Hi all,

I am researching a future Sherman build and has the Tamiya M4A3 75mm late in my stash. This is my first sherman ever and would like to place it in a snowy scene. Can I put aftermarket duckbill tracks on such a vehicle. And if yes, which ones would be the correct ones to use??

Best regards
Morten

If you have the M4A3 Tamiya label as 'Frontline Breakthrough', this has markings for Caballero a tank destroyed during the Battle of the Bulge, which might be what you are looking for. Based on photos (e.g. in the Concord book on the Bulge), the real Cabellero had steel chevron track with duckbills fitted. The original also has concave wheels except for the 5th from the front on the left hand side which has been replaced with a spoked wheel. The original Tamiya M4A3 came with the chevron track with duckbills in vinyl and there may be some lying around somewhere

You may also consider adding the thickened armour to the gunner's side of the turret front, like this

Cheek armour

David

Gday morten
Sounds like an interesting build coming up!
Duckbills are a definite yes, although I'm not too au fait on what is available aftermarket... As for correct, you could use any that are available as many were manufactured in local workshops in Belgium, etc. and they produced a variety...
I have come across many photos of the Ardennes offensive where there has been snowfall, and the snow really stands out on stationary Shermans when it collects in the duckbill end connectors in B/W pics...
Hope this helps you!
Cheers
Brad
P.S. the only duckbills I can think of is those contained with the individual track links from most DML Sherman kits...

Can I also recommend these few articles which include Tamiya M4A3 fixes?

http://www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/articles.html

Enjoy the build. It's a great kit.

Hi guys,

Thank you for the fast and helpful replies. I have access to the AFV Club indi-tracks and there is a set with duckbills - being at work I dont know which type of tracks these are - but my concern was if they were useable for a late war vehicle (Battle of the Bulge periode).

The kit I have is the "frontline Breakthrough" kit from Tamiya.

Basically I hear you say - Steel Chevron with Duckbills - which I will try to dig out.

Best regards
Morten

Another kit with the chevron and duckbill tracks is the old Tamiya Jumbo. You can often get it fairly cheap. For variation you might snip a few of the duckbills off at random. Apparently they were fairly easy to shear off the real tracks.

Unless you are building a specific tank at a specific time and location you can use just about any type of track. Many times maintainence crews will replace the tracks with a different type depending on the preference of the crew and seasons. Duckbills may or may not be installed by the field maintainence units depending on how many tanks they had to re-track

Hi all,
Found some AFV Club rubber chevrons with duckbills at home - so, according to Alan these could be used as well??

Best regards
Morten