Hi guys. I have the Tamiya M4A3 75mm Sherman (kit no.35250) and it includes a number of personal items with which the exterior of the tank can be adorned. Can anyone please tell me how rucksacks etc were attached to the turret. Do I need to add some kind of rail or hooks? Thanks in anticipation.

Many tanks had horizontal bars welded to the sides and rear of the turret so bags could be hung from them. (Kinda like handrails in appearance.) When the MG stowage brackets started appearing on later builds, these were also used to hang kit bags...

They're easy to make from thin brass wire.

Tom

Paul, the were normally attached pretty much every way you can imagine. They may have welded brackets from a field work shop or just used rope or the straps from the gear to tie to anything they could. Of course the rear deck and tray on the back plate were popular for piling up stuff and roping down. It is also very common to see a board in between the front fenders holding all ends of junk on the front plate.

Thanks for that guys. I've been looking for photos but not found any showing rails or hooks yet. I'll look in earnest to see if I can get some definitive indications re size and placement. If not I'll just do what looks right. I'm not a bolt counter!