This is a little side build I’m working on. I’ll be building an M4A3 (76) to show how Value Gear’s detail sets fit the kit. The Value Gear sets were designed to fit the Tamiya kit, but with just a little work, they can be adapted to just about any Sherman kit.

The Value Gear products I’m using on this build are
SB2 M4A3 Sand Bag Front
S2 Sherman Engine Deck





1st up is the sandbag front. As stated above, this was designed for the Tamiya M4A3, but will also work with the Dragon kit with just a little work. The molded on details on the front plate will need to be removed to allow the sandbag front to lay flat. Once this is done, the front will snuggle down tight against the front plate.



Due to the differences in Tamiya and Dragons fenders, there is a small gap left at the bottom between the fenders and sandbags. This area will require a little filler and blending, but shouldn’t be too much of a problem.



The Engine Deck Set is a lovely little affair with boxes and can that go in the back rack, some boxes and tarps that sit on the engine deck, a couple of pieces that can be warmed up with hot water and formed around the turret sides, and some stuff for the front. I’ll mainly be using the rear rack and deck pieces from this set.

After a test fit, I located any raised detail on the engine deck that needs to be trimmed off flush. This process only took just a few minutes. I also notched the inside bottom of the rack set to clear the inside hinges on the stowage rack.



Now we are left with a perfect fit.

Nice project John

John-- great job! Value Gear is superb material that you are doing a super job with
Anxious to follow your progress
DJ

Apart from a few small seams to fill and a few wire grab handles to make yet, this one is almost ready for paint.

I took two links out of each track run.

Looking good! But before you proceed with painting, may I suggest you check your M4A3's spare track holders on the rear bulkhead? DML, idiotically produced them in the shape of an "E". Whereas in reality, they look like this:
I don't know if your kit has the initial error or not. Just wanted to alert you

Hi Roy,

I really appreciate you looking out for me! Yeah, I’m aware of the spare track holders. This one is a self queen that’s been on the bench a few years. I decided to just build it out of the box and live with it. This one is destine for a diorama that’s also been sitting on the bench a few years, so I’m not that concerned with the inaccurate detail. I’m pretty much a Tasca snob now, but wanted to throw this one together and paint it.