Every time someone posts a pic of their Tamiya M4 they are told that Tamiya made a mistake and the return rollers should have horizontal brackets. These pics of an M4 were posted by Dan Fong over on ML and seem to show an M4 -look at the aircleaners and applique armour - with upswept return rollers. I've blown the photo up in photoshop and the return rollers look upswept to me any else care to comment?

To my old eyes, they look upswept.

Gday Pat
Nope I reckon they're straight return roller arms with pillow blocks.
I have a closer shot of the second pic, and it can be seen that the reinforced top edge from the roller back to the bogie housing looks definitively horizontal, whereas if they were the upswept style you'd see the same top edge noticeably drop downwards towards the bogie housing. I reckon the shadows play a big part in the confusion? [Even the straight arms sit a little higher than flush with the top of the bogie housing, adding another shadow...]
My opinion only!
Brad

Yep Brad, after downloading and greatly enlarging the bogie, I now think they are straight with pillow blocks.


I like your new Avatar.

This potentially would be the biggest revelation in Sherman history (ok, one of 'em) to be proven as upswept, so I guess I worked on the odds to begin with


hehe It's funny how used you get to people's postings by their avatar alone, but after a few years a change is as good as a holiday
Plus Qvack is from one of my favourite childhood comicstrips...

Okay I give in

I would say it's inconclusive. The upswept brackets became available in August 1943, but most factories had back stock of the earlier version to use up, so they do not become common until 1944. Some Chrysler composite hull M4's produced in late 1943 had them, so it's not unreasonable that they may have turned up at other assembly plants in time for some 56-degree hulls to receive them. Alternatively, a 1942 hull with the M3 style bogies might have received a set during rebuilding.

Thanks for the info Gerald but I did some tweaking on my photo and with this pic I reckon the straight arm with pillow block is what has been fitted...




Brad

Bradley: Great work. It looks like Dan Fong over on ML concluded the same thing. Look at his close up of the VVS

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1189251615/M4+with+upswept+return+rollers-

Ta Roy
I reckon the shading on the slight sloped top of the bogie assembly makes it appear as though the arm sits higher than in reality...

Brad