HI all

Just been thinking (these hours before the new year), and wondering. For those of you who has built, or at least studied both Dragons M4A3E8 Thunderbilt VII and their M4A1 Operation Cobra... would it be possible to combine these kits to create an M4A1E8 (an M4A1 with HVSS suspension), without too much hassle?
What about combining the leftovers to create an ordinary M4A3(76) (now, that ougth to be the easy part, eh )?

Cheers, and happy new year

I made an M4A1E8 using an Academy M51 Isherman. That way it already had the M4A1 cast hull with the extended track covers on the sides. I do not know if these would be interchangeable on the Dragon kits as I have not built either one.

The M4A1E8 is my favorite of all of the Sherman versions!

Happy New Year.

Chris Neel

AFV club sells the HVSS suspension by itself as well so you don't have to buy two kits(unless you need extra parts like fenders).

http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/afvclub/afv35030.htm

One of the things I remember about the M4A1E8 that was parked in front of our company was the fender supports. Instead of the U-shaped supports that most M4A3E8s used, the M4A1E8 had ones that looked like miniature shock absorbers.

The George Forty book, M4 Sherman, has photos of an M4A1E8 owned by Judge Jim Osborne on the cover that shows the round supports. These were like little turnbuckles that could be adjusted by turning them to tighten or loosen. These were probably used instead of the U-shaped supports since the length could be adjusted to conform to the irregular shape of the cast hull sides.

Although I do not know enough about the variant to know if this was standard on all M4A1E8 or just a variation.

Rob is right about the fender supports and I think you are on the right track on going about doing the A1E8.

Here's a pic of one of the two at Camp Atterbury.

I had a quick look at both models and it should be an easy conversion to adapt the 'E8 lower hull to the M4A1 upper hull. Why not give it a go, and let us know what is involved.

How much modification was needed for this? (I have no clue as to that, I' afraid... I don't know squat outside of WW2...)




Same here, heh...

Yes, you can crosskit the two Dragon offerings and have two complete models at the end. The Thunderbolt kit has two turrets, one with the small loader's hatch and one with the large swiveling cupola (same as the M4A1 kit). The late M4A1 will need the small hatch version. Your M4A3 HVSS will have to be completed with the large loader's cupola, but that is a legitimate combination.
The M4A1 HVSS was not seen in US service during the war. The M4A3 was supposed to be the standard postwar Sherman for the regular Army and Marines, but National Guard units operated the M4A1 HVSS into the late 1950's (they even defended California from the Martians in Geroge Pal's "War of the Worlds" film). They were also provided as aid to the postwar French and Italian armies.
As Rob pointed out, the fender supports on the A1 were made from a threaded rod screwed into a threaded shaft, so the length of each support could be adjusted to exactly fit the curved sides of the cast hull. There was a tab welded at each end drilled out for the attachment bolt. This will have to be scratchbuilt, but it wouldn't be difficult.

The main modification needed was to change the engine deck. The M51 has a later Israeli modified engine deck. For mine, I cut one out from an Italeri M4A1 kit and inserted into the area that I cut from the M51 deck. I also had to cut down the back end of the hull where there was an extended storage rack there. I swapped out the lower hull rear end plate and replaced it with the one from the Italeri M4A1 as well.

Other than that, all I did was leave off the added storage boxes and tools.

I used a CMD T23 turret with the oval loader's hatch and an Armourscale Barrel.

The Academy kit came with the U shaped brackets for the fender supports, so I had just used those. I had relocated one that was spaced out differently as there was a storage box located in that area so that both sides would match. I did not realize that the US M4A1HVSS's had the turnbuckle type brackets, so I guess my model isn't really correct, but I suppose it has that M4A1 HVSS feel... It shouldn't be too hard to go back and swap these out with some stretched sprue or something.

hth

cn