Thank you Tom. The M46's Tiger scheme is mostly painted. The yellow was airbrushed on over the OD, then I hand painted the stripes & nose whiskers. The eyes, claws, and mouth were decals. If you ever build this kit with these markings, I suggest leaving off the front tool rack and tow hooks until after those decals are applied due to the contours of those items. Hindsight is 20/02, right?
The M47 is the Testors boxing of the original Italeri release.
Pershings earlier into combat? Interesting point. During the bocage battles, perhaps they might have reduced their superior armor protection, compared to the standard Sherman. But after the breakout from Normandy during the pursuit phase across France, the Sherman's superior automotive reliability and mobility really came into play. Those items plagued the Pershing in Korea, and they were replaced there in less than a year of entering combat.
Regarding the M48 and M60, yes, they are evolutionary outgrowths of the original Pershing design, so the y are a part of the family. The M46 replaced the engine and transmission of the M26, but kept the same main gun of the the M26A1 and a modified of the suspension from the original M26. That engine and transmission would be modified, eventually into a diesel version, but power the rest of the family. The M47 replaced the M46 turret with a new one, and modified the hull front. M48 introduced a new hull front and turret, as well as the diesel version of the engine later in the series, but kept the suspension and drive train. M60 introduced a new main gun and hull front, while later versions introduced new turrets, main gun on the A2, and other detail changes. So yes, from 1945, until the early 80's when M60A3 production ended and the M1 took over, it was one long family line.
F is for FIRE, That burns down the whole town!
U is for URANIUM... BOMBS!
N is for NO SURVIVORS...
- Plankton
LSM