If I use the one piece transmission cover for the Tamiya M4 early production Sherman, which sprocket and bogie set should be used, i.e. the newer or older sprocket & pressed or spoked wheels?

Thanks.

Do you have a specific tank in mind or just looking for info? You can search the web for images or check other references. I have seen photos with both drive sprockets in place. With the solid transmission cover, if you are going for a remanufactured vehicle, I believe you would be fine using the solid wheels as this is what was available as a replacement part. Or mix and match to show which wheels had been replaced.

You can mix match just about anything. Depends on what you want to do. Take an early M4 direct vision, welded hull, replace one of the old type drive sprockets with a solid one. You can even use spoke wheels with solid wheels on the bogies, and even different idlers. In some cases you can use M3 bogies to, depending year and place.

Jeff,

M4 production started with the three-piece transmission, open spoked wheels & idlers, and "fancy" sprockets (as well as earler M3-style bogies), but over the course of a year or so all of these features evolved. I am not sure of exact dates, but from photos it seems the single-piece tranny and solid idler come in first, followed swiftly by solid road wheels and then the "plain" sprockets. However, stockpiling of parts in the factories meant that changes were not consistent until all old stocks were used up, so even "new" tanks could vary within a batch. Once in use, all of these components were subject to wear & tear, and were replaced with whatever was to hand. After all, they were designed to be interchangeable. And after the war a lot of M4s were reconditioned back in the States, where any parts could be mixed & matched.

Generally a mid-1944 tank (newly built for D-Day) would have all the newer features, but many of the M4s seen in Normandy were already a year old and might still have some or all of the early parts. And many tanks kept these early features right to the end of the war.

Hope this helps,

Tom