I think I missed the mark on this one too. Most A3’s were wet, but a few early examples can be seen with dry stowage; it doesn’t appear that Ford made any with wet stowage, for example. That being said, I don’t think anything on the model is specific to Ford, and the turret details are mid-to-late production. Putting armor plates on “Caballero” and “Classy Peg” would be a mistake, since the few photos I’ve found lack them. It also doesn’t look like any M4A3(105)s were made with wet stowage, but apparently 105’s had extra internal armor to protect from getting “ammo racked”. Source: Sherman Minutia Site I rather like the look of the plates, myself. A Sherman without them just looks naked. C-50 is, as far as I can tell, not a tank that exists in photos (though I would be happy to be proven wrong) and so I took it as free reign to do what I want.
@@ZTEWorks Here is C-50 (which confirms it was a wet no side armor) : 6tharmoreddivision.com/uploads/3d5896454165c68de6dedf54013cf424.jpg As for M4A3 featuring dry storage, they were small hatches early ones. It's a mistake from Tamiya. When they first issued their MM122 / 35122 kit in the 80s, the armor plates were included in the sprues and as 35250 is a reboxing of this one (with the same features and same mistakes), the main sprues didn't change. At least, the instruction manual now don't show how the armo plates mount, but their 80s instruction manual was wrong.
Great build! I just ordered this kit and can't wait! My Dad was a Sherman driver and was in battles on Anguar, Peleliu and the Philippines. I'm doing it as a tribute to him-my life-long hero. Again, thank you!
The Browning 1919A1 Machineguns were added to the front of the commander cupola after February 1945, as a authorized modification to Shermans in the 12 Army Group (Bradley), The were often issued to up armored 76mm Shermans like the one in the photo that were, and Jumbo Shermans. Those were often used as point vehicles in armored columns. Sherman tracks did not sag as the ones in German or Russian tracks. Tamiya XF 62 is often the most accurate shade of OD. according to people who has compared to actuall paint cans from WW2.
Nice review and tips! I’m finishing up the same kit, my first armor kit. I’ve found use for the ammo crates in my bombers though, cool extras. I’ve had fun painting the figures too,
This is a good solid video with lots of very useful information. I've modeled most of my life and even I picked up a tid bit or two from it. I certainly recommend it to everyone and wish that other video makers would clean up their acts and provide the meaty narrations like you have. Keep up the good work! It is much appreciated.
I have been Tamiya kits for decades and thier attention to detail is just outstanding....love these kits from Planes to armor to ground pounders they are Unbelievable.
Nice build and the inclusion of the references was great. If only other model channels would do that! However, M4A3's had live tracks which do not sag! I'm surprised that this didn't come up in your research as it's clear from the pictures that very few Shermans had any noticeable track sag. Anyhoo, I've subscribed.
Yeah, I kinda screwed up on the track sag. I’m working on a Firefly right now and I’m hoping to do the tracks better. FWIW, I’ve got a Field Manual saved that says the maximum acceptable sag between bogies is half an inch, which in 1/35 scale is... not a lot: roughly 14 or 15 thousandths of an inch, the thickness of 3 or 4 pieces of printer paper. So you *can* model that kind of sag, but I’m not sure if it would be noticeable at all.
@@ZTEWorks I've been building models on and off for 45 years and I'd never heard of live tracks until about 3 years ago when I did an updetailed build of Tamiya's old M41 kit and did the research. I've never built much US armour so hadn't encountered it before.
It looks like the M4A3(75) started showing up in Normandy in mid-1944, having started production in February of that year. My advice would be to pick a battle in that time frame and browse photos, looking for an M4A3(75). France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany are all good bets for Northern Europe. I don’t know enough about the Italian front or Marine armor in the Pacific, but I would assume mid- to late-1944 as well. Once again, best bet is to browse photos. Source: The Sherman Minutia Site
The sponsons ARE a pain... you can see daylight through the hatches, and Tamiya repeated the same omission on their 1/48 scale Sherman (an excellent little kit BTW) as well... if you don't want to fool with making sponsons, I just popped a piece of black-painted cardboard into the bottom of the turret... cover over that hole from the inside and the problem goes away with seeing daylight from the top.... for what it's worth......
Excellent video, answered lot of questions about the kit...why?...kid brother had a PILE of armour kits he was throwing out...stuck them all in a box. 15 years later, I need a challenge. Basically, take apart 3 half tracks to rebuild one. The Sherman is a nice SIMPLE kit BUT I don't like simple. So far, copula windows opened up, vehicle disassembled but parts missing. This kit could have had more interior items and the open area above the tracks plated. The interior of most U'S. vehicles was white inside(done). With a ton of spare parts, it will live again with a full crew...I keep looking to my side...at the Tamiya M26....NOT YET!. thanks again for the info and the links to the other sites sites.... still think the gun barrel is too thin.../R
I just finished my first diarama featuring an M3 Stuart in over 25 years, made many mistakes but on armor they are easy to hide. I have a large stash of M4's from A1 to M51 Isherman. I should be finished with them by 2095 and I'm only 64 years old.
Rust-Oleum nozzles consistently deliver more paint per button squeeze than Krylon, If you can, use Krylon primer as it is the easiest to control in regards to paint delivery/amount
The tarps are "fun" and provide visual interest and break up the monotony of olive drab, but you put it right over the radiator. That'a a nono and a recipe for overheating but only if the tank is depicted as running in a diorama. Also, if expected to get into action soon the tarp likely wouldn't be there.
Yeah, pretty good kit, the biggest flaws being the ginormous gaps in the hull over the tracks and iirc, the hollow idler wheels, not to mention that the light cages are way too thick... So as iconic as this later M4 model is, there are better kits out there, but given the option, this would be my goto beginner kit.
Hi buddy , love it !!! But you forgot one thing ...... American Tank, not to bad but made so much better by the British.... Scared the wee tanks of the Riech....but got ran over by the bigger Tanks of the Gerrys ..... Enter the Brits and the mighty Firefly!!! Ha . This is honestly one of the best Model Videos I've seen, loved it. I really enjoyed how you built a part and then had a chat about it. Brill. When I get better and round to videos again, I'll give you a few shout outs. Your videos deserve to be seen by more and you are one talented chap. Brilliant. I'll share your video, if its OK , in a couple of Facebook Groups I run. Please keep these coming. P.s - I got this kit and the other that Tamiya released was it the 105mm or whatever . In my last stash . I still haven't got them again. I think the longer you are in and more you build in our Brill Hobby, you start to favour various sections of it. I know there's loads of folks that love, painting then weathering etc etc. I love the Build part. I'm sure I'm not alone here but after building so many Tamiya kit's that are simply in my eyes... the best. But don't tend to be kit's that takes your time away in building/construction of the kit, as they really are " shake the box " kit's that once shaken.....they come out built. Ha. I found myself doing more kit's that were perhaps more detailed ( All Tamiya kit's are detailed and awesome and the newer kit's are simply, awesome for detail. I can hear all of the Rivet Counters , queueing up ready to tell me how wrong I am ) . Lol , don't you just love them , bless !!! More detailed and more engineered, in Dragons case , at times they are " over engineered". More detailed because of how cramed the boxes are with plastic, in Dragons case more parts for your spares box . Anyway, really great video. Look forward to the next project of yours. Stay safe and health. Regards Steve
Hi. One solution for the lack of track sag is to stick dress making pins through the lower hull where wou want the sag and hook the track under them. Once the pin is painted track color it's hard to see.
I can't use pencil for graphite it always vanishes with me so just a waste! I tried to varnish it in only to find something interesting, varnish dissolves the graphite from pencil! That was co to watch but not good lol
Hm. And here I thought that was a relatively new kit with new tooling - those gaps under the hull are NOT attractive. Sure they can be fixed with plasticard, but that shouldn't be necessary in this day and age... Sure Tamiya kits have always been good as far as the engineering of the kits goes, but they do lack a little in the detail department.
Kim Jong 005 Agreed. I haven’t used any workable track links before (though I would like to) but I can’t imagine they would stick together very well, especially over any kind of rough terrain. Maybe that’s a video for another time.
@@ZTEWorks I guess you're right in this case. What I wish manufacturers would make are fully closed rubber tracks so the tank can roll around with no trouble. Unfortunately, these things are only reserved for 1/16 RC tanks and a few small scaled extinct antiques from decades ago.
Thoroughly enjoyable, informative, and high quality video. The bits of background were especially appreciated. Thank you, especially for not making us (or thinking we...well I anyway...would want to sit and watch someone else just build a model. You struck an excellent balance between information about this kit and the Sherman tank; and did so while remaining interesting and engaging. You have gained a subscriber. THANK YOU!
Thank you for the detailed easy to understand video. Enjoyed the cat too! LOL I ordered this exact kit. It's been right about 50 years ago I built my last model kit. I"ll just use spray can paint and see how it works out. Thanks again...
Great video! I'm making the same one. The Sherman tracks didn't actually sag though. The Sherman tracks were one of the few tanks that were under tension. That's what the large gray wrench was for.
Odd that now I get this video? Anyway awesome build. Very informative video. You helped a lot of guys forsure. I've built probably 25 Tamiya Sherman's and quite a few Dragon Sherman's over the years. Love that web site you have that's my go to for info. Anyway I'll look up you page check your other videos. 👍
Beutepanzer! It was captured by the Germans in working enough condition to be pressed into German service. Happened more on the Eastern Front but it happened in the West as well.
Sherman fenders often had little brackets on them to facilitate the placement of these boards. Tamiya doesn’t supply them however, so it’s glued to the fenders and front slope.
Tamiya customer service! They’re very helpful. Call or email and be sure to have the Tamiya product number (for 1/35 kits, it’s usually a 5 digit number starting with 35) and which sprue you’re ordering. They’ll give you a price and it gets shipped out soon after you pay. I think the sprue I ordered was like $5 plus s&h.
I believe so, they smell identical and Google says you can thin enamels with mineral spirits. I’m not a chemist though, so maybe they’ve got slight differences.
Modeling is an art, every modeler can put into their model what he or she wants to. Unless you are making it for a museum or trying for 100% accuracy. It's a hobby, people hopefully do it for fun and as an art, if you want to put extra armor panels on it, then go for it. End of the day if the modeler is happy then that's all that really matters. I've made a bunch of models before from ships to tanks, not all entirely 100% accurate to history, but that's never my personal goal, I like to do "what ifs" because it gets my imagination going.
@@ZTEWorks i have seen some a3's with em' and was thinking of getting this kit and since i might be lazy and not want to cover the sponsons, the skirts would have hidden the gaps.
Emil Scale Modelling Yeah, now that I’ve found the right combination of google search terms I see loads of them. Might be able to knock some together with 0.5 mm styrene, though the curve of the front fender might be tough to wrangle.
ZTE Works Little late to the convo but every model of Sherman left the factory with the skirts fitted, the reason why you see so many with them missing is because they were thin sheet metal and prone to breaking off, plus crews would often remove them since they made bogie maintenance a hassle.
