Modelling the US Army M4 (75mm) Sherman Medium Tank

M4 Sherman, Paris 1944

The M4 medium tank was the most typical version in US Army use during the summer 1944 fighting in France and the autumn 1944 campaign along the German Siegfried line. So far, only the Tamiya 1/35 kit is available. When released in 1995, it was regarded as a very good kit, even though it contained some obvious anomalies such as the late-style bogies with the raised return roller. As time has gone on, and as the general understanding of Sherman details has grown, more and more problems with the kit have become evident. For example, the front glacis plate is based on the M4A4 glacis in terms of the drivers’ hoods and radio pot. I thought that a useful project for this book would be to take a new look at the Tamiya kit and deal with its problems. There is considerable variation in M4 details since this version was built at five plants. In addition, the M4 underwent the same evolutionary course as other Sherman variants, starting with direct vision hoods, early suspension bogies and early turret configuration, and gradually introducing improvements. I decided to build a Baldwin M4 with direct vision hoods and the vertical rear plate, upgraded with appliqué armour. In the subsequent chapter on modelling a mine-roller M4, I will discuss how to correct the hood to the later style using the 1/48 Tamiya M4, which shares similar detail problems. Modellers not wanting to go through the chore of correcting the Tamiya hull have other options such as the Legends M4 resin upgrade, which came out after I finished this model.

The Tamiya Sherman glacis has D70564 (right) and D70563 (left) driver/bow gunner hoods characteristic of the M4A4. The M4 series started with the simple direct vision D52402/-03 hoods and later switched to the D77160A/B hoods at most of the plants except Baldwin. The radio pot on the glacis of the Tamiya kit has the distinctive flared skirt of the M4A4 glacis, and the weld bead detail on the glacis plate better mimics an M4A4 glacis than an M4 glacis. After looking over the kit, I decided that the easiest way to correct the problem would be to remove the kit glacis, and replace it with a new glacis made from plastic sheet. While cutting away the hoods, I left the upper surface of the hood since this would be very difficult to replicate. Once the new glacis plate had dried, I began reconstructing the detail. Formations offers a new M4 radio pot in their M4 upgrade kit, but I rebuilt mine using plastic tubing. The driver hoods took a considerable amount of fiddling to get the details right, including a careful rebuilding of the upper edge. There is no real reason to build in the direct vision ports since this detail is going to be covered by appliqué armour panels, but I did so anyway to show how it can be done. This takes some very careful detail work, and I would only recommend it to modellers with some conversion experience.

With the new glacis in place, I modified the rear hull to the Baldwin configuration which was vertical rather than angled. This meant trimming a bit from the hull sides and reorienting the rear plate downward. Once this was dry, I began assembling the lower hull. For reasons that remain obscure, Tamiya does not provide sponson floors in their 1/35 and 1/48 Sherman kits. I filled these in with sheet plastic, though Formations offers a sponson bottom for modellers not wishing to cut sheet plastic. The Tamiya suspension is derived from the one in their original M4A3 kit, meaning it depicts the later D47527 bogie with the C100823 inclined return roller brackets. Unfortunately, this feature had not been introduced by the time most M4 tanks had been completed, and this particular tank should have the intermediate D47527 bogie with the C100334 horizontal return roller brackets with spacer. There are several ways to correct this. The incorrect Tamiya return roller bracket can be cut off and replaced with a Formations resin horizontal bracket. Another approach is to replace it with a bogie from other kits. There are at least four options including the Dragon bogie from their M4 and M4A4 kits, the Academy bogie from their M12, M10 and M36 kits, the AFV Club bogie from their M10 and separate bogie kit, and finally the dedicated Tasca after-market bogie set. Of these four options, the only one with problems is the AFV Club bogie. Although the bogie assembly itself is good, the wheels are noticeably oversized. The best of the three bogie assemblies is the Tasca set, though it is also the most expensive, costing nearly as much as most Sherman kits. I decided to use it here to see how it assembled. It is designed to fit either the Dragon or Tamiya hull, and I had no particular difficulties with it. One of the few challenges was the matter of the small pop rivets that line the inner rim of the stamped D85163 wheel. Tasca provides a set of rivet heads moulded to the sprue that must be carefully trimmed off and glued to the wheel. Since there are 12 of these on each wheel, this is a delicate and time-consuming process.

With the suspension in place, the next issue was the choice of tracks. By the summer of 1944, the preferred track in the ETO for US tanks was the T48 rubber chevron type. I don’t like vinyl track, so it was mainly an issue of which after-market track to use. The four main choices are AFV Club, RHPS, Dragon, and Model Kasten. I have used all four. The best is the Model Kasten track, but it is extremely aggravating to assemble as each link consists of no fewer than eight parts, and this set is expensive. The Dragon tracks were once offered as a separate kit, but many Sherman modellers will have a spare set in their Sherman bits box. I don’t particularly like these, as the end connectors do not fit tightly, making assembly difficult. The AFV Club tracks are better in this respect, but I found that the connectors are sometimes a little loose and fall off at inopportune times. The RHPS tracks are the easiest of these four in this respect, so I decided to take this route. In reality, any of these four options will result in a nice set of tracks.

Hull details
With most of the heavy construction done, I began the hull detailing work, starting in the rear area. The Shermans with the R-575 radial engine had a pair of air-cleaners mounted under the rear overhang. The Dragon and Tamiya kits provide the common square-cross-section Vortox cleaners, but photos I had of the Baldwin M4 preserved at the Overloon museum showed it with one of the cylindrical air-cleaners. There were two different commercial cylindrical air filters used with the M4 and M4A1, and they both come in one of the Formations after-market sets. Although it is not very noticeable, the underhang of the M4 was supposed to be protected by a piece of screening, and I added this feature to my model as well. Initial combat use of the Sherman in Tunisia in 1943 revealed that the ammunition stowage bins in the hull were vulnerable to anti-tank fire and that the direct vision port and hood configuration on the M4 were also weak. As a result, in the summer of 1943, the US Army began a program to add appliqué armour over the ammo bins and on the driver hoods. The Tamiya kit comes with these features. The main change I made was to cut off the weld bead in the kit, and add my own using epoxy putty. Modellers doing this should look at photos of the actual appliqué armour welds as the style more closely resembles layered puff-pastry than the pie-crust effect so popular in the hobby. I replicated this by using the edge of a razor to embed some faint weld detail. Another problem common on 1/35 Sherman kits is the depiction of the joints on the upper hull as a depression rather than as a proper weld-bead. On this model, I masked off the depressions and filled the gap with putty. I show this approach in more detail in the M4A3 chapter.

A common shortcoming of most kits of World War II US tanks is the lack of tie-downs and straps on the tools. Most US tanks had a fitting to anchor each tool, but also had a set of small tie-downs that were used to strap the tool to the tank to prevent it from falling off during movement. In reality, modellers can leave the tools off their tanks, since in many cases crews would roll them up in a tarp to prevent their theft by local infantry or other tank crews. But tools add colour and interest to tank models. There are two basic approaches to this problem: after-market or do-it-yourself straps. Formations has a set of resin tools with straps that I used on the Operation Husky M4A1 in the previous chapter. Here, I will mention my approach to US tools. After preparing the tools by cleaning off the partial straps found on some kit tools, I also add any necessary fittings. With references in hand, I then add the tie-down loops. I do this in two stages. First, I punch out a bunch of .010 thou discs using my Waldron sub-micro-punch and die, which serve as the weld bead under the tie. I then glue these to the tank, two per tie. Once in place, I cut a number of small bits of .010 thou Plastruct rod, which will be the ties themselves, and glue these to the two weld beads. I cut several lengths of thin lead foil for the straps, as this material is thin and flexible enough while not posing the painting problems of aluminium foil. Lead foil can be found on wine bottles, and it is also sold by numerous after-market firms aimed at figure modellers. I glue the strap in place at both ends using CA glue. For the buckles, I weave some lead straps through some Aber buckles, snip them off at one end, and leave a little excess on the other end to resemble the end of the strap. I then glue these buckles on top of the strap.

Detailing the turret
I planned to depict my model as a tank from 8th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division based on a well-known photo showing the tank commander perched on the rear of the turret firing the .50-cal. heavy machine gun. This meant that the hatch would be open, providing a view into the turret. I decided to add a turret interior using the new CMK resin/photoetch set. This is a considerable amount of work, and in reality, very little of this detail is evident once the turret is completed. If I was to do this over again, I would probably create some partial detail under the hatch, but skip most of the other detail which cannot be seen once the tank is sealed up. In the event, the CMK kit proved to be a challenge as the kit uses multi-part photoetch for many assemblies such as the floor ammo bin, which would have been simpler if left in resin. In addition, considerable care must be taken in assembling the turret basket, as if the turret protrudes too far downward it prevents the turret from resting properly in the hull.

The turret otherwise posed no particular difficulties except for the usual detail work. Another change resulting from combat experiences in Tunisia was the decision in February 1943 to remove the pistol port on the rear left side of the turret. This apparently started in the plants around March–April 1943, and began first by welding the pistol port shut. By August 1943, some turrets were manufactured that had the area completely smooth and blank. In July 1943, the Army decided that the pistol port was still necessary and it was ordered re-instated into production, which presumably began to occur in the late summer/early autumn of 1943. All of the existing M4 (75mm) kits avoid the controversy and provide the pistol port. On this model, I decided to show the turret in the initial late-spring 1943 configuration with the port welded shut, based on the Baldwin M4 preserved at the Overloon museum. This is probably the easiest option as it simply means adding some epoxy putty into the port cavity. The Tamiya kit provides the early pattern of two-piece commander’s hatch, which lacked the prominent counter-balance springs and had other minor detail differences from the later type. I wanted to show the later type, and I decided to use the Tiger Model Design example, as it depicts the proper type and also has nice detail such as the padding and latches. Once again, I used the Formations .50-cal. machine gun with 50-round ammo box, which is the most appropriate choice for this version of the Sherman. I did a few other detail changes, including adding some casting numbers on the turret with Slater’s 1mm plastic letters. I also filled in the 2in. mortar port, and I rebuilt the roof mushroom ventilator cap to provide more convincing depth. The 8th Tank Battalion tanks had a pair of steel rods welded to the turret side with matting attached to permit the crew to add foliage for camouflage. I made the steel rod from copper rod and the matting from some bridal veil material. Once the surface detail was complete, I textured the surface using Mr. Surfacer 500. This effect should not be overdone as the US castings were not as rough as Soviet tank turret castings. Some care should also be taken in basing models on museum Shermans, as often the surface texture on these tanks has been created by layer upon layer of chipped and battered paint, which does not resemble the original wartime finish.

Prior to the Normandy landings, the US Army ordered that all Sherman tanks have their original M34 gun mounting replaced with the improved M34A1, which introduced a telescopic sight. This version is very evident in photos since it introduced a new wide rotor shield (mantlet). The original version as provided in the turret kit comes with the early style gun-shield (Part E7) which has a flange with exposed bolts on the right (gunner’s) side. For stowage on this tank, I mainly used bits from the various Blast Model stowage sets. Although Blast has a set geared for the Sherman, I use bits from their other US Army sets for more variety.

Painting the model
My painting techniques on this model were much the same as on the M4A1 with a few exceptions. The 8th Tank Battalion used improvised splinter camouflage in July–August 1944. It is not clear if this was paint or mud applied with a brush, but I suspect it was mud, as it seems to have disappeared by the autumn 1944 fighting. I hand-painted this on to my model after the air-brushing was complete. To reduce the contrast between the splinter camouflage and the rest of the finish, I applied a glaze of Tamiya Clear and Buff to give the model a dusty finish.

The most distinctive feature of the 8th Tank Battalion tanks was the extensive use of foliage camouflage. I’ve found that the most realistic method to depict this type of foliage is to use sea-foam, a type of European weed sold by railroad model scenery firms under various brand-names, such as Scenic Express’ ‘Super-trees’ in the United States. I clip off a number of limbs from the dried plant that look appropriate in size and shape. For the leaves, I use the two colours of Noch leaves: birch (08010 hellgrun) and lime (08020 mittelgrun). To attach the leaves, I spray the seafoam with 3M photographic adhesive, and then I dip the branches into a small disposable container with the leaf mixture. This adhesive is extremely tacky, so I spray it with some old newspaper to protect the table. Once I shake off any loose leaves, I spray the trees with hair spray to help keep them in place. The branches were attached to the turret by weaving them into Sommerville matting. It is difficult to tell how they were attached on the hull side from photos, but my guess is that a rope was strung from the front to the rear hooks, which served to hold the branches.

The figures here come from a discontinued Warriors set released back in the mid-1990s and based on the same photo I was using for my model. I replaced two of the heads with Hornet heads as, in the case of the tank commander, he was not wearing the bandana that comes with the Warriors set. All the figures were painted with Vallejo acrylics. I also used Vallejo acrylics to paint the stowage. In the case of the stowage, I use a watercolour technique that I think works very well to depict faded cloth. I begin by painting the cloth items in a very light, neutral colour such as light sand (Tamiya Buff mixed with White). I then mix up a wash of a suitable Vallejo acrylic colour, some water, and an acrylic clear medium, plus a little retarder to slow drying time. The clear medium is important since it helps to distribute the wash better than if solvent alone is used. When solvent alone is used, the wash tends to congregate in the cracks and crevices but flows off the rest of the surface. With the clear medium, the colour clings to the whole surface, but also congregates more heavily in the detail areas, helping to accentuate them.

Another colour note worth mentioning is the finish on wartime US machine guns such as the ubiquitous .50-cal. These had a Parkerized finish, which was a dull medium grey, sometimes wandering slightly towards a greenish shade. Modellers tend to prefer a dark metallic finish, but in fact, the weapons had a dull finish better replicated using a medium grey colour. I mounted my model on a simple base made from some resin cobblestone with a stone wall intended for model railroads. The plant material on top of the wall is from the Silflor line of scenic products, Birch Tree Horsetail Foliage (SF91022).