Hi all,
I'm hoping someone else has done this and can answer this for me. Is it possible to attach the Tasca M32 hull top onto the Italeri M4A1 chassis? I have the Italeri M32 in my stash, which of course has the incorrect late A1 hull. This is mainly due to Italeri cutting corners and using the bulk of their M4A1 76 for the basis. The easiest and cheapest way to fix this would be to swap the hull and possibly turret for the Tasca. But of course, only if it will fit. Would I also need to buy any other sprue sets for other parts I may need?

Thanks
Stephen

The Italeri M32 is not incorrect just a really rare variant.

Frankly it's a waste to try and graft superior Tasca parts to ancient Italeri parts, if you want a M32B1 on the mid production hull, just get the Tasca/Asuka M32B1

Cheers,

Christophe

Found the pic.



Cheers,

Christophe

There's actually a thread about it here on Armorama, with 3 more pics:
Large Hatch M32B1

John

That's an HVSS variety. I don't think they were used in the war. Actually, the picture link says "Germany_PostWar"

John

Yeah, the pics I actually thought about were those in the thread you linked to thanks.

Cheers,

Christophe

The Tasca upper hull should fit the Italeri lower with only minor fettling, but I have to ask "Why?". You will still need the Tasca hull, turret, and boom sprues at the very least to make a decent job, and by the time you pay the shipping you might as well just get the whole kit. The Italeri parts have good details for their day (30 years ago) but it's very crude by comparison to the Tasca parts.

By the way, the Italeri bogies are late "upswept" ones that you will want to replace with earlier "horizontal" ones, and they lack bolt details top & bottom.

If you use the Tasca turret (which has the correct shape) then the Italeri boom will not fit - it is sized to slip around the narrower Italeri turret.

I'd build the Italeri kit OOB just for fun, but look for a complete Tasca kit to build an accurate WW2 vehicle.

Sorry to be such a downer, but I hope this helps.

I'd love to get hold of one of the Tasca kits, but I'm working to a strict budget these days and trying to use what I already have in the stash. The parts from Tasca work out at a couple of quid a sprue, so more affordable. We've just bought a house that needs a lot of work and money to make it liveable, so I have to prioritise my spending. Not many retailers are selling Tasca in the UK at the moment. Hannants have a few and currently have a diddy little Panzer II for a whopping £65! I dread to think what the RRP of the M32 is. That would pay for several new doors that I need!
But if they don't fit, then so be it. As John has pointed out, at least one big hatch was around so what the heck. Just thought it might make for an interesting project to correct it. Glad I asked before buying.
Thanks for the help

Hi Stephen,

I hear you on price. Try ebay, or the kit traders at big model shows - that's how you get the best deals! (Hannants is full-whack pricewise...) One thing to bear in mind is the import duty on Tasca parts - I had £20 added to an order recently by the Post Office, effectively adding a third to the cost of those lovely sprues. Not all packages get noticed by the Customs fairy, but in theory anything over about £20 is supposed to be charged duty to make up for lost VAT etc on things that are sold domestically. And they hold your package hostage while you address the ransom note!

don't do it.

Tom, I know this is going to sound like a stupid question a newb asks, but what what do you mean by upswept and horizontal? I must've built dozens of Shermans (admittedly 1/72) over the years and I've never noticed anything other than early M3 style with the roller on top and typical M4 with it at the back of the bogie.
And yeah I know all about the tax and handling fee. Got stung by that a year or so ago when I got a couple of Pit-Road ships from HLJ. It's the handling fee which bumps it up even more. I'll have a look at what Asuka have anyway, might have something I can use.

I'm just going to build it as is I think. I don't model for competitions but I would have liked to flex my creative muscles with this one and make it a little more like a regular M32. Hence my idea of Frankensteining the thing. For now I'm just grateful for an allied ARV of some description.
Now what can I have it doing? Lifting a jeep out of a steep ditch? Or maybe a German armoured car to add some colour.

Hi Stephen,

If you really want to OD on Sherman details you need to look at the Sherman minutiae website! (Health warning - knowing too much can make your head explode. Don't ask how I found out...)

The later bogies have the return roller sticking out sideways on a bracket (unlike the M3-style ones where it was directly on top), but there were two types of bracket. Most M4s had a bracket where the top edge between the bogie casing and the roller was horizontal when viewed from the side. Later ones had this bracket angled upward towards the roller end - hence "upswept". The Italeri kit is based on the "big hatch" M4A1 hull which came out pretty late, so would have used the "upswept" bogies supplied in the kit. Told ya your head'd explode!

If you build the kit out-of-box then it would have arrived right at the end of the action in Europe, so most of its service life would have been in peace-time duties. As an armoured tow-truck it could be used for all kinds of recovery work on just about anything the Army wanted moved! And they were also used as mobile hoists for heavy repairs, lifting out engines or even whole turrets as part of maintenance. So the sky's the limit as far as loads go. By the way, a lot of German stuff that was still serviceable got "recycled" as staff cars and cargo trucks for the occupying forces, sometimes with new paint and sometimes with little more than a "USA" in crude brush strokes...

Hi Stephen,

You can get all the Sherman info you could ever dream of wanting to know at this place:
Sherman Minutia
Or you could invest in Kurt's "Son of Sherman" book:

Look at the triangular bracket holding the return roller.
This one is straight:



This is upswept:



John

It sounds like a very subtle difference you wouldn't spot unless you knew about it. And not noticeable in small scale! I'll check out the site, but I might regret it
I've got some bogies spare from a couple of Dragon Shermans so I'll see what they are if indeed I do want to change them.
I was thinking of very late war or immediate post-war for the diorama. Pulling a kubel or schwimwagen while some officer shouts at the recovery crew not to scratch the paint work would be fun to build.