Three Shermans. Well images of one of the builds. Three approaches to the Ford Built M4A3.Me and two friends decided to have some fun. My approach is to use various Tasca Sherman kit parts starting with an M4A2 upper hull and replacing the upper rear engine deck with that of a modified M4A3 type. The other builds are done using a Tamiya M4 upper hull and the third is done with the Formations resin hull.

Sherman No2

Here is the second Sherman that is part of this sorted little tail of three Shermans. Majority of the M4A3 Dry Stowage Shermans were manufactured by Ford and used primarily as trainer Shermans state side. However the with the depletion of the Sherman inventory during the Battle of the Bulge a limited number of these training M4A3s where shipped over to the ETO. It is my intention to build this example to represent one of these replacement Shermans as it might have appeared near the end of the war while conducting operations within Germany.

My approach to this build is to use only items from my spare parts box therefore no one single kit will act as the primary donor. Thus far the upper hull is from the Tamiya M4 and the engine deck and rear plate are from an old Dragon M4A3E8(76)W kit. I began work by fitting the engine deck and rear plate that I cut from the Dragon M4A3 upper hull. I kept this as one part so that the correct angle of the rear plate would be maintained. I then fitted and glued this to the Tamiya upper hull, filling the gaps as need with styrene and putty. I then moved on to filling the open sponsons with sheet styrene. Once that was completed I added the mounting area for the exhaust deflector.

Sherman #3

Finally, here is the third tank in our quest for A3 dry perfection. This is a combination of a Formations upper hull, Tamiya M4 turret, what I THINK is a CMD trans cover and a DML M4A3 lower hull. The lower hull is a free gift from Dragon when you buy their M4 Composite PTO kit as they include the incorret part in the box. But, DragonCare is merciful as always and will provide the correct M4/M4A1 lower tub at your request.

The plan is to round the lower rear hull, weld up the Shell Ejection Port, slap some Tasca bogies on her along with a few thousand scale pounds of stowage and call her done.

Any comments are cetainly welcome.

JW Cesafsky

Sherman No2 Update

Moving slowly forward on this little build I finished up the basic building and detailing of the rear engine plate. Starting off with the Tamiya rear plate I cut it down to fit within the sponsons fillers I added during my last post. Once that was done I then cut a piece of styrene tubing along it length and fitted to the bottom angle of the rear plate. This section was textured with Squadron Green stuff and welds where added from stretched sprue. The idler mounting points where replaced with ones from Tasca as the detail was much better than the originals. The APU exhaust port was added from Styrene tubing. A casting seam was to the exhaust, also from stretched sprue and then textured by stippling with glue and a brush. Lastly the towing lugs and the towing hook mount where added along with welds once more from stretched sprue.

An image of the lower rear hull of my Tasca parts build.

Side view of Ford Dry Stowage M4A3 Tasca build.

Greeting to Everyone!
Just thought I would post a quick update today. I lost about a week’s worth of model build time as I received my Christmas gift from my wife…and oh what a gift and Oh what a great and understanding person I am married to.


Here are a few pixs of my gift that need a little assembly
First in the closed position

Now Opened

And for scale

As you can see I now have lots of room…that MUST be fill with modeling goodness!!

Now on to the Sherman...I have about finished up the work on the lower hull and bogy assemblies with a bit of detailing added. I also started fitting the extra armor plates to the transmission and the stretched sprue for the weld work. I’ll start on the tracks which are from Panda but will spread the track work out in the hopes to avoid burn-out.

Excellent model Eric. The Dry Stowage A3 is coming along nicely. I hope to add some more images over the weekend! Great looking Mobile Man Cave! I may need the info on that bad boy when I eventually move into a condo some day.

I don't know how I missed this. Very cool idea for a build log. One suggestion... in every post, put the #1, #2, or #3 at the top, so it's a bit easier to follow each build.

Eric, what is that work station closet thing? Is there a website for that?

Oh man, this is cool. Three Sherman kits, three great modelers and a custom convertable work-station man-cave thingie. It doesn't get any better than this!



I'm with Jesse, starting each post with the Sherman number would help keep these builds straight in my mind.

Keep it coming guys!

Guy #1 Frank Blanton call sign Poldark reporting,
This weekend I will add the gun travel lock and I have been informed by THE Sherman Tank Guru Joe Demarco that my glacis mounted siren should be mounted on the left front fender as all Ford M4A3 Dry Stowage Shermans were.

Hi guys, following this with great interest, I'm a big Sherman fan & know Frank personally. He's the Sherman man lol.. Eric where did you get that cabinet? I'd love to get one for in my Garage so any info you could share on it would be greatly appreciated, name, where you got it etc.
Keep up the great work & info on these builds, waiying with baited breath for more.
Cheers, Kenny.

Thanks Kenny! I will let Eric know that you need info on that cabinet.

Some images of the finished model.I crossed that line Christmas Eve at 6:15pm Eastern Std. This is the Tasca build using mostly Tasca parts from various kits. I had purchased many sprues from Tasca to do the Ford Manf. M4A3 Dry Stowage.Formations tools w/straps. Formations siren with .010 solder wire used for the power cable. Also I added some late features to the turret to indicate a late vehicle. The .50 cal. stowage pintle and framing on the rear of the turret as well as the roof mounted pintle for the .50 cal. I also used those metal periscope covers from Schumo-kits. Also Adlers Nest antenna base was used.

Three Guys:
No, Not Moe, Larry, & Currly. Great idea. Always love a Sherman build. Frank : Great results!!!! Love the tools & turret texture.Eric nice build as well. Looks like someone has some catch up to do. Keep up the great build guys, looking Fwd to more.
Todd

GREAT BUILD

Some images of the Tasca parts build of the Ford M4A3 Dry Stowage 75mm Sherman. This has been modeled as a training tank in the U.S. and represents a newer Tank. The Model has been post shaded with Tamiya Smoke and a post shade of a dark Olive Drab color. Vallejo clear flat varnish acrylic was sprayed over the model and I will use Humbrol Enamels and thinner for the washes and weathering. Pigments will be added last and mixed with distilled water. The tail lights and pioneer equipment will be detailed painted later as will the MV Lenses for the headlamps. Stencils were used for the stars and Tamyia tape was used for the turret band.



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Sherman No.2
Greeting to everyone!

Here is a little update for my contribution to the “Tale of Three Shermans” ….as you see Sherman No.1 is moving right along!!.

With the holidays the progress has been a little slow. The first set of photos is an analysis process I like to do with my primary photo reference and kind of gives an idea where I’m headed with this model subject. Much of the work on my Sherman has been in the form of adding welds and that is a somewhat time consuming process. I added the up armor plate to the front along with the welds for them. Lastly gave the some texture to hull sides and turret. For the hull sides I used Mr. Surfacer 500. For the turret I used a technique developed by fellow modeler Big-John. I included some before and after shots.







Thanks For stopping by and as always comments are most welcome

Very nice work there Eric! Can not wait to see it in person!

Guy #3 has lost internet service and not sure how soon it will be restored. So for the moment it will be Eric and myself posting.

Sherman No. 2 Update

Posting a Proof of life showing that I’m still plugging away on this…so ever slowly. Added a few details to the front plate and the additional armor plates to the front of the turret then “welded” them up with Magic Sculp epoxy putty. Lastly I added the engine deck filler area. This Item is 3D printed in resin from Click2Detail . This company has several interesting Items, mostly U.S. subjects, which are made to order. Also check out Shapeways for more Sherman goodness!!