be a good candidate for the flat trailing arms, but you should always check photos when building Shermans. There were so many production variations, it's impossible to track all of them. But, why try to memorize all the variants possible when a good photo will show you how a particular tank was put together, and how it was marked and stowed? There are so many good clear shots of Shermans on the web and in cheap books that you'll never have a problem checking for an accurate configuration.

I should have known that about early big hatch M4A1 76mm Shermans. As soon as I read your post I recalled a photo of one such Sherman. There's always an exception with Shermans, isn't there?

Dave C