Welcome to the wonderful world of the Sherman tank....hehehehe!! (evil music in the background) Good start ....sure there are a few things to fix ...First off i think you painted the tracks a rust color but this type of track was rubber shoes with just the end connectors being metal. next you painted the tops of the periscopes black ..These were painted the same color as the tank ..only if they are open should you paint the glass a glossy black to show glass. The molded on handles would look better if you cut them off and added bent wire in their place this goes for all 4 hatches... The machine guns should have the barrels drilled out ...The easiest way to do this is to take a brand new #11 exacto blade place the point in the middle and turn just a few turns is usually enough..the holes are small. Be careful with the stowage everything should be strapped down otherwise there would be nothing left on the tank within a mile...also if you look at the bags on the back you can still see the attachement points ..better sanding will help .. same thing goes for the spare tracks on the back ...As for helmets and bags on the turret sides they should be attached to something and not just hung anywhere ... Decals are good can,t see any film..and the weathering looks pretty darn good ..The bottom is great maybe a bit more dust on top . Next time you should sand off the mold lines on the rubber tires and even scrape them up a bit these got worn pretty bad .. Things you will learn about are that late Shermans had periscope protectors over all the periscopes ..Tamiya doesn't give you any in the kit so it is not your fault ...
Your painting looks good ..decals cool ...weathering is coming along great ...Keep up the good work and don,t be afraid to ask questions...that's what we're here for ...

All the best
Rick

Hey Garry, is this the Sherman I traded you for? Looks pretty good, for a first Sherman. I finally got two more of these kits, one to build and one to trade.

Lots of good tips for you here, Garry. If you feel like taking your next Sherman to the next level, there is a nice bunch of "tip sheets" for tweaking Tamiya Sherman kits here: http://www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/articles.html

Take what you want from these articles -- you may want to try a few more things with each Sherman you build.

One thing that really stands out on you model is the loose stowage. Hit one bump, and this Sherman would lose everything. You can add a "rope" to secure the gear on the back. The rucks should have straps (you can make from paper or foil) to hang from the vehicle -- unless, of course, the rucks are filled with magnets that hold them to the tank! #:-)

you can add a pair of rods on each front headlight guard.make them a scale4 " long.they should be attached to the ege towards the center of the tank,on the bar that goes straight bac to the hull.They should be parrallel to the front edge of the guard,aligned up and down.