Italeri 1/35 M4A3 76mm

[stikpusher]

Over on Armorama there is a GB going on for Shermans, Shermania...
So I will be jumping in with this, an old Italeri M4A3 kit that I will be making as one of the first to see combat and participated in the Liberation of Paris in August 1944.


The real tank, that is included on the decal set



Yesterday at AMPS I kicked off the build. Based on the above photo, I replaced the kit spoked road wheels with some solid stamped ones by Dragon from my spares bin



I built the main gun first, as you can see from the above photo, I need to sand off the muzzle cap balance weight...
More to come in the near future...

[handiabled]

Bookmarked! Nice start to this Sherman

[406 Silverado]

Looking forward to this Carlos and looks like you're off to a good start with it already.

[stikpusher]

Thanks guys! I’ve built several Italeri Shermans in the past, so I know where any problems might happen. Aside from tracks & wheels, I’m gonna be using kit parts so I have zero surprises ahead.

[Mike]

Nice! I went with the spoked wheels simply because I didn't have to assemble the two halves. I did build one set of the stamped wheels that are on the right side of my tank, but I like the look of the spoked ones better.

I'm interested to see what you add to your build as you go.

Any figures planned?

[stikpusher]

Thanks Mike. I’m mostly gonna add stowage, and probably do something with the AA .50 since Italeri’s .50’s are pretty weak…. If I find a suitable TC figure I’ll add one… I do know that occasionally the French tankers liked to use their old helmets instead of the US GI types that probably came with the tanks.

[Mike]

Yeah, Italeri's .50's are pretty weak. The. 50 that has come without Dragon kit is probably one of the best detailed. 50's I've seen outside of Tamiya's new offerings.

It might be worth snatching up a Tamiya sprue on eBay. They just need a charging handle to be complete.

A French TC would be something to see on an M4. I can't say that's common at all. Bonus points if you do! Challenge?

[rbaer]

There are a lot of pics showing French-crewed M4's with the crews wearing their pre-war headgear, would be a great fig since the US supplied French forces. Even cooler were the French navy crews in M10's with their naval caps on.
I've got the Heller-issued boxing of that same Italeri kit, with decals for "Champagne" in it somewhere... I think I bought it at a show for chump change but I've wanted to do Champagne for a while. I'm pretty sure it was knocked out but there's a recreation of it somewhere now as a monument. If I could just remember where I saw the pic.

[Medicman71]

Very cool! I hope this Italeri kit is better than the ones I've built lately.

[handiabled]

Jun 16, 2024 16:32:07 GMT -5 rbaer said:

There are a lot of pics showing French-crewed M4's with the crews wearing their pre-war headgear, would be a great fig since the US supplied French forces. Even cooler were the French navy crews in M10's with their naval caps on.
I've got the Heller-issued boxing of that same Italeri kit, with decals for "Champagne" in it somewhere... I think I bought it at a show for chump change but I've wanted to do Champagne for a while. I'm pretty sure it was knocked out but there's a recreation of it somewhere now as a monument. If I could just remember where I saw the pic.

I remembered seeing this as well and found it on a site.


www.tracesofwar.com/sights/19632/M4A3-Sherman-Tank-Champagne.htm

[rbaer]

That's it!

[stikpusher]

Jun 16, 2024 16:32:07 GMT -5 rbaer said:

There are a lot of pics showing French-crewed M4's with the crews wearing their pre-war headgear, would be a great fig since the US supplied French forces. Even cooler were the French navy crews in M10's with their naval caps on.
I've got the Heller-issued boxing of that same Italeri kit, with decals for "Champagne" in it somewhere... I think I bought it at a show for chump change but I've wanted to do Champagne for a while. I'm pretty sure it was knocked out but there's a recreation of it somewhere now as a monument. If I could just remember where I saw the pic.

Yeah, I’ll probably pick up some Hornet heads with French tanker helmets to modify whatever figures that I use. I also plan on doing the M10 in my stash in 2e DB markings like this Sherman. I might be able to pull off that naval headgear on the crew for that. 🤞🏼

[rbaer]

That sounds like a group build kind of thing, French crews in somebody else's stuff, or somebody else in French stuff.

[stikpusher]

Jun 18, 2024 17:44:25 GMT -5 rbaer said:

That sounds like a group build kind of thing, French crews in somebody else's stuff, or somebody else in French stuff.

That actually might be an interesting theme…   French equipment in foreign colors and foreign equipment in French colors… 

[dodgy]

Got this bookmarked Stik.

[stikpusher]

Hope you enjoy the show Dodgy. I’ll be getting back in this one in a few weeks. Gotta get my FISTV all done first…

[stikpusher]

This was my progress made at AMPS a couple of weeks ago. I got the gun tube sanded smooth, and backdated it to the early configuration without the muzzle cap thread protector. I also started adding many of the small fittings to the turret and hull.

[kyledehart5]

All that is looking mighty nice Carlos!

[stikpusher]

Thanks Kyle. These Italeri Sherman’s are a pretty trouble free build.

[handiabled]

Are you going to go with a weathered look to it or factory fresh?

[brandonk]

Super cool. This is one variant that I don't have in the stash. Looking forward to watching this one come alive.

[stikpusher]

Brent, I’m going with light to moderate weathering on this one. I want to look lightly used like photos show during the Liberation of Paris.

Brandon, this will be my second M4A3 76mm. Although my first was a blend of a Tamiya M4A3 hull with an Academy late model T23 turret with the small single piece loaders hatch.

[project510]

Looks cool, Carlos. I have a Sherman kit in the stash, but have been watching many other armor builds to see how they go together. Good luck on yours!

[dodgy]

Looking good my friend, I have the same kit in the stash, but I like what you're doing with this.

[stikpusher]

James & Dodgy, thank you. Aside from adding stowage and replacing the kit’s .50 with a better one from my spares, I’ll also be changing the track type. This kit come with the T51 type, while photos of the actual subject tank that I’m modeling show it to have T48 type tracks.