Hi all,

I am wondering if anyone could tell me which company made T54E1 sherman tracks that were fitted to D-Day sherman tanks? Were these tracks mostly fitted to British shermans? The only ones I've seen that participated in D-Day are at the Musee des Epaves Sous Marines in Port en Bessin, Normandy, and were fitted on DD Shermans, which I believe were British-manufactured?

Would T54E1 tracks on a regular (non-DD)American M4A1 from D-day be accurate?

Thanks!

The Truscon company made the T54E1 tracks -- and it was a very common track seen on the M4A3 and some M4A1s. Only six M4A3s were sent to the British so NO, these tracks weren't so common on UK operated Shermans.

Tracks were inter-changeable and appeared on Shermans and Sherman variants as they were shipped to the assembly plants.

The DD fixtures were made by the British -- all Shermans were US-made. Could they be seen on non-DD M4A1s? Possible (and you can't prove a negative) -- but at that time the T48 was very commonly seen on M4A1s. Your best bet would be to find a photo and match it according.

Panda Plastics makes aftermarket 1/35 injection plastic T54E1s.

Here are a couple of other companies that make this after market track.
Bronco Models #AB3546
Model Kasten #SK45

I have them both, I think the Model Kasten are nicer.
They both are available from Sprue Brothers.
Regards.
Donald

Friulmodel also does a set but the Sherman used live tracks so doesn't really play to the strengths of the white metal material.

Thanks everyone! I'm doing a standard M4A1 (of the 743rd Tank Batalion, D-Day),and all photos I've found so far point toward only the DD tanks using the T54E1s, so I think I'll go with the T48 tracks.

I've got a set of Bronco tracks but they seem exceptionally fiddly to work with, so I think I'll probably get a set of the Friul tracks and just ensure they are tensioned correctly to be tight enough on top.The Friuls seem far easier to work with (for me as a novice tank modeler!).

Don't use the Fruils. While it might be easier to work with now, over time, their weightiness creates sag -- which is inaccurate for Sherman tracks.

Thanks for the advice! If I may ask, would this sag still happen if I were to glue the track in place on the rollers to maintain tension? I don't want the track to be workable so losing that aspect is not a problem.

Generally yes. The joints in the Fruil track can stretch just a little and that's all you need to get the sag. Plus, being heavier, it's harder than you might think to get them tight enough when gluing so that there is no sag to begin with.



Paul

Very usefull info!
I was planning to use Friuls for the all metal variants, but after reading about the difficulties in getting them to fit tight, I'll go for plastic ones. Probably Panda tracks.