I'm interested in building a Sherman Mk III in service with the Polish 4th armoured regiment in Italy in 1944-45. Can someone advise me on a good kit from Tasca's line-up? Would 35-017 or 35-018 work?

Hi Bill,

Tasca 35018 is the one you want for a Polish Sherman in Italy. I also suggest the new Wydawnictwo Militaria #338, "Czolgi Sikorskigo" (Sikorski's Tanks) which has English text and covers all tanks used by Poland throughout WWII. It's an excellent book and has B&W photos, color profile plates, and all unit and national markings.

Thanks, Matt. If any of the vendors at IPMS AMPSEast has the Wydawnictwo Militaria book I will gladly "relieve" them of.

Hey great Bill, make sure you say hello to me at some point! See you there!

Whilst a great title beware the colour plates as they generally all show the same type of Sherman where there were Welded, Cast and DV hooded Shermans still in service into 46. Also there is only a few photos of the italian based vehicles compared to others in the same range. If you can find them the earlier titles in the same range on Polish Shermans ( Polish Shermans Vol 1 ) or the Armour Photo Gallery book on the M4A2 Vol 1 have lots of good photos and colour plates of Polish Shermans in Italy.

I do support the use of the Tasca kit but also recommend the DML Sherman III kits as a substitute if you can't find them. There were also a few Polish M4A1 75mm in service in Italy so that is another option to pursue.
Cheers
Al

Al - Which of the Dragon Mk III's (6313 or 6231) matches up to Tasca's 35018? If it helps, I'm interested in building either "Styr" or "Monte-Cassino" from Bison decal set 35048:

http://www.angelfire.com/pro/bison/35048.html

The set only notes that these vehicles were Mk III's. While I'm not good enough to sweat the small stuff, but I'd like to avoid purchasing the dead wrong kit.

Ok, I have checked the photos I have of these (From the Sikorski Institute Collection and came to the conclusion that Monte Cassino must be two vehicles as in the Loretta parade pics she is a DV with M3 Suspension and in the Earlier Mud/Blue Black or Green Scheme she has M4 Suspension and a fabricated splash ring indicating Welded hoods (Although it may be DV going by the photos of the parade one.
Styr is a Welded Hood Vehicle from the pic i have which is a post war Parade photo in OD with Large name.

For a DV you have two choices from Tasca
35-017 (M4 Suspension)
35-L28 (M3 Suspension but ltd Ed)

From DML/Cyber Hobby - Kit 6527 Sherman III DV initial production

For a Welded Hood Sherman I r3ecommend DML 6231 but you will need T 54 tracks as this comes with the rarer British WE 210 or Double "I" tracks.

I'd recommend getting one of the Armo or Hussar sets of decals:
http://www.jadar.com.pl/armo/armo35decals-a.htm
http://decals.kitreview.com/decals/polishshermandecalreviewmd_1.htm

Cheers
Al

Bill, sounds like you've already got the kit recommendations you need, but for future reference Tasca's 35018 Sherman III with cast hoods is matched by Dragon's 6313 Sherman III. I haven't seen the Dragon kit, but I have the Tasca one and it is excellent.

If you need a DV hulled Sherman III from Tasca, it's kit 35017. To date, Tasca have not offered a welded-hood version to match Dragon's 6231.

Tom

I really like the look of "Steyr" so I guess I'll go with DML 6231. Do you know if Dragon sells the T 54 tracks separately or do I just need to find a private seller for that?

DML/Cyber Hobby sel lthem seperastely but the the WE210 should be easy to trade for T 54's.
THe DML Tarawa M4A2 is a welded hood Sher III and comes with T54 however it was an earlier release and had problems with the Hood faces and Engine Access doors. Not hard to correct though as DMl have the replacement doors in most of the recent releases regardless of type and the hoods is an easy fix with platicard.
Cheers
Al

Thanks, Al. I'm going to go with 6231 and take my chances on a trade for the right tracks. I don't trust myself not to make a hash of the mods needed to the Tarawa kit.

I forgot to add the photo:

Cheers
Al