Hey all! I am beginning to despair that Academy or AFV Club will EVER release a proper M36, so I am considering kitbashing an Academy M10 and an Italeri M36B1 together with various modifications to make the conversion proper. Does anyone know if dimensioned drawings exist for the official overhead covers produced for the final batches of M36 vehicles and also applied retroactively? You other Shermanoholics know which one: supported on posts above the turret with a gap between the overhead armor and the turret top, with three hinged panels. This was very commonly seen on rebuilt or late production vehicles that saw service with various minor powers post-WW2: French in Indochina, Turkey, Pakistan, and Yugoslavia in the 90's. As usual, I'm likely to go more than a little ballistic if I can get this squared away: I need (really, I NEED!) to build three M36s. One from WW2 for the US, one for France in Vietnam, and one for the Croat Militia in the early 90's. Anybody know where I might lay hands on drawings?

Greg

Not being an expert in WW2 US tank destroyers, I do believe that AFV Club's M-10 comes with the overhead armor set. I don't know the turret differences to determine if it is possible to use one for the other.

Greg, this is the best pic I have the Overhead Hatch Kit: Click Here

The pic is huge! Give it time to download.

It does not have the dimensions used, but a little examination between the turret opening and the pic should help out. I hope this helps a bit.

I had more time to shrink the pic down some this morning. It's still a bit big, but any smaller and it would not be very legible.

Thanks, Kencelot...
Kencelot, I have the Squadron book from which your drawing comes; Their oblique view leaves me a little uncertain. And it has always annoyed me that Squadron provides no scale for their drawings. Perhaps I will have to play with enlarging the direct overhead photo until I get something about right in size, and use that as a template to chop styrene.

Nice to know about the overhead kit in the AFV Club M10, too. As the M10 and M36 turrets had very different shapes the parts wouldn't match up, but it might give me some ideas about attachment and size of the pieces. I'll have to see if somebody locally has a kit they would let me pry open and examine.

And while I'm here I'll mention something else: The spaced-out VVSS suspension fitted to late vehicles (and a bunch of the late M36's in particular) so duckbill end connectors could be used inside and out. I acquired an AFV Club VVSS suspension set and noted that the drive sproket mount is actually splined! This is important; while is is never seen on a normal chassis the splines ARE visible when the suspension is spaced out. This is particularly true if the tracks don't have the extenders on the inside for some reason. The rebuilt M4A1 at Fort Lewis is an example. Anyway, just thought I'd mention it in case somebody wants to try the spacing thing. I've done the math, and the bogies need to be shimmed .128" out from the hull and the sprockets/idler mounts moved accordingly.

Greg