Build Review: Academy's 1/35th M4A2 Sherman "U.S. Marines"
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Introduction
In March of 1941, plans are being
drawn up for a new, more compact and curved unit. The Armored Force Board
were offered five different options that were based upon the improvements
that were being developed in current casting technology and the success
of the 37 mm. (1.46 in.) turret of the M3 tank.
The Board selected the simplest option, which involved fitting the newly
improved turret to an also modified M3 hull chassis. The Board approved
the T6 Medium mock up in May 1941, and the pilot model was delivered to
the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland for testing, 1941, September.
Simple beginnings for clearly one of the most important tanks in the U.S.
arsenal history! Throughout WW II the M4A2 quickly evolved from the M4A1,
which were produced from 1942, January, until 1944, late January. This
latest Sherman design had the largest single armor castings produced at
that time, with the early models having twin hull machine guns and direct
vision blocks on the hull front.
The M4A2 Sherman's were powered by a twin inline GMC diesel, but otherwise
were truly identical to the M4A1. The Marines were the only U.S. users
of this tank, but many were sent to the U.K. where they became the Sherman
II. Early production models of the M4A2 were equipped with the 75 mm M3
Gun in the M34 gun mount, and later some models were armed with 76mm guns.
O.K., end of the history lesson, and let's get down to business!
The Kit
Academy Models have followed on from their M4A2 Russian Army kit (#13010),
added a few corrections and new parts, and have come up with this cherry
of the U.S. Marines version. The lower hull, rear hull, and suspension
are from kit # 13010, with the addition of suspension arms with more accurate
contours, as well as four open spoke wheels with the holes blanked over,
as often seen on this vehicle. The main upper hull was reworked by Academy
complete with the proper and correct M4A2 rear plate angle, with well-defined
raised weld seams between the hull and rear panel itself. With the inclusion
of side armor, Appliqué style, and optional wood panel side armor,
the modelist can build an accurate Pacific Marines Sherman…the two
optional wading trunks supplied in the kit have nice weld seam details,
and the upper sections are molded separate from the lowers which allows
you to build the rear wading trunk facing backwards (as often was the
case) to show the Marines' solution to engine overheating, as the forward
facing trunks allowed the warm engine air to be sucked back in and re-circulated
again. Thus resulting in an all-to-hot power train and an immediate problem…very
neat option, I might add.
Detail molding of all the parts in this kit is superb, very clean, with
no flash at all and no warpage on my kit. I can honestly say that I was
extremely excited and anxious to build this kit, not only because of the
first hand quality of the kit, but also because it's from one of my most
favorite era's in wartime history. So let's clear the workbench and get
building!
Construction
The kit's instruction manual is very good, nice clear drawings, with
good text directions. No " gray areas" to worry about. The construction
begins with the lower hull and suspension system, in which you must first
attach both the lower front and rear hull plates to the lower chassis.
All parts fit extremely well, tight with no gaps to fill or trimming required.
Minute detailing on the rear panel includes engine grating, dual mufflers,
a pintle hook latch, and dual clevis tow hooks. Unfortunately, most of
these details are hidden by the bottom scoop of the rear exhaust wading
trunk (if you choose to use them on your build), but nonetheless a very
nice touch and quite accurate.
Next, as per the instructions, we move on to the building of the bogey
mounts and suspension, in which is of the early M4A2 production type with
straight roller arm suspension. I hand painted all of the pieces for this
stage with the parts still on the sprues before trimming. I find this
method much easier than trying to hold the tiny pieces off of the sprue
to paint them. As the accompanying photo of the bogey mounts shows, detail
is very good, complete with casting numbers on the mount faces…a
nice bonus for us accuracy freaks! After removing and trimming all of
the parts, assembly of the mounts went on without a hitch, and soon all
six were complete including a little paint touchups where necessary. 
Before we get too far, let's talk a little about the color scheme a bit.
As per the kit's instruction, predominate color of this piece is Olive
Drab, of course, with a splash of color on the tanks headlights, tools,
periscope lenses and the onboard MG. I chose to use Model Master #FS34087
Olive Drab Enamel as the mainstay, flat of course, and also Model Master
flat enamels and acrylics for the color detail painting. I like Model
Master paints, personally, for I feel that they are a good, easy to use
formulation with accurate color representation throughout the military
line, ease of availability in my area of the world, and also quite economical
as well. I've had good luck with their line, but of course the choice
is up to the individual hobbyist. At this stage of the build I sprayed
two nice, even coats of O.D. ontothe completed lower hull of the M4A2
(minus the bogey's) and set it aside to cure completely.
Next, we begin with the upperhull assembly process, and this is primarily
in one piece, nicely detailed and straight as an arrow, no warpage apparent
at all. There are some really nicely molded and detailed smaller pieces
to add to this assembly, such as separate periscopes for the drivers,
gunners, and loader, brush guards for the front and rear headlight mounts,
hatches with detail both inside and out, and some really cool little fuel
filler caps…also a complete array of tools for roadside repairs!
The upper hull assembly steps consist of mainly attaching these pieces
to their proper locations, (except for the ones that will not be finish
painted OD) onto the one-piece upper hull. No problems here at all…I
took this opportunity to paint all of the tools that I was going to use
on my Sherman, and again I painted the tiny pieces while still on the
sprue (I must admit that my hands are just not as steady as they used
to be!).
Now is a good time to decide on which version (if you haven't already)
of the M4A2 that you are going to represent in your build, because at
this point there are some options to consider. I'm speaking mostly about
the optional side armor pieces on the tank, and as there are five different
versions of M4A2's that you can build with this kit, (quite accurately,
I might add), with the parts and decals offered in this kit. You have
the choice of no additional armor, wooden side armor and steel appliqué
plates, wooden side armor alone, or just the steel plates alone, depending
upon which version that you have chosen to represent. I chose to build
"Doris", which according to my references belonged to the 4th
Marine Tank Battalion, used in 1945, with the amphibious exhaust and intake
extension trunks. On this version, the additional wooden side armor is
needed, so I attached them to the upper hull assembly, and once more,
a perfect fit…off to the paint booth for the top half!
After 2 even coats of Model Master OD, the top hull assembly was set aside
to dry, and next to focus our attention upon the turret construction.
 Turret
construction on this kit goes very quickly, except for the only fit problem
found in the entire build; whence upon you cement the two halves of the
main turret assembly together, (upper casting and lower ring), at the
bottom side rear of the turret assembly you will have 2 areas along the
seam, one in each corner, which need to be filled…a small price to
pay for such a spotless assembly thus far! A little Tamiya putty and some
light sanding and she was looking great! The remaining steps of turret
construction include installation of hatch doors and periscopes, grab
handles, and the MG mount. All fit well with no problems at all. The main
gun will go together easily also, and looks to be quite accurate…may
need to drill the end out a bit deeper though. We'll see what it looks
like later on after painting and finishing, and make that decision then.
As my cement was drying on my turret assembly, I took this opportunity
to add the tank tools to the upper hull assembly. I chose to add the basic
tool selection, although there are many other accessories included in
this kit that you may add to your Sherman, including tow cables, jerry
cans, ammo cans, and tank bags.
After trimming and touching up my tools, I positioned them accordingly
and cemented them in place, along with the front headlight bezels (painted
silver), and the front headlight brush guards over the entire headlight
assemblies. Then I painted up the completed turret with a little OD and
set it aside to cure.
Next, the previously assembled and finished bogey assemblies can be added
to the lower hull, 3 per side, and if you were careful with the gluing
process in the assembly of such, they will float and move independently
when mounted un the tank itself. O.k., time to talk tracks…The tracks
supplied with the kit are the vinyl "rubber band" style one
piece tracks, T 48 rubber block tracks with duckbill end connectors, with
nice details on the end connectors and duckbills themselves. Now, personally
I'm not a big fan of this style of tank tread, I will say that the set
supplied by Academy for this kit does look good, and to keep in harmony
with the built style review, I'm going to use these treads for this Sherman.
Although I would prefer an aftermarket separate link set to achieve a
little more "sag" here and there. The method in which you finish
your tracks is up to you, as there are many, many methods of tank tread
finishing. In this case, I simply gave each track a coat of flat black
acrylic, followed by a burnt umber wash for a little "dirty"
look.
After the wash dried completely, a little dry brushing of flat black on
the rubber blocks, then I scuffed up the blocks a bit with some superfine
sandpaper for a little added wear. Then, a light coat of clear matte spray
to seal the deal…not too bad.
At this stage, I carefully attached the upper hull assembly to the lower
hull assembly, and the fit is perfect. After letting the cement set up
completely, I gave the entire tank and turret assembly a nice even coat
of Future floor wax to prepare for the weathering process. Once again,
modelers choice on this topic, and since there are so many fine details
on this M4A2, I'm going to use one of my most favorite methods to help
these details stand out in the finish. I learned this technique years
ago from a friend of mine who was an avid airplane builder, and have been
using it ever since. He uses this technique to make the fine panel lines
in his war birds more distinct, and I have basically adopted this method
as a mainstay to make a model really come alive.
Basically, the process is a heavy "sludge wash" of acrylic paint,
thinned slightly with water and a little liquid soap added to increase
the flow. This "sludge wash" is applied wherever there are fine
details, allowed to dry completely, and then the excess is removed via
q-tips and patience. You can also utilize small stiff brushes to help
in tight areas. I am planning on writing a detailed article on this technique
with photo's and step-by-step instructions for publication at a later
date, because this method is definitely worth the effort. The results
can be amazing, as not only will it make panel lines appear before your
eyes, tiny casing marks, wood grain, weld seams, and the like will become
more prominent and noticeable on your model subject, as well as looking
a little "dirtied up" as well. You can use whatever color of
acrylic paint that you would like to make your wash out of, and since
it is a water based wash, it is very kind to your finish.
The first time that I used this method I was quite skeptical as to how
the final outcome was going to look like, as the process is quite messy,
but it cleans up easily. I was totally amazed at the end, though. As this
is an acrylic based weathering, you must seal it before handling too much.
After weathering the turret, I repeated the whole process with the rest
of the tank, set the piece aside to dry completely.
Attaching the tank tracks, (or treads), is accomplished by the standard
"heated screwdriver method", although a flat tipped hand held
soldering iron does the job much more easily and cleaner. The treads go
on very easily with no problems…good fit. Moving along to the markings,
the decal sheet provided by Academy has markings for five different M4A2
Sherman's, with no specific units stated, but according to my references,
if you really want to be accurate with your build, only 2 of these five
can be reproduced accurately with the tank treads supplied with the kit.
The other three versions had differences in track style, armor style,
and suspension systems shown on actual tanks used in service.
"Doris", of the 4th Marine Tank Battalion, and "Goldbrick",
of the 4th Marine Tank Battalion, Tinian, 1945, can be closely reproduced
with the kits contents without scratch building and after market kits
for added accuracy. I had chosen to build "Doris" early on,
as I wanted to use the amphibious wading trunks on my build, which is
a really cool inclusion by Academy. This option allows you to depict the
trunks partially or fully fitted as often seen on different vehicles,
as the trunks are in two separate piece units. The trunks themselves when
built show good detail with nice raised weld seams. I provided photo's
of both the amphibious trunks on and off, as the addition of them does
hide some tank detail and changes the overall look considerably. After
choosing and mounting the proper decals for "Doris", and after
the Micro-sol dried completely, I gave the entire tank a final coat of
clear matte spray for protection, and she was ready for pictures!
Conclusion
Overall, this kit was a true joy
to build, very nicely done by Academy Models, with fantastic molding and
manufacturing throughout, with only one tiny are in the entire build.
That needed any additional fit work. Details are super; accuracy is close
to very close without add-ons and revisions…an absolute solid high
8 to a low 9 on this modelers scale! Highly recommended, and I don't think
that even the most diehard Sherman fans will be disappointed with this
one. Keep Modeling!! I would like to thank MRC
for the review kit.
References
1. Sherman- A History of the American Medium Tank, R.P. Hunnicut, Presidio
Books
2. Modelers Guide to the Sherman- MMIR Special, Ampersand Publishing Company
3. Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles of WWII- Jim Winchester, Chartwell
Books
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