HELPPPP!!!

TomZ2

Here are a few examples of real Shermans with battle damage:

A SWAG on the hit says spall (steel fragments from the armor pushed out of the way of the AP shell) or shrapnell from the hit on the mantlet probably hit the driver in the head or upper torso. That appears to be the drivers hatch in the foreground.

there's a reason the brits called them Ronsons, and the Germans called them Tommy Cookers.  They light the first time, every time!

TankBusters: You CAN change the name of this thread. Click on the right-most [negative image] lozenge, third option: Edit. You can fix or add information and even photos.

What WOULD help is if you titled your post "bullet damage?" or something relevant to the subject of the question you're asking. That way, other people looking for the same answers in the future could find it in the "Search" feature. Posts ambiguously titled "HEELP!" are generally the bane of online forums, in case you didn't know.

A lot of guys here by their own admission won't even answer posts with ambiguous titles.

Just FYI....

Here are a few examples of real Shermans with battle damage:

This is where I’d start. Unfortunately, as minor as this hit looks, the caption was “Dead Sherman Driver”. How you would get a dead driver from what is obviously turret damage is left to an expert in improbabilities. This is part of the Bastogne memorial. I’ve included it for two reasons: (1) That hull hole is a [dinkywongo] KILL! (2) You don’t often get to see a 50-cal in stowage position.

And then there’s the ULTIMATE in battle damage: re-purposing by the enemy! Notice that this was a FIREFLY that got snagged by the Wehrmacht.

Do you have a picture? Would love to see it.

Thanks..Chaz

If you wanna try that sort of look on a Sherman, I would suggest using a Jumbo. They were far more survivable, used as the lead tank on tank columns due to their superior armor, and photos can be found of them with hits of the sort you described. There are two nice new tooled kits due out soon, or you can always experiment with battle damage techniques on the old (inaccurate) Tamiya Jumbo.

Resist the urge to put large caliber holes in a functional tank.  If penetrated, often a tank would be abandoned as it caught fire -- eventually leading to the loss of the entire tank.  Sometimes penetrations did not lead to the catastrophic loss of the tank and you see a few pics of them (and some glancing blows).  However, these would be quickly taken out of service and all holes/gouges repaired.  This isn't a comic book world.  Tank strikes meant dead tanks and dead tankers.  If a tank was hit, the crew abandoned it if a 2nd shot was likely coming and they couldn't back away quickly enough.

On a model already painted I would limit it to adding a few paint chips. And maybe make a couple of small gauges with a knife. For fenders unless they're metal you would apply a little heat and twist them up a little. But not after painting. Next time try painting the area you want shot up your perferred exposed steel color. Then put a couple of drops of liquid mask to that area. After painting before weathering lift them up and you'll have some decent paint chips. And keep it light for european front armor. The germans learned real quick not to expose their machine guns to tanks. They didn't have 50 cals like us. They would use aa guns though so that's another option but more damage. Pacific theatre though anything goes. They tried everything.

Depending on how nice your finished model is .................................IMO i'd leave it and have fun putting your ideas into the construction of another M4 .