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just to be massively pedantic - it's 'One' C, not 'Eye' C. British Shermans were designated as numbers, Sherman One, Two, Three, etc - only written in Roman numerals to confuse modellers in years to come.
The Marine Corp, 4th and 5th tank battalions used M4A3's on Iwo Jima, and the 6th Marine tank battalion used them on Okinawa. I can highly recommend a book from Squadron Signal, 6096 (if you can find it) "Tank Warfare on Iwo Jima" by David Harper. There are several after action reports from all three tank battalions used on Iwo describing modifications used on these tanks, just an example the 5th tank battalion sprayed sand on the wet paint that was over the corrugated tin that was placed over 1 inch plywood sheets on the side of some tanks. Although most just had wood planks on the side. Oh, just in case anyone is interested. The 1st M.C. tank battalion used M4A1's on New Britain they show a spray of camouflage on the vehicles. I've seen it described as a brown over O.D. or black over O.D. I used to correspond with Dave Harper. His father was a radio operator in an M4A1 there. I asked him what color was sprayed on the Sherman's he told me it was black over the O.D. not brown, or green or any other color. So this came from someone who's father was actually in one of those tanks.
The Tamiya Easy 8 is one of my favorite model kits of any kind. Perfectly engineered and builds and displays flawlessly. Plus the commander figure included is on par with resin aftermarket figures. Only drawback is the quite limited decal options, but aftermarket decals are easy enough to obtain
The Tamiya 1/48 Sherman line are fun easy builds that take up less space. You can make nice small dioramas using the little oval wooden plaques from hobby stores.
Hi Hank, great video, thanks. Just to let you know that the capital 'I' used for British Shermans is the Roman numeral 1. We had Sherman Marks I to VII. A, B and C after the number denoted modified gun types (A-76mm, B-105mm, C-17pdr ) and Y was added for HVSS.
Thx for the 'world of your tanks' :) I just finished a Tamiya 1:35 M4A1, now working the M18 Hellcat...such a beauty so far! I've learned so much from your channel and vids, and it's brought my modeling up so much, you make everything so easy to follow and understand ...:) always a joy to sit down and see what you bring out next!
Shermans? Fantastic! My first Sherman kit was a 1/76 Airfix "Sherman Charger" 1965 ( I guess you're not even born yet that time) after all those years I still have one unbuilt at present..for old time sake. I have Tamiyas, Italieris but I lean on more on Dragon kits specially the composite and the Tarawa M4s. At this moment I'm building a Tamiyas M4 early production. Thank you!! Always following your postings. Cheers!
Great video and a very nice collection of Shermans! The Asuka Shermans are totally awesome! Also you might want to consider the Meng M4A3 76 and their version of the Sherman Jumbo. Both excellent kits, and very well detailed. I've also built the Dragon M4A1 76. Very nice kit. Have about 25 Sherman kits in my stash. Just finished another Asuka Sherman M4A1, I picked up at a hobby shop's bargain bin, for $10. It needed rescuing, and came out pretty nice, despite missing a few parts.
In that time.e... for such a long time, you could only get (in 1/35th) the Italeri M4A1 ir the Tamiya M4A3, both late variants with the angled hull hatches. Incredible to think of it, with literally dozens of great Shermans available today.
Just bought a (hopefully) great book from Dennis Oliver on Sherman tanks in ww2 between 44 and 45, with apparently some model info in it as well…i am preparing the rekindle of my hobby ! Thanks Hank for making me enthusiastic again!
Great video Hank! And as Shermanolic myself this topic makes me so happy to see. Hopefully it will inspire more modelers to give a go at diving down the Sherman rabbit hole a try lol
Gotta love the Sherman! I first got into scale modeling after learning more about the ships I was playing in world of warships. That being said, I still don’t have any nautical models, but my first tank (and third model) was the Tamiya easy eight, as per your recommendation
Pretty good review if you're a 1:35 modeler. There are other scales which offer good model kits for the Sherman. As an avid 1:48 scale modeler, options are limited to pretty much Tamiya and the long gone Bandai. In my case I use my models in tabletop wargaming for WWII. You should have a layout with your models and play out a Tank game of sorts. If interested, I can enlighten you on a easy and very fun tanker game.
Good choice, I have built 5 of the 1/16 Tamiya kits and have a box of spare parts for a number of Sherman variants I hope to build. Have fun and I hope you don't get hooked like I did.
That was cool. I havent brought myself to build a Sherman yet as my great uncle served in one (according to my family) during WW2. I know he was a gunner in the Royal Irish from late '44 but havent confirmed what tank/mark he used. Want to recreate his tank! His was blown up but thankfully he survived and lived until 2007.
Just discovered your channel, great little video. You should have at least mentioned the Andy's Hobby 1/16th E8, it's a great kit. The RFM full interior E8 is also amazing, as is there Vc Firefly. The Marines actually used M4A2, M4A1s, and M4A3s late int he war. The M4A1 was only used when the Marines went into Cape Gloucester on New Britain. The Cape Gloucester campaign was not exactly tank friendly. The tanks had to have log roads built to the front lines, the whole area was a malarial swamp. In some cases there was no place on land for the tanks, so in at least one case, and M4A1 rode around in an LCT, and bombarded the shore with its 75mm gun. The Marines only tank preference was no M4A4 versions, because being Marines, they objected to the most reliable motor, and took what the Army had to offer. Early war, wth the exception of the one use of the M4A1, it was M4A2s they got. Later, when the 75mm armed M4A2s went out of production, they switched to M4A3 75 W tanks. One final note, the M4A3E2 Jumbo was not un-reliable. It was regeared to deal with the extra weight, and was a little slower because of this. The main problem they ran into was the volute springs wearing out faster. Replacing the springs was a hard dirty job, but nothing compared to say, replacing the torsion bars in the Panther, and the Panther broke the front two torsion bars. It was less reliable by US Army standards, meaning it would still be more reliable than any German tank produced during the war. Thanks JeepsGunsTanks The Sherman tank site. www.theshermantank.com
Hi Hank Very interesting video mate. I’m currently in the process of building 13 1/35 Sherman kits for Normandy and late war dioramas. I reckon I’ve got a serious case of PTSD (Post traumatic SHERMAN disorder) but I love them to pieces! The best detailed kit I’ve done to date is definitely RFM’s 5058 HVSS M4A3 76W. Way less clean up than ASUKA kits. I want to do the MENG M4A3E2 Jumbo which will probably be the last on my list though.❤😊
Hey, thanks for that one! I've been wanting to build the pacific marines sherman and came across this Italeri kit today. I wasn't sure what to make of it since my last Italeri experience back in early 2000s was really amateurish. Having seen this kit in your list I've reached out to my local model shop in Dundee and I'm prepping the materials to get going with this one. Thanks you!
Awesome! I'm really glad to hear it! I have a video on painting US Marine Corps Tankers (mind you, it's an old one), but it's available if you want to check it out
Almost finished working on the Asuka firefly Ic myself, it's a great kit and the engineering is very good but I found the plastic to be harder and more brittle than most other manufacturers so it can be hard to clean up the smaller parts without having them snap on you and either leaving you with fiddly repair jobs or scratch building because the original pinged off into void never to be seen again
Hey Hank! Thanks for all the helpful insight. I've been wanting to open my horizons a little bit and expanding from 1/72 scale to some of these larger scale models. However, for me on I prefer shopping on amazon, so there's not a ton of asuka kits. However I did end up finding the M4a1 Late for a decent price (my budget is under $38), but I have some other competition that I wanted to ask you about. The first one is the tamiya m4a3 with some extra winter gear infantry ($36). For me I like this one because I can get some practice painting figures and I think thats a decent price. Second is the tamiya m4a3, but with the 105mm. This one is basically the same, but with obviously the 105mm howitzer and some of the figures wearing m1943 uniforms. Third is the Asuka M4A1 ($37) late production, which according to you is a great kit, but I would prefer some infantry to help my painting skills. Last is the tamiya M4 early production. This one doesn't have any infantry but is the cheapest; coming in around at $30. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
I made my first Sherman last year, the Tamiya Easy Eight. Before that it has always been Panthers, Tigers, MK IVs, (oh my!) halftracks and the occasional soviet vehicle. What a joy the Tamiya kit was, and you are right, the engineering lets you run wild on other aspects of modeling like dioramas.
FYI look up the Australian designed Sentinel and the dates they trialled fitting 17pdrs to the turret. Big tip it pre dated the British attempts on Shermans . Guess where they got the idea from ? Mind blown hey?
Asuka: oh yeah! but not 3 times so let's go for the jumbo or the 76 RFM: for the interior kit! You cannot get a top 5 without an interior kit in it! Dragon: one kit among their multitude Meng: one kit, the 76 or the jumbo depending on the asuka you've chosen and finally... .. You have to get the ultimate 1:16 Easy Eight by our friend Andy! Only then you can call it a top five 😂
Thank you for the great video. I want to start building Sherman’s, but,,, build them in order of there production time line. The “Oska” will be may first kit I pick up.
OK, I finally finished building the Italeri M4A2 from the Pacific theatre. I have a few thoughts about that kit. First, I like the subject matter. The wood on the sides, the wading stacks. I even put an "easter egg" Thomson, that can with the kit, on hull just for fun even though the instructions said that's not to be used. The painting was also good. I cheated a bit and used German camo colors instead of the usual olive drabs 😀 In my defense I am color blind and my fiancée said that the "reseda green" and "dunkelgelb" from ammo mig look good together as per instructions. So no money spent there! Unfortunately the kit is not great in its quality. Not sure what happened but the plastic pieces just wouldn't stick together with Tamiya's extra thin cement. It eventually did but, boy, did I spent a lot of time just holding bits together hoping that they won't fall apart. Superglue had to come to the rescue on a few occasions. The tracks were the worst. Even Locktite epoxy took ages to get them to hold. I eventually managed to get everything together I won't be coming back to Italeri for another kit anytime soon. I've had some good experience with Tamiya, Airfix and Trumpeter so far as for sheer building. BTW, I've always pronunced the company name Italeri as "Eat-a-larry" (like the country Italy!). You, sir, must be the first person to say "Ay-ta-larry" 🤭 Anyway, kudos for the recommendation and as always looking forward to more content!
Having built almost every Sherman kit, I like the Tasca/Asuka Models kits. They get top marks for Accuracy and Quality, my favorites are the Sherman MkVc Firefly, which was the first really accurate kit to appear in this scale. The Sherman Hybrid MkIc Firely and M4A3E8 are also to look out for. In general their kits are much superior to their main competitor Dragon, some kits having issues, in many years and several new issues they still have not got the Sherman MkV correct.
I would add the ancient, very affordable and still excellent to this day Testors/Italeri M4A1 76mm Sherman. Maybe it's your lighting, but you might need to tone down your cast texturing on the turrets. Seems just a little heavy for 1/35 scale. Cheers, and keep those A-SOO-ka kits coming. 😙
Last Christmas I got laptop and Revell’s WoT Tiger 2. It included some bonus codes too. Then I installed WoT to my computer and started playing. I started to like tanks more and more so I bought another model. Now I have built ~10 tank and aircraft kits and more are coming 😊
Good morning, Hank... question for you, I have not had any success when using acrylic varnish and then start to weather my models with enamel thinner and oils... I really like using Tamiya line of clear(s) but I think there is a bad reaction doing this, suggestions, please
If you have the room for 1/16 scale, Andy's Hobby Headquarters M4A3E8 Sherman "Easy Eight" is absolutely a must have. There is a matching 4x4 utility truck by Takom. Great for a that large scale diorama.
I think that may be my next kit. I just finished the Ryefield M4A3E8 kit with full interior. That was a challenge with all the small parts. Kinda looking forward to working with the larger scale.
Hey, nice format for a video series-best 5 kits. I’d like to see your reviews and recommendations on the best 5 kits of various iconic tanks and vehicles ( and also not-so iconic).
The best ever 1:76 scale Sherman kit is the Fujimi Sherman, which has ALL the internal detail (engine, turret basket, ready rack, floor ammo stowage boxes, driver's controls, gun breech, etc.). plus optional turret applicae armour patches. This is all in 1:76 scale!!
I sure wish you included the M51 Super Sherman, kind of makes the 76 mm gun look tiny. Also I just found the Asuka Sherman recovery vehicle. But,,, be careful, this is soooo detailed and can be very delicate because of its complexity, But the build looks amazing. Only down side they are a little pricey.
The British Firefly got it name for 2 reasons, depends on who you ask. 1: the breech allowed a bright flash when fired, that tended to kill your night vision. So everyone got in the habit of closing their eyes when they shot. The Firefly also had a very bright muzzle flash. This tends to draw return fire more quickly. Apparently you like World of Tanks a little bit. I don't game,but the guy who does World of Tanks used the M5A1 from my reenacting group: 14 Armored Recreations. I never saw the video,but I can tell you that we killed a lot of hostile watermelons that day.
Looking for a M4A1 Sherman in 1st Armored Division, 1st Armored Regiment, 2nd Battalion at the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid / Kasserine Pass in Feb 1943 (Great Uncle survived as a POW). Appears only choice is between the Asuka #35-025Y or Dragon #6618 but can’t find either anywhere. Any suggested or recommended alternatives?
I've been building the RFM M4A3E8. Apart from buying some extra stowage and figures, it's pretty much finished. Overall, I really enjoyed the kit. I will add that building the individual track links probably isn't for everyone. It took me nearly three weeks for both sets of tracks, and by the end of each session, I invariably had a stress headache. There's also a lot of tiny photo-etch and plastic parts. My carpet monster was well fed, shall we say. The finished Sherman looks sweet, so it was worth the blood sweat and cursing I went through. Overall, I think it took me around 3.5 months. Long gone are the days when a Tamiya AFV would take me 6-7 evenings. 😊❤😊
i have just completed step 8 on the 1/48 tamiya easy eight. So far i have had 2 issues. Step3 C5 is weak and broke and i had to redrill hole and cut some sprue to shape a new glue post. Step8 the bogies would not hold even after letting it sit for 5 hours they just fell off, i had to superglue them. 🤨
‘Oscar’ ( pronounced A-Soo-Ka )Sherman kits are absolutely amazing! The m4a1 that Eduard reboxed is a peach.. Dragons mk3 and Tarawa kits are really nice as well Still like the tammy easy8 best though 😎
Thanks for this good presentation,there are so many variants of Sherman tanks but the ones you showed are my favourites also. I think Ryefield models have some great variants too.I have ordered a firefly from them .
The Airfix kit is actually a rebox of the old 2004 Academy kit, and along with the Italeri ‘Fury’ kit is one of the most inaccurate Shermans on the market . Buyers would be much better off with the Meng 76w offering
Hey Hank, thanks for the video. Like you my interest in model making was rekindled by playing another tank combat game war thunder. Always nice to see digital versions of aircraft & tanks you’ve built yourself :D
for the easy eight i would recomend the tamiya m4a3e8 korean war because the tracks are a lot nicer and more interesting. it also comes with a whole gaz truck lol. otherwise they are esentialy the same
That was an interesting bit of information on the Pacific Theater Sherman. I did not know a model for that theater is hard to find. I was planning on building a Sherman to go on the shelf next to my LST. Glad to seen this video before I did. My area of interest is the US Navy during the Pacific theater. And I build more model's of Ships, and aircraft from the Navy during that time. which would be cool to see you build a few of both of these. Also have you ever played World of War Ships? I think you would enjoy it also.
@@SpruesNBrews Thank you for teaching me there was a difference in how the Sherman's looked between the two theaters before I had the wrong version sitting with my Pacific version LST....... Currently right now I am building a 1/72 Hellcat, and a 1/72 Pby 5 A Catalina both the Pacific theater version. Would love to see you build one of these and how you would paint them.
I know it's not a specific Sherman model but I really like them fitted with the multiple rocket launchers, sometimes called the calliope. I built one of those a few years ago and it was a lot of fun to research and upgrade a bit. Too bad the code only works for new players in WOT.
@@LyleHatch Yes it was. I can't tell you how much fun I had building that one up. I even found a wiring diagram for the rockets and added them. If you ever feel that you have about 15 minutes of your life that you won't get back I did a video on it. Look for the one titled "Another Sherman" and let me know what you think.
@eclipsehorse8693 No, that was the M41. The M51 was used by Israel in the 67 and 73 wars. It was an upgraded Sherman with a long barreled, high velocity 105 gun. Tamiya, DML, and Academy all make kits of it.
Another cool video. Did you ever use any PE parts on your tanks or planning to do so some time in the future? What do you think about it? The details sure are great (tho not always), but worth the pain in the ass in your opinion?
Got the Tamiya M4A3E(, built, got the Asuka M4A1 in my stash, got the Asuka Jumbo Sherman built, I did it as Cobra King in dec 44, got the Asuka IC Hybrid Firefly built, need a Marinea Sherman!. Tamiya new Shermans line the Easy Eight and the M51 are fine kits, like simplified Asukas. Asuka es the current gold standard in Sherman Kits. Got two built and building a M4A4 Firefly V. I want to try a RFM Sherman but they do not have variant I want. Only Firefly Vs and Easy Eights.
Current Shermans in my display.... 1. Sherman III, Italy..Dragon. 2. Sherman Firefly VC. Asuka. 3 Sherman IC Dragon. 4 Sherman IC Hybrid. Asuka. 5 Sherman M4A3E8, with aplique armor, Dragon. 6 Sherman M4A4E2 Jumbo, Asuka. 7 Sherman M4A3E8 Tamiya, 8. Sherman M51 Tamiya. On stash....1 Sherman II Dragon. 2 two M4A1,75mm Asuka. 2 M4A3 76mm Asuka. I late turret VC Tasca. Wish list..a operation Cobra era M4A1 76mm, a 105 HW Sherman, a USMC Sherman.
My very first kit was a snap together Sherman Calliope (T34) when I was 6 or 7 in the mid-70s. I have no idea who the kit manufacturer was, but it was definitely my gateway drug to scale model building. 🤣🤣 Makes me sad to think that it ended up in some landfill sadly.
Ryefield tooling is superior to Asuka,although it is extremely short on variants.Their Panther G tooling w/interior is a milestone in detail,fit and accuracy.This carries over to their firefly kit.Detail tight,options for different suspension casing,wheels all with cast marks inc,mantle,glacis,turret…..and I’m a dragon fanboy.
genek8630 is right - squadron books are wonderful reference works with great information, photos, & illustrations. I relied on their M3 Stuart book heavily when building my series of M3 light tank variants. Anyway... this video made me curious & I checked my stash to see what I have by way of Sherman kits. I've got 2 Tamiya M4A3 kits (& a partial one for spare parts), Tamiya kits for a M4 Early Prod, a Jumbo, a M4A3 105, a Testors/Italeri M4A1 76, a DLM M4A3 76, even an old Minicraft M4 Early Prod, plus an MP Authen-I-Kit M4/M4A3 conversion kit. While your description of the Oskar (? spelling) kit was intriguing I'm afraid I'll have to get thru these kits before I buy another Sherman. On top of that, thanks to your videos I've Legend's full sandbag armor set, a Value Gear glacis plate sandbag set, a Panzer Art bustle stowage rack, and Value Gear stowage kits AC2, #16, 12, & 8, plus Legend's M4A1 stowage set. Anyway, I'm following the advice in your 'saving money' video and holding off getting any new Sherman kits, even though I love this iconic vehicle as much as you do. Thanks for the advice
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just to be massively pedantic - it's 'One' C, not 'Eye' C. British Shermans were designated as numbers, Sherman One, Two, Three, etc - only written in Roman numerals to confuse modellers in years to come.
The Marine Corp, 4th and 5th tank battalions used M4A3's on Iwo Jima, and the 6th Marine tank battalion used them on Okinawa. I can highly recommend a book from Squadron Signal, 6096 (if you can find it) "Tank Warfare on Iwo Jima" by David Harper. There are several after action reports from all three tank battalions used on Iwo describing modifications used on these tanks, just an example the 5th tank battalion sprayed sand on the wet paint that was over the corrugated tin that was placed over 1 inch plywood sheets on the side of some tanks. Although most just had wood planks on the side. Oh, just in case anyone is interested. The 1st M.C. tank battalion used M4A1's on New Britain they show a spray of camouflage on the vehicles. I've seen it described as a brown over O.D. or black over O.D. I used to correspond with Dave Harper. His father was a radio operator in an M4A1 there. I asked him what color was sprayed on the Sherman's he told me it was black over the O.D. not brown, or green or any other color. So this came from someone who's father was actually in one of those tanks.
The RFM Firefly is also a very solid choice to build
The Tamiya Easy 8 is one of my favorite model kits of any kind. Perfectly engineered and builds and displays flawlessly. Plus the commander figure included is on par with resin aftermarket figures. Only drawback is the quite limited decal options, but aftermarket decals are easy enough to obtain
The Tamiya 1/48 Sherman line are fun easy builds that take up less space. You can make nice small dioramas using the little oval wooden plaques from hobby stores.
For sure!
Don’t forget Andy’s Hobby’s 1/16 scale Easy 8. Amazing kit!
That's a cool one.
Hi Hank, great video, thanks. Just to let you know that the capital 'I' used for British Shermans is the Roman numeral 1. We had Sherman Marks I to VII. A, B and C after the number denoted modified gun types (A-76mm, B-105mm, C-17pdr ) and Y was added for HVSS.
True but the Mk VI never existed and the VII was never utilized by the U.K. nor did they ever receive any.
I was just building up Tamiya M4A3 105 kit when this was uploaded! Very good timing
Thx for the 'world of your tanks' :) I just finished a Tamiya 1:35 M4A1, now working the M18 Hellcat...such a beauty so far! I've learned so much from your channel and vids, and it's brought my modeling up so much, you make everything so easy to follow and understand ...:)
always a joy to sit down and see what you bring out next!
Can never get enough Shermans!! keep coming back to this video, gotta be my of my favourites great work Hank!! 🙌👏👌
Shermans? Fantastic! My first Sherman kit was a 1/76 Airfix "Sherman Charger" 1965 ( I guess you're not even born yet that time) after all those years I still have one unbuilt at present..for old time sake.
I have Tamiyas, Italieris but I lean on more on Dragon kits specially the composite and the Tarawa M4s. At this moment I'm building a Tamiyas M4 early production.
Thank you!! Always following your postings.
Cheers!
Great video and a very nice collection of Shermans!
The Asuka Shermans are totally awesome!
Also you might want to consider the Meng M4A3 76 and their version of the Sherman Jumbo. Both excellent kits, and very well detailed.
I've also built the Dragon M4A1 76. Very nice kit.
Have about 25 Sherman kits in my stash. Just finished another Asuka Sherman M4A1, I picked up at a hobby shop's bargain bin, for $10. It needed rescuing, and came out pretty nice, despite missing a few parts.
My first 1/35 scale tank was the Italeri kit from over 40 years ago. I believe this was an M4 A1 variant.
Very nice!
In that time.e... for such a long time, you could only get (in 1/35th) the Italeri M4A1 ir the Tamiya M4A3, both late variants with the angled hull hatches.
Incredible to think of it, with literally dozens of great Shermans available today.
Thanks. I have been waiting for a video like this!
Fantastic - glad to hear it! Thanks for watching 👍
Just bought a (hopefully) great book from Dennis Oliver on Sherman tanks in ww2 between 44 and 45, with apparently some model info in it as well…i am preparing the rekindle of my hobby ! Thanks Hank for making me enthusiastic again!
I am in the process of building my first sherman and it’s the M4A2 Leclerc division in 1/72 and I love this tank.
Great video Hank! And as Shermanolic myself this topic makes me so happy to see. Hopefully it will inspire more modelers to give a go at diving down the Sherman rabbit hole a try lol
Thanks, man! I hope so! Appreciate it 🍻
Gotta love the Sherman! I first got into scale modeling after learning more about the ships I was playing in world of warships. That being said, I still don’t have any nautical models, but my first tank (and third model) was the Tamiya easy eight, as per your recommendation
Pretty good review if you're a 1:35 modeler. There are other scales which offer good model kits for the Sherman. As an avid 1:48 scale modeler, options are limited to pretty much Tamiya and the long gone Bandai. In my case I use my models in tabletop wargaming for WWII. You should have a layout with your models and play out a Tank game of sorts. If interested, I can enlighten you on a easy and very fun tanker game.
I like your videos and I just got back into modeling myself, I have two 1/16 scale Shermans waiting to be built.
Thanks! And oooo, the big boys! Enjoy, sounds fun 👍
Good choice, I have built 5 of the 1/16 Tamiya kits and have a box of spare parts for a number of Sherman variants I hope to build. Have fun and I hope you don't get hooked like I did.
That was cool. I havent brought myself to build a Sherman yet as my great uncle served in one (according to my family) during WW2. I know he was a gunner in the Royal Irish from late '44 but havent confirmed what tank/mark he used. Want to recreate his tank! His was blown up but thankfully he survived and lived until 2007.
Looking to build a M4A1 soon. I like the cast, rounded features of the hull and turret; old school version.
Nice!
RFM Shermans are the best that you can find in the market nowdays in 1/35 scale.
Just discovered your channel, great little video. You should have at least mentioned the Andy's Hobby 1/16th E8, it's a great kit. The RFM full interior E8 is also amazing, as is there Vc Firefly.
The Marines actually used M4A2, M4A1s, and M4A3s late int he war. The M4A1 was only used when the Marines went into Cape Gloucester on New Britain. The Cape Gloucester campaign was not exactly tank friendly. The tanks had to have log roads built to the front lines, the whole area was a malarial swamp. In some cases there was no place on land for the tanks, so in at least one case, and M4A1 rode around in an LCT, and bombarded the shore with its 75mm gun.
The Marines only tank preference was no M4A4 versions, because being Marines, they objected to the most reliable motor, and took what the Army had to offer. Early war, wth the exception of the one use of the M4A1, it was M4A2s they got. Later, when the 75mm armed M4A2s went out of production, they switched to M4A3 75 W tanks.
One final note, the M4A3E2 Jumbo was not un-reliable. It was regeared to deal with the extra weight, and was a little slower because of this. The main problem they ran into was the volute springs wearing out faster. Replacing the springs was a hard dirty job, but nothing compared to say, replacing the torsion bars in the Panther, and the Panther broke the front two torsion bars. It was less reliable by US Army standards, meaning it would still be more reliable than any German tank produced during the war.
Thanks
JeepsGunsTanks
The Sherman tank site.
www.theshermantank.com
Hi Hank
Very interesting video mate.
I’m currently in the process of building 13 1/35 Sherman kits for Normandy and late war dioramas.
I reckon I’ve got a serious case of PTSD (Post traumatic SHERMAN disorder) but I love them to pieces!
The best detailed kit I’ve done to date is definitely RFM’s 5058 HVSS M4A3 76W.
Way less clean up than ASUKA kits.
I want to do the MENG M4A3E2 Jumbo which will probably be the last on my list though.❤😊
Awesome!! And I've heard very good things about those RFM kits
Hey, thanks for that one! I've been wanting to build the pacific marines sherman and came across this Italeri kit today. I wasn't sure what to make of it since my last Italeri experience back in early 2000s was really amateurish. Having seen this kit in your list I've reached out to my local model shop in Dundee and I'm prepping the materials to get going with this one. Thanks you!
Awesome! I'm really glad to hear it! I have a video on painting US Marine Corps Tankers (mind you, it's an old one), but it's available if you want to check it out
Almost finished working on the Asuka firefly Ic myself, it's a great kit and the engineering is very good but I found the plastic to be harder and more brittle than most other manufacturers so it can be hard to clean up the smaller parts without having them snap on you and either leaving you with fiddly repair jobs or scratch building because the original pinged off into void never to be seen again
Hey Hank! Thanks for all the helpful insight. I've been wanting to open my horizons a little bit and expanding from 1/72 scale to some of these larger scale models. However, for me on I prefer shopping on amazon, so there's not a ton of asuka kits. However I did end up finding the M4a1 Late for a decent price (my budget is under $38), but I have some other competition that I wanted to ask you about. The first one is the tamiya m4a3 with some extra winter gear infantry ($36). For me I like this one because I can get some practice painting figures and I think thats a decent price. Second is the tamiya m4a3, but with the 105mm. This one is basically the same, but with obviously the 105mm howitzer and some of the figures wearing m1943 uniforms. Third is the Asuka M4A1 ($37) late production, which according to you is a great kit, but I would prefer some infantry to help my painting skills. Last is the tamiya M4 early production. This one doesn't have any infantry but is the cheapest; coming in around at $30. Let me know what you think. Thanks!
I've got several Asuka kits as they make numerous variants of the Shermans tanks in 1/35. Just great kits
I made my first Sherman last year, the Tamiya Easy Eight. Before that it has always been Panthers, Tigers, MK IVs, (oh my!) halftracks and the occasional soviet vehicle. What a joy the Tamiya kit was, and you are right, the engineering lets you run wild on other aspects of modeling like dioramas.
Definitely!!
FYI look up the Australian designed Sentinel and the dates they trialled fitting 17pdrs to the turret. Big tip it pre dated the British attempts on Shermans . Guess where they got the idea from ? Mind blown hey?
Asuka: oh yeah! but not 3 times so let's go for the jumbo or the 76
RFM: for the interior kit! You cannot get a top 5 without an interior kit in it!
Dragon: one kit among their multitude
Meng: one kit, the 76 or the jumbo depending on the asuka you've chosen
and finally...
.. You have to get the ultimate 1:16 Easy Eight by our friend Andy!
Only then you can call it a top five 😂
Thank you for the great video. I want to start building Sherman’s, but,,, build them in order of there production time line.
The “Oska” will be may first kit I pick up.
Just got the Asuka Jumbo kit after hearing about your recommendation for the Asuka builds. It looks like a solid build!
Tie with the Jumbo and E8. Both are super kits
OK, I finally finished building the Italeri M4A2 from the Pacific theatre. I have a few thoughts about that kit. First, I like the subject matter. The wood on the sides, the wading stacks. I even put an "easter egg" Thomson, that can with the kit, on hull just for fun even though the instructions said that's not to be used. The painting was also good. I cheated a bit and used German camo colors instead of the usual olive drabs 😀 In my defense I am color blind and my fiancée said that the "reseda green" and "dunkelgelb" from ammo mig look good together as per instructions. So no money spent there! Unfortunately the kit is not great in its quality. Not sure what happened but the plastic pieces just wouldn't stick together with Tamiya's extra thin cement. It eventually did but, boy, did I spent a lot of time just holding bits together hoping that they won't fall apart. Superglue had to come to the rescue on a few occasions. The tracks were the worst. Even Locktite epoxy took ages to get them to hold. I eventually managed to get everything together I won't be coming back to Italeri for another kit anytime soon. I've had some good experience with Tamiya, Airfix and Trumpeter so far as for sheer building. BTW, I've always pronunced the company name Italeri as "Eat-a-larry" (like the country Italy!). You, sir, must be the first person to say "Ay-ta-larry" 🤭 Anyway, kudos for the recommendation and as always looking forward to more content!
I am the same about world of tank rekindling my love of making scale models and it did have that effect but I think it's cooling down now.
I built this one last year, great looking model.
I have the Zvezda kit mid-build. My working space was co-opted in my tiny apartment by life. When I get the space cleared I will be back at it.
Having built almost every Sherman kit, I like the Tasca/Asuka Models kits. They get top marks for Accuracy and Quality, my favorites are the Sherman MkVc Firefly, which was the first really accurate kit to appear in this scale. The Sherman Hybrid MkIc Firely and M4A3E8 are also to look out for. In general their kits are much superior to their main competitor Dragon, some kits having issues, in many years and several new issues they still have not got the Sherman MkV correct.
I would add the ancient, very affordable and still excellent to this day Testors/Italeri M4A1 76mm Sherman. Maybe it's your lighting, but you might need to tone down your cast texturing on the turrets. Seems just a little heavy for 1/35 scale. Cheers, and keep those A-SOO-ka kits coming. 😙
I just got an M4A3E2, I don’t want to use the rubber tracks though, so I’m looking for T54E1 tracks
Last Christmas I got laptop and Revell’s WoT Tiger 2. It included some bonus codes too. Then I installed WoT to my computer and started playing. I started to like tanks more and more so I bought another model. Now I have built ~10 tank and aircraft kits and more are coming 😊
Awesome!! That's great!
Que legal! Estou pesquisando sobre os Super Sherman da IDF. Montarei um M50 em breve.
Good morning, Hank... question for you, I have not had any success when using acrylic varnish and then start to weather my models with enamel thinner and oils... I really like using Tamiya line of clear(s) but I think there is a bad reaction doing this, suggestions, please
How is the Alteration 1 version the "first to hit the battle field?" M4?
If you have the room for 1/16 scale, Andy's Hobby Headquarters M4A3E8 Sherman "Easy Eight" is absolutely a must have. There is a matching 4x4 utility truck by Takom. Great for a that large scale diorama.
I think that may be my next kit. I just finished the Ryefield M4A3E8 kit with full interior. That was a challenge with all the small parts. Kinda looking forward to working with the larger scale.
Great video. You can never build enough Sherman’s!
Hey, nice format for a video series-best 5 kits. I’d like to see your reviews and recommendations on the best 5 kits of various iconic tanks and vehicles ( and also not-so iconic).
The best ever 1:76 scale Sherman kit is the Fujimi Sherman, which has ALL the internal detail (engine, turret basket, ready rack, floor ammo stowage boxes, driver's controls, gun breech, etc.). plus optional turret applicae armour patches. This is all in 1:76 scale!!
Dragon kits have some rare and quick or complex build of shermans too
I sure wish you included the M51 Super Sherman, kind of makes the 76 mm gun look tiny. Also I just found the Asuka Sherman recovery vehicle. But,,, be careful, this is soooo detailed and can be very delicate because of its complexity, But the build looks amazing. Only down side they are a little pricey.
17 Pounder was a New Zealand an Aussie Engineering effort to buil our own tank. The plans where shipped to England and hey presto..FYI
Where and how do you get your Alpine/AKI/Ammo Mig products?
The British Firefly got it name for 2 reasons, depends on who you ask. 1: the breech allowed a bright flash when fired, that tended to kill your night vision. So everyone got in the habit of closing their eyes when they shot. The Firefly also had a very bright muzzle flash. This tends to draw return fire more quickly.
Apparently you like World of Tanks a little bit. I don't game,but the guy who does World of Tanks used the M5A1 from my reenacting group: 14 Armored Recreations. I never saw the video,but I can tell you that we killed a lot of hostile watermelons that day.
Made models as a kid. No real desire to get back into it until i found this channel. Gonna pick something up whenevs i get a chance.
Wonderful!! I'm so glad to hear - thank you!!
Looking for a M4A1 Sherman in 1st Armored Division, 1st Armored Regiment, 2nd Battalion at the Battle of Sidi Bou Zid / Kasserine Pass in Feb 1943 (Great Uncle survived as a POW). Appears only choice is between the Asuka #35-025Y or Dragon #6618 but can’t find either anywhere. Any suggested or recommended alternatives?
I've been building the RFM M4A3E8. Apart from buying some extra stowage and figures, it's pretty much finished. Overall, I really enjoyed the kit. I will add that building the individual track links probably isn't for everyone. It took me nearly three weeks for both sets of tracks, and by the end of each session, I invariably had a stress headache. There's also a lot of tiny photo-etch and plastic parts. My carpet monster was well fed, shall we say. The finished Sherman looks sweet, so it was worth the blood sweat and cursing I went through. Overall, I think it took me around 3.5 months. Long gone are the days when a Tamiya AFV would take me 6-7 evenings. 😊❤😊
Put a Beach Towel Over lap . If you have to duct tape the towel to your bench
i have just completed step 8 on the 1/48 tamiya easy eight. So far i have had 2 issues. Step3 C5 is weak and broke and i had to redrill hole and cut some sprue to shape a new glue post. Step8 the bogies would not hold even after letting it sit for 5 hours they just fell off, i had to superglue them. 🤨
I am currently building the Ryefield with full interior. It is the most detailed model that I have ever built!
Looks like you have a collection of research information. Do you recommend any good history or refence books for the Sherman?
Thanks
Awesome!!! Thanks for the video! I never really heard of Asuka I'm gonna order the Firefly!
Awesome! I think you'll like it - enjoy!
Cool vid. First model I ever built was a Sherman I think from Revel
Very nice! And thank you 👍
That's a sweet looking Firefly!
Could you drop all the third party bits and how you made your easy 8 sherman pleasE?
‘Oscar’ ( pronounced A-Soo-Ka )Sherman kits are absolutely amazing!
The m4a1 that Eduard reboxed is a peach..
Dragons mk3 and Tarawa kits are really nice as well
Still like the tammy easy8 best though 😎
Thanks for this good presentation,there are so many variants of Sherman tanks but the ones you showed are my favourites also. I think Ryefield models have some great variants too.I have ordered a firefly from them .
Thanks for watching!!
Which firefly kit did you use?
You should take a look at the Rye Field 1/35 Sherman Firefly VC.
But what if I a’m not an armorer modler? But a’n airplane guy? Should I built them to?
Just built the Andy's hobbyheadquarters Sherman ez8 very nice kit
Good video! Airfix’s M4A3(76) with the 761st camo scheme is another good Sherman kit
The Airfix kit is actually a rebox of the old 2004 Academy kit, and along with the Italeri ‘Fury’ kit is one of the most inaccurate Shermans on the market .
Buyers would be much better off with the Meng 76w offering
Hey Hank, thanks for the video. Like you my interest in model making was rekindled by playing another tank combat game war thunder. Always nice to see digital versions of aircraft & tanks you’ve built yourself :D
Definitely! Thanks for watching!
what accessory kit would you recommend to someone wanting to replicate the Fury tank? Thx
Check out Value Gear - they've got some great resin accessory kits!
I think the DML 1/35 Soviet M4A2 76mm is the best. Used diesel instead of high octane.
Soviet Lend Lease M4A2 with 76mm and upgraded turret. Also, US M4A1 76mm w/ upgraded turret for Operation Cobra breakout from Normandy Coast.
Hey Hank really interesting video, great knowledge, cheers Liam
Have built all Jumbo on the market, have to say Meng’s one is probably the most recommended if anyone wants to build a Jumbo
I know you like Shermans so try the italerie M4A3E8 FURY kit
for the easy eight i would recomend the tamiya m4a3e8 korean war because the tracks are a lot nicer and more interesting. it also comes with a whole gaz truck lol. otherwise they are esentialy the same
That was an interesting bit of information on the Pacific Theater Sherman. I did not know a model for that theater is hard to find. I was planning on building a Sherman to go on the shelf next to my LST. Glad to seen this video before I did. My area of interest is the US Navy during the Pacific theater. And I build more model's of Ships, and aircraft from the Navy during that time. which would be cool to see you build a few of both of these. Also have you ever played World of War Ships? I think you would enjoy it also.
Thanks! And I have played World of War Ships - fun game!
@@SpruesNBrews
Thank you for teaching me there was a difference in how the Sherman's looked between the two theaters before I had the wrong version sitting with my Pacific version LST.......
Currently right now I am building a 1/72 Hellcat, and a 1/72 Pby 5 A Catalina both the Pacific theater version. Would love to see you build one of these and how you would paint them.
What about 1/72 kits?
Cheers Hank great video
Cool as always.
Great video Hank, very interesting topic of different styles of the Sherman, got a question, what about doing a half- track America WW-II
Thank you! And that would be fun!
@@SpruesNBrews I've been trying to find one in 35th scale so I can do a German and American diorama
I know it's not a specific Sherman model but I really like them fitted with the multiple rocket launchers, sometimes called the calliope. I built one of those a few years ago and it was a lot of fun to research and upgrade a bit. Too bad the code only works for new players in WOT.
Was the calliope version a 1:32 Monogram kit? I remember that one well!
@@LyleHatch Yes it was. I can't tell you how much fun I had building that one up. I even found a wiring diagram for the rockets and added them. If you ever feel that you have about 15 minutes of your life that you won't get back I did a video on it. Look for the one titled "Another Sherman" and let me know what you think.
Man, you need a M51 in there. That long 105 with a big baffle at the end takes the Sherman to a whole new beast level.
was this the Walker Bulldog? i think I built the Tamiya 1:35 scale kit...
@eclipsehorse8693 No, that was the M41. The M51 was used by Israel in the 67 and 73 wars. It was an upgraded Sherman with a long barreled, high velocity 105 gun. Tamiya, DML, and Academy all make kits of it.
@@troypetty8737 Tamiya is the best one for a 1967 build.
Great content as always!
Thank you!
Nice. Do Panthers next!
I'd like to!
Be great to see a dd sherman on the market
I agree!
Another cool video. Did you ever use any PE parts on your tanks or planning to do so some time in the future? What do you think about it? The details sure are great (tho not always), but worth the pain in the ass in your opinion?
Got the Tamiya M4A3E(, built, got the Asuka M4A1 in my stash, got the Asuka Jumbo Sherman built, I did it as Cobra King in dec 44, got the Asuka IC Hybrid Firefly built, need a Marinea Sherman!. Tamiya new Shermans line the Easy Eight and the M51 are fine kits, like simplified Asukas. Asuka es the current gold standard in Sherman Kits. Got two built and building a M4A4 Firefly V. I want to try a RFM Sherman but they do not have variant I want. Only Firefly Vs and Easy Eights.
Current Shermans in my display.... 1. Sherman III, Italy..Dragon. 2. Sherman Firefly VC. Asuka. 3 Sherman IC Dragon. 4 Sherman IC Hybrid. Asuka. 5 Sherman M4A3E8, with aplique armor, Dragon. 6 Sherman M4A4E2 Jumbo, Asuka. 7 Sherman M4A3E8 Tamiya, 8. Sherman M51 Tamiya. On stash....1 Sherman II Dragon. 2 two M4A1,75mm Asuka. 2 M4A3 76mm Asuka. I late turret VC Tasca. Wish list..a operation Cobra era M4A1 76mm, a 105 HW Sherman, a USMC Sherman.
Great builds
My very first kit was a snap together Sherman Calliope (T34) when I was 6 or 7 in the mid-70s. I have no idea who the kit manufacturer was, but it was definitely my gateway drug to scale model building. 🤣🤣 Makes me sad to think that it ended up in some landfill sadly.
The manufacturer was maybe Monogram.🤔
monogram, I had the same tank, loved it.
I actually went back to model kits after playing WoT Blitz!
There ya go!!
Ryefield tooling is superior to Asuka,although it is extremely short on variants.Their Panther G tooling w/interior is a milestone in detail,fit and accuracy.This carries over to their firefly kit.Detail tight,options for different suspension casing,wheels all with cast marks inc,mantle,glacis,turret…..and I’m a dragon fanboy.
I tought i would not have any tank in this video and the number one was my tank
We still need some katze build from you!
Nice video idea. Maybe do one with 109 kits? You’ve built a few lol
genek8630 is right - squadron books are wonderful reference works with great information, photos, & illustrations. I relied on their M3 Stuart book heavily when building my series of M3 light tank variants.
Anyway... this video made me curious & I checked my stash to see what I have by way of Sherman kits. I've got 2 Tamiya M4A3 kits (& a partial one for spare parts), Tamiya kits for a M4 Early Prod, a Jumbo, a M4A3 105, a Testors/Italeri M4A1 76, a DLM M4A3 76, even an old Minicraft M4 Early Prod, plus an MP Authen-I-Kit M4/M4A3 conversion kit. While your description of the Oskar (? spelling) kit was intriguing I'm afraid I'll have to get thru these kits before I buy another Sherman. On top of that, thanks to your videos I've Legend's full sandbag armor set, a Value Gear glacis plate sandbag set, a Panzer Art bustle stowage rack, and Value Gear stowage kits AC2, #16, 12, & 8, plus Legend's M4A1 stowage set.
Anyway, I'm following the advice in your 'saving money' video and holding off getting any new Sherman kits, even though I love this iconic vehicle as much as you do. Thanks for the advice