PzKpfw M4 748 (a) 1/35 (PICS)

WOW man GREEEAAT build! I realy like the wear on the turet and front of the tank and your dust is realy well done!

bultenibo wrote:

stikpusher: I didn't notice that. You got a keen eye for details! The Firefly tanks are really interesting. What a huge amount of tracks that has been added to the hulls and turrets! The Germans didn't seem to hold the original armor protection in such high regards.  /Tony

Those two Firefly VCs and the Sherman V were captured from a Cdn unit and are pictured after their re-capture in the Netherlands.  Some Canadian units were well known for mounting spare metal links on the tanks.  It wasn't a German addition to those vehicles.

stikpusher: I didn't notice that. You got a keen eye for details!

The Firefly tanks are really interesting. What a huge amount of tracks that has been added to the hulls and turrets! The Germans didn't seem to hold the original armor protection in such high regards. 

/Tony

Manstein: Sounds logical! The Regenberg book mentions the central army test center in Kümmersdorf, where the captured tanks were sent - even from Africa - to be tested and evaluated for just such reasons.

Regernsberg also says that a large collection of tanks were transported from Kümmerdorf to a Army museum in Stettin-Altdamm to be exihibited there during the war. On mars 9 1945, however, an order from the Vistula Army Group HQ ordered that the old trophies should be put into action!!! Imagine that! It is actually possible that a British Crusader Mk II, for example, captured in 1941 could be pitted against the Russians in 1945! That's irony! That's also an innovative diorama idea!

/Tony   

Thanks a bunch for all the nice comments and input!

I'm really into the beutepanzer phenomena, since it seem to be pointing to the pragmatic aspects of war - use everything you can use! At the same time, the mix between the familiar shape of one tank (for example the Sherman) and the markings, equpiment, crew and painting of the (in this case, German) enemy seems to turn the perspective upsidedown.  One can get a strange feeling when looking, for example, at a US made M3 Lee, exported to the Russians and captured by the Germans. The white star, changed into the red star, and was lastly overpainted with the balkenkreutz. I'm thinking of building one of those in the near future.

ajlafleche: Thanks for the info of the inaccurate Tamiya kits. I hope that their newer kits is more thoroughly researched.

bufflehead: I don't know how the ammo logistic sourrounding the captured tanks worked in this late stage of the war. I have read somewere that all captured allied tanks in 1944/45 had to be reported to the Army command, and not only to the division or corps HQ. This in contrast to the early days of the war, when - at least on the eastern front - an ordinary infantry division could keep it's "findings". (I think that it was the 72th German Inf. division that came across a bunch of "Soviet" M3 Lees in 1942, incorporated them and toured the countryside with them.) A good upgrading of the divisions anti-tank capability!

Maybe in the later stage of the war, this wasn't possible. That could be the reason why the captured tanks should be reported, so that the ammo logistics could be resolved before the tanks were put into combat? The Germas managed at least to find enough American tanks for the Ardenner offensive, to put into the frontline in an effort to fool the Allies.

I can recommend one great book on this topic: Werner Regenbergs's "Captured American & British tanks under German flag".

Here's a Romanian site, in english, dedicated to Beutepanzers:

http://beute.narod.ru/Beutepanzer/main.htm

And lastly, here's some of the photos that inspired me building the M4A3:

/Tony

Nice looking model.

bultenibo wrote:

Stikpusher: All I have to say is OMG!!! How on earth did Tamiya manage to get the tracks so wrong??? I didn't notice it before you pointed it out, but now it looks ridiculous! One can well wonder how the track links are held together. /Tony

Tamiya didn't care about accuracy. They made motorized assemble yourself toys. Placing the connectors where they belonged, between each of the rubber pads, would have made a very hard to turn track. The connectors should be where the sprocket teeth are. They did the same  with at least their M3 Stuart.

They probably did not have a long enough service life to worry about details like that...

But if I recall correctly, the M3 75mm gun used in the M4 tanks was based off a WWI French gun design. If they were chambered for the same round, most likely the Germans had good stocks of that stuff dating from 1940 and before.

Great job all around!  Painting and weathering are super, figures look nice too!  The one thing that stands out to me is how the star on the turret is painted over with panzer gray before painting on the balkencruz!!  Great touch!!

I'm curious though....what happens when they run out of 75mm ammo?  Did the Germans capture enough U.S. ammo to supply a captured vehicle like this?

Nice twist to to the OD Sherman....Even gets the Germaholics here excited!!

Wven with what Roy pointed out, nice, great weathering.

Tigerman....your not alone, I keep trying. but nothing worth showing. I'll keep trying for a while yet, but I have unyeilding respect for those who can.

Rounds Complete!! 

tigerman wrote:

I'm beginning to think I'm the only one here who can't paint a figure. LOL .

Ohh no Eric, don't feel like the Lone Ranger here!! I tried to paint one earlier today, and it came out looking like something from Dawn of the Dead!!!

 Despite the shortcomings you encountered and the easily fixed issues that have been pointed out here, this has just turned out great...... same for the krauts too.

I can't believe you actually considered chunkin' this.

                                    Disastermaster 

Thanks a bunch for all the comments!

T26E4: I definitely agree with you regarding the fuel drum. The only way it would stay in place was if it was empty, and I don't know if it is.

I surely wouldn't like to have the panzerfaust on the trunk of my car either, but my idea was that it was placed there temporarly by the standing German soldier, before he climbed the tank to talk to the commander.

Stikpusher: All I have to say is OMG!!! How on earth did Tamiya manage to get the tracks so wrong??? I didn't notice it before you pointed it out, but now it looks ridiculous! One can well wonder how the track links are held together.

/Tony

I really like it! Not something you see every day. Certainly not your average Sherman or Panzer...

One sugestion-replace those tracks! The end connectors are in the wrong place at the end of each track shoe rather than between them connecting each one. I suspect they came from an old Tamiya M3? AFV Club makes some good affordable tracks either indy link or single piece length of the same type.

It's always great to see the classic Tamiya M4A3 kit built up.  Nice work!

Something that you might want to consider about items of storage:

1) both the Panzerfaust and canteen on the glacis: they look VERY precarious.  One hard turn and they'd be lost.  Imagine putting the Panzerfaust on your car's trunk hood and see how long it would last...

2) the 55gallon drum.  While I can see how it's strapped from falling off of the side, there seems to be nothing holding the several hundred pound item (if partially filled) from sliding backwards off the engine deck (or from sliding forward either).

Maybe look at those items again?

WOW, very nice, and a surprise to see a Shermy in German markings!

A nice job! That paint is well done, and the whole model is really a nice looking kit! Good figures, too! I like the barrels up there on the deck, too.

Looks great to me Tony! Great weathering and awesome work on the figs (the stubble beards is a thoughtful touch)...and I hope my barrels turn out that well on a project I'm working on. Very nice job.

Thanks for posting your set-backs as well; for someone new-ish to the darkside, like myself, those tips are every bit as helpful as the highlights of your successes.

Cheers

That's awsome!

I recently read about Shermans in German service.. So nice this one showed up!