ARMOR - Sherman Family Group Build

I gotta throw my vote in for the Academy Jackson. We all need to see how one of those things builds up, and since you're seemingly one of the few in the world that has that kit yet...press on!!

Brian:

Why can't he do one of the Hellcats, though??

Bill

M36, no question! the hellcats were their own chassis, no borrowing one with them.

Well, ya can't do the Hellcats, so do the Jackson!

Do the academy m51 super sherman. You'll love how the upper hull doesnt fit on the lower hull, how the upper turret piece doesnt fit on the lower turret ring, how the rear panel doesn't fit, and also how the lower part of the gun manlet doesn't even look like it was made for this tank. I'm not talking about being 1 or 2 mm too short, its like more than half an inch off. Uh...i personally hope you do the dragon m50 because im curious as to how it fits being that its an older dragon kit (i think?).

This should be fun....

I will leave it up to you, the Allied Guru's, to decide which I will build.

This is what I have in the Sherm Family

hi guys,
i think i'll go for dragon's Vc firefly, with their independent track-links[:0]....shermanfreak expect a lot of questions about markings etc etc!!
i'm sure you'll all be up to the task!
regards,
nick

Hello everyone,

I should be have my Panther build finished by the time this one starts. I cant decide which sherman I want to go with at the moment. Most likely will be an M4A3 with 76MM, Is what I keep looking at the most.

Timbo

Boy, work for a whole day and look what happens in here.... posts by the bucket !!!!

Mike - the 76mm guns from Italeri should be replaced with AM barrels for accuracy reasons, the 17 pounder barrels from Academy aren't the greatest, any 75mm barrels that I've seen are quite workable.

Chris - the early runs of the M7 were based on the M3 but after the M4 came on line the M7 started to use M4 parts instead as standard equipment. The Italeri kit is based on the later M4 improvements.

Domi - indeed the Sherman did start out with many of the parts from the M3 Lee / Grant series of tanks. I've always considered them to be part of the family so to speak. Anyone have any complaints about the M3 being included ??????

Beav - the Ram in question is a mountain goat that the tank was names after. The Germans were the only ones that came up with a ram tank that hit things, but I beleive they even gave up on that concept.
To add to the Sexton, it was similar to the M7 Priest except that it had a slightly different configuration both externally and internally and carried the 25 pounder instead of the 105.

Mark - not only was the M7 used, but also the Ram tank was converted to Kangaroo configuration too.

The Kangaroo had the body of a M7 priest, but had no main gun. They used it to carry troops and pull artillery.
mark956

what the heck would a ram do for you?

the ram was a candian-made tank using the M3 chassis, the sexton was the ram tank turned into self-propelled artillery. I don't know too much about the kangaroo.

I'm gonna go surf around for a sherman now, if any yous guys come up with a good fun clean sherman, that is a bit off the norm of a regular sherman, let me know
please

Yo, sherm!
I heard you talkin about this
Derek - The mention of the M7 Priest reminded me I was remiss from adding that to the list of variants of the Sherman. To add a couple more: Canadian Ram, Sexton, and the Kangaroo.
what exactely are they?

QUOTE: Originally posted by frostygirl ok if i join in with an italeri sherman M4 ? frosty

Hmmmm. Let me think... OF COURSE YOU CAN JOIN IN!!!

Glad to have you aboard!

Ron.

QUOTE: Originally posted by okieboy Woohoo! TARGETS!! Muh hah hah hah hah!!!!! Sorry, I couldn't resist. It's...just the... darkside...coming out! Run for your lives!!! (Lookout, a Stug!) Okieboy

Hate to tell you Okieboy, but a Sherman is a pretty even match for a Stug! Better put on that ambush scheme and hide that dude! LOL! I do like the "Muh hah hah hah hah!!!!!" though!!!

I'll take a look at what I have laying around, maybe an out of the box Tamiya 'early' (mid production) M4 or a DD Sherman.... From the 70th Tank Battalion of course (my favorite WWII Bn)! Make 'em with scratch built interiors and some of my own resin parts. Nothing after market for this one...(I'm cheap) let's see what happens!

Ron

yeah the m4 used the basic m3 hull and suspension.

I thought the Sherman was based on the M3 chassis..! Shermanfreak, are the Grant and the Lee out of bounds?

I could be wrong, but, I thought that the M7 was based on the M3 chassis.

QUOTE: Originally posted by renarts Is the barrell supplied with these kits that bad, that you guys are ordering AM barrels? Or is this just a case of putting a different configuration of gun on your particular variant. Most of the shermans I've seen are pretty straight forward on their barrels. It seems the OOB ones would be sufficient. Enlighten me.

well I don't quite like the looks of this academy barrel. Its in 3 pieces and I don't feel like messing it up trying to fix the seam line (which I have done before) so I thought it would be nice to see what an aftermarket barrel is like since I've nver tried one.

Shermanfreak,Oh ok..... I'll build my M7 priest. I should be finnishing up my Panther about then so thats a good time. Think it will be a combination of Italeri and Tamiya...

God Bless,
Kenneth

ok if i join in with an italeri sherman M4 ?
i haven't decided which scale yet, but i do have AFV Club aftermarket trax
and a turned aluminium barrel & resin mantlet combo 4 the 1/35 kit, so
maybe i'll go big this time...
frosty

Thought this might interest you people...

http://web.inter.nl.net/users/spoelstra/g104/encyclo.htm

I will join as soon as I finish my other GB assignments. Not decided on the kit yet.

Is the barrell supplied with these kits that bad, that you guys are ordering AM barrels? Or is this just a case of putting a different configuration of gun on your particular variant. Most of the shermans I've seen are pretty straight forward on their barrels. It seems the OOB ones would be sufficient. Enlighten me.

I replaced a barrel on the pzr 38t I'm working on because the one in the kit was damaged. I made a jig for my lathe and turned a new one out of stock. It too was pretty straight forward (no muzzle break) and just simply tapered. Had it not been damaged I would have just used it. Its pretty straight forward and if you needed to you guys could probobly do the same with a hand drill mounted to your work bench or on a drill press.

Mike

QUOTE: Originally posted by claymore68 I know, just giving ya a little static.

yah, I know!!

Chris - As long as everything is in stock they should have it to you in a week. I always make a phone call or e-mail to confirm availability, that way there are no hold-ups.

Another factor that you have to consider is the method of payment. I always pay by money order so when ordering I know it'll take an extra week for the M.O. to get in their hands too.

QUOTE: Originally posted by shermanfreak Chris - shipping can be very expensive when you're dealing with only a single item like a gun barrel. The best thing to do is order a few tiems from them and then it doesn't seem quite so bad. I've dealt with the barrel store a few times and have had very good service from them.

hmmm... what few items should I get then just curious, what is their shipping time??

Thanks Sherm. I've a few Shermans that need the sponsons filled (don't we all!).

I'll be in for the Achilles. I have started the Acadamy one, but put it aside to do the Panther build. Not really cheating, as all I've done is clean up the road wheels (the spoked ones) and suspension components, and started the hull interior. Still a lot to go, and I will be a late starter until my Panther for the Group build is done anyway (like a few of the others).

I will be doing it out basically OOB with only scratch built detailing and a replacement Barrel (the Acadamy kit muzzle break is way too small).

For any of you that are considering doing the Tamiya Shermans, one of the biggest flaws with their kits is the lack of sponson bottoms. Here is a link to a template to make a filler plate from card stock for those who want to correct this flaw.

http://www.archertransfers.com/WEB%20pictures/ShermanFix.pdf

Chris - shipping can be very expensive when you're dealing with only a single item like a gun barrel. The best thing to do is order a few tiems from them and then it doesn't seem quite so bad. I've dealt with the barrel store a few times and have had very good service from them.

Derek - The mention of the M7 Priest reminded me I was remiss from adding that to the list of variants of the Sherman. To add a couple more: Canadian Ram, Sexton, and the Kangaroo.