I really enjoyed the historical information about the tank. I learned a few new things today and look forward to building this model in the near future. Thanks, Andy for another fun video.
Nice review! Meng’s M4A3E2 Jumbo kit has pre-cut pins for the tracks, which made that task a little easier. The tracks are still a slog to get through. The jig provided in the kit is very valuable - I also made a jig for cutting the end connectors off of the sprue, as well as reusing the track jig for attaching the duckbills. These are beautiful kits. The Jumbo also comes with compressed suspension springs, which cause the model to sit a little lower as the real thing did due to the increased weight of the Jumbo.
Yeah I just picked up the “Victory Kiss” edition of this kit and it also had pre cut pins. I didn’t find the tracks *hard* to do, just extremely monotonous and took a while to get through
The short introduction is a very nice addition to the review, keep going from my part. The tracks are frightening me on those kits. Merry Christmas to all.
Hi Andy, I enjoyed the review, and the small history lesson. well done. Lastly I would like to wish you and your family all the very best for Christmas and the New Year, the same goes for all your viewers and customers. Keep safe and Well.
great video, as usual. your sound and camera work are superb. as a newbie to airbrushing I have to build tanks to work on and agree that the Tamiya are the way to go. I have 1/16 RC tanks that I want to eventually airbrush camoflauge and do some weathering and your videos are my inspiration. many thanks
Finishing my Walker Bulldog this week, then starting on a Sherman "Easy Eight". Trying to use all of your painting videos which are very helpful. I need lots of practice doing weathering.
The 75mm was indeed an anti tank weapon. In 1941 when the sherman was designed. At that time the German tanks had either a mid length 50mm or a short barreled 24 caliber 75mm. The soviets had a mid length 76.2mm.
Andy, a few corrections: 1 - The turret for the 76mm gun tanks was the T23, not T26 2 - Ford did not design the Sherman and only produced about 1,690 early M4s. Most of the production was handled by Chrysler's tank arsenal and a few railroad car foundries. 3 - The duck bill track extender was actually cleverly manufactured to be the track link end connectors and the intention was to increase the tank's "flotation" over soft ground. Both the Panther and Tiger were superior in this regard due to their wide tracks.
Yes, the duck bill was an innovative quick fix that allowed tanks already deployed to be fixed of the sinking into the ground problem. Eventually later Shermans were given the HVSS system with wider tracks as standard issue I'm pretty sure. I could be wrong. And I think around 12 factories handled tank production and Chrysler was one of the key manufacturers
Merry Christmas to you Andy and your family! I wanna thank you for all the good videos you made for us in 2019 and in the past! You alwas make very good technical and informative entertaining videos. You have given me many good tips..especially about tips on what to glue first instead of folloving the intruction sheet step by step. I watch your videos moore then once! i hope you never stop making videos..like I will never stop gluing and painting weathering models..it is an amazing hobby who should be enjoyed by moore people.
Built this kit when it first came out. I was lucky in the fact I got the ali barrel. The only down side to this model is the tracks. I have been modeling kits for more years than I care to remember. Coming across many construction ideas that the manufactures thought a good idea.....These tracks are one of them so called ideas....It beat me and being beaten by a bit of plastic is humiliating (lol) . I had to give in and buy the AFV rubber band tracks in the end. ANDY, TRY THEM TRACKS SEE IF YOU HAVE SAME PROBLEMS? I DARE YOU> LOL
Those tracks are brutal. I've been avoiding Meng and Takom kits due to the overcomplexity of the tracks. Looks like I'll avoid this one too. Great video by the way. Thanks!
The aftermarket Bronco and Modelkasten are just as bad. It's due to the actual design of the tracks used on Sherman tanks. In my opinion they are all fiddly and really time consuming to build. Every link has a Pad plus 2 pins and 2 guide horns that bolt to the next pad. And with these later tracks they have "duckbills" on the ends. So it boils down to how Bad do you want workable Tracks and how much sanity do you have.
@@willthorson4543 The Sherman had live track with virtually no sag. There is no point to all the work as there is no more detail on these kit tracks compared to recent Tamiya band style tracks.
Merry Christmas! After RFM's Sherman, those tracks this kit are not so scary. :) Plus it has a nice bender piece to help with the PE parts! I might get one for myself. Thanks Andy for the video! Having such a brief description of the tank history-wise is a great idea! We'd like very much to have it as a regular part of the kit reviews. :)
I just finished building this very nice Meng model. Very detailed and precise. Just a few errors in the building instructions but nothing important. Very few moulding unwanted bits. BUT the tracks are a pain in the ... Useless and far too complicated for an old man like me. 5 different parts for each link ! Silly.
Is it true the tank crews didn't actually want the bigger gun because the 75 was better for soft targets and nine out of ten of the things they shot at were soft targets?
well Done Andy! :) Keep on like this intro to a modell. You could have point out that the box for the springs has cut-out accessories boxes. Nice Idea from Meng
I feel sorry for the person who was engulfed in flames of Andy's rage. Hey, that gives me an idea: Andy, you should build and paint that M4A3 76 W with "Rage" written on the barrel.
History Lesson Was teresting, Nice Review, the Tracks? Forget it, The Fact that They LIED about The Metal Barrel to THE WORLD ?? THEY CAN KEEP IT !! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to You n All Yours Andy n God Bless All.
I do enjoy the history, I typically look it up my self or am watching something historical and want to build something from that. So please do include some history, it doesn't have to be much, but it does inspire. Thanks.
Kinda the layman’s explanation of the tank, but works good enough for the average person. Wouldn’t mind seeing more brief history in future though! It’s a good start off for anyone that want to dig deeper into the history.
Nice review - picked up one of these kits - think I’ll just get some metal tracks for it - FYI - good over view of the Sherman - and yup it was designed to support infantry - though when the Sherman with the 75mm 1st came out - it could easily deal with the vast majority of German tanks as the Germans were fielding the Panzer III with only a 50mm and Panzer IV with the long 75mm had just started to appear in North Africa - both were able to be defeated by the Sherman’s 75mm antitank rounds ( the US 75mm was a better gun than the 76mm on the T-34s of that time frame). The US Army was slow in going to the 76 because - they were not aware of the big up armored German tanks (Panthers, Tiger II, etc) and the Tiger I was very rare. Also the 75mm high explosive round - used for anti personnel and attacking fixed fortifications was much better than the new 76mm on the Sherman. Also in combat 86% of the targets that the Sherman fires at were not German tanks - so it wasn’t until the US Army landed in Normandy that Shermans started running into the big heavy German tanks that pushed the need for a bigger gun. There were over 200 Shermans with the new 76mm gun in the UK before D-day - and the US Army didn’t land any during the initial phases of Operation Overloard - because they didn’t think they needed the bigger gun yet -
Really nice kit! Just pointing out tho. That the army did just fine with 75 mm shermans as the most things you would counter would be Panzer 3 or 4's and lighter armored vehicles. Which the 75mm was very well capable of dealing with at far range. The "anti-tank" is a tank destroyers job is a bit wrong. The field manual states that tanks should engage potential threats and countering enemies which consisted of tanks. So the yes the Tank destroyers is the best at anti tank but that didn't specifically mean nobody else should. Anyway it's great video and keep up the good work! :))
@@filipzietek5146 yeah the vvss shermans had a higher ground preassure so they would often get stuck in muddy terrain. Thats why the hvss sherman was better
HI Andy, liked history with the kit, bring on more...... Say Andy wer'e you being distracted at the beginning of your video, you looked like you might want to bop someone...lmao Happy Xmas
Yes andy i did like the tank history..but are you going to build this kit I really just want to see you build the tracks on Camera .lol no just kidding merry Christmas and a happy new year this summer I Plan on coming out to your store The Visit I live in Michigan so it would be a hobby shop visit. Lol
Andy could you do an esp. On Rat Patrol. You know take the what the show had to work with( not all real U.S. and not most German vehicles) . And do the Holly-Weird. Like make a U.S. Tank look like a German desert tank. Hope your new biz is going SUPER well.
Great video, Andy! This format you have is great! (Many years ago, about 1975, I built a 1/35 scale "Remote contro"l, Tamiya M4A3E8. This Looks very similar to the M4A3E8, that was used in the Korean war. I was wondering if any of those "Easy Eights", were used in WW2). These type of modeling format videos your making, linking historical background to the model is great! Have a Merry Christmas!
As usula, great video, Andy ;) Seems like a good model, should give it a try. Meanwhile, I'm standing by for my Sherman Jumbo copy from MENG - ordered that new kit some tiime ago and can't wait to have one
