This might be a silly question, but is it possible to backdate the Tamiya M1 Super Sherman, kit number 35322 to a M4A1?

What turret, road wheels, and tracks would I need to accomplish this.

I hope all the Sherman experts can help me out on this, thank you in advance for your comments.

Please be easy, since I mostly build aircraft models and have absolutely no clue about the nuances of the M4 Sherman.

George I am no Sherman expert but I believe it will be cheaper and far easier to buy a Sherman of the type you are after.

I belive that for M4A1 you only have to omit the Israeli modified horn cover on the upper front glacis, other than that, the combination of parts in the kit seems to be spot on M4A1 mid/late even if a little bit underdetailed:

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/tamiya/tam35322.html

HTH,
Cheers, Greg

The Tamiya M1 actually is the M4A1, just a very late production example, but as stated, the siren cover is an Israeli addition and should be left off.
The turret, tracks, road wheels are all fine as is for a late war M4A1/76W
I don't have the kit, but I'm sure others will chime in if there's anything else that needs to be deleted or changed.
And.... Tamiya goofed a bit on the kit's name: "Super" is actually used only for the HVSS M4A1's, not the VVSS that Tamiya kitted. The correct Israeli name of this particular Sherman is just plain "M1"

are you wishing to backdate it to a M4A1 with the 76mm or a baseline m4a1
for a M4a1 with a 76mm gum :
just remove the muzzle brake

for a baseline M4A1:
tracks and wheels are ok, you need the earlier drive sprockets, need turret as in Tamiya's m4 sherman, change the upper hull to one with the small oval drivers hatches, transmission cover you can go one piece or 3 piece

Thank you very much for your replies!

This is what I have so far, please let me know if this is remotely correct to do and represent a real Sherman from WWII.



I look forward to your replies and thank you for your guidance. Also which cupola should I use?

Hi George,

This configuration is not correct to do, unles you want to do the whole Duplex Drive conversion, which most probably you dont.

For a correct big hatch M4A1 (we are talking hull hatches here) you should only use the 76mm gun turret that came in the box with your hull.

HTH,
Greg

To be specific the M4A1 75mm as depicted in your picture was very rare and best known as a DD swimming tank on D-Day.

If you keep the 76mm turret you can make a later World War II M4A1 76mm. It depends on the time frame in WWII you want. M4A1 76mm started the war in Europe in Operation Cobra and had many different details. (turret hatches, fuel hood, gun barrel) whereas a later M4A1 76mm say in early 1945 would be exactly as in the kit but without the siren cover.

I'm doing mine as NJ Army National Guard circa 1950 since that precise configuration was used by the 50th Armored division with some interesting markings including full color armor triangles on the transmission cover and turret sides.

The Tamiya kit depicts a late M4A1 with the muzzle brake and small loader's hatch. The first batch of 200 M4A1 (76) w tanks deployed in July, 1944, with 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions had the large loader's cupola, no muzzle brake, no vent cover on the rear face of the turret bustle, and no cover over the ventilator between the drivers' hatches. Dragon's kit is the best to depict this variant (or Italeri's with a lot of work). The Army favored the M4A3 during the remainder of the war, but losses during the Battle of the Bulge meant some relaxation of this policy, and some M4A1 late models appear in Europe again in 1945. A couple are seen in Steve Zaloga's "US Tank Battles in Germany," published by Concord. To adapt the Tamiya kit, you just have to leave off the solid cover over the siren.

This hull was not quite the same as that used for the 75mm DD amphibian models, as these still had dry stowage, and the armor over the ammunition racks on the hull side was noticeably thickened in the areas previously reinforced with appliqué armor panels. You would also have to add the structure for the flotation screens, the extra sprocket rings on the idler wheels, the propellers at the rear, the commander's steering platform and numerous other small details specific to the amphibians.

Thank you very much for sharing your expertise!

Here is the latest model I finished from the Tamiya Israeli Tank M1 Super Sherman. Please let me know what you see I need improvement on and thank you for looking!