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Forums - Modelling / Kits |
The kits forum is for the discussion of model kits. Typically questions on availability or certain subjects and quality of existing kits are posted here. Short reviews are good here too. |
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| Subject: | Re: Sherman M4A1 76 mm. gun |  |
| Date: | Apr 19, 2005 |
| From: | Neil Stokes | |
Carl...went through the same hoops myself making a model of an early M4A1 76mm from the Italeri kit. Steve Zaloga's "M4 Sherman at War" and "M4 Sherman at War Pt2" books from Concord have some pics that are useful.
The gist is as follows:
You can use the spoked wheels from the Italeri kit, but the pressed wheels were more common at this time. I took the pressed road wheels and idlers from the Italeri U.S. Marines Sherman kit, but you could use after-market replacements if you wish.
The suspension bogies in the Italeri kit are the later type with the raised return roller brackets. These were present on a few of the 76mm M4A1's used in Operation Cobra, but the "flat" return roller brackets were more common. I decided to go with the kit bogies, but Dragon ones will fit quite easily if you want to change them. Alternatively, you can use aftermarket replacements.
Early M4A1 big hatch hulls lacked the sheet metal cover over the ventilator between the hull hatches. The kit includes the cover. To correctly depict the early ventilator arrangement, omit the cover and fill the "hole" in the center of the ventilator to leave the semi-circular groove only.
The contour of the kit's rear hull includes the "arch" seen on early Sherman hulls. The big hatch cast hulls lacked this arch...the rear overhang basically went straight across. Fill the arch with plastic sheet, fill and sand smooth. Use Mr Surfacer for texture over the entire cast upper hull if you wish.
The kit lacks the grill beneath the hull rear overhang, which attached to the underside of the overhang and sloped inward down to the lower hull rear plate. The Italeri Priest and the Kangaroo kit have this part...since I have several of the Kangaroos that I've used as donor hulls for conversions, I had some spares.
The kit's gun barrel, as mentioned above, has a strange step mid-way that makes it look like a two-piece barrel. This is incorrect...there's a story behind why it happened. You can sand the step away or, for an easier but slightly more expensive solution, use an aftermarket barrel from Formations (resin) or Jordi Rubio (aluminum). I used the Rubio barrel and it's very nice.
There are numerous other details you can add from etched sets to really trick out your model, but those are the basic steps to get an accurate Operation Cobra M4A1 |
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