This kit started life as Academy's new Sherman kit #13010 - M4A2 (76) Russian Army.
Overall the kit fits together very nice but has 2 glaring errors in it.
The first is the step (collar) on the 76mm gun barrel near the mantlet. This mistake started way back when with the Italeri M4A1 kit and carried through the DML kits. Now Academy has taken up the flag and carries this mistake on !!!!
I stuffed the barrel in my drill and slowly sanded the step off.
The second mistake is that the M4A2 rear upper hull has a slope of 13 degrees. The kit's rear plate measured out at 3 degrees so in order to correct it, I removed the rear plate and reconstructed it out of sheet styrene to compensate for the error.
I also converted the kit to an HVSS configuration by using a spare set from DML that I had laying around. The tracks I will be using are from AFV Club.
I decided with this build that I would use no AM parts during construction. Hatch handles are staples and the mounting brackets for the dust cover are solder.
When finished this kit will represent a reserve unit Sherman in Canadian service.
The first 2 pics show the overall view with the new HVSS suspension in place.
Pic 3 shows the new rear plate
Pic 4 shows the wedge that increased the rear plate angle to 13 degrees
Happy Modelling and God Bless
Robert