By JIM WAGNER, Rochester NY.

Packaging is excellent the kit (#35.159) comes in a sturdy box, inside of which are layers of bubble wrap, the parts themselves are enclosed in plastic bags. The kit consists of almost 150 resin parts and about 70 photo-etch pieces. Complete T48 rubber chevron tracks are included in the form of straight resin sections. The only thing not included is transfer markings. The directions are very good with many close up “in progress”photos showing you where everything goes.

Step 1. Construction started with cutting off the injection plug from the lower hull then light sanding of the area was done. Next the transmission cover was test fit to hull, after super gluing the lower hull & transmission cover together a small gap on the lower sides was filled with bondo to be sanded latter. Another pour plug was cut off rear lower hull plate. The engine access doors were then cut off the runner, separated and lightly filed, they were tested for fit before attaching to the rear hull plate. The fit of the doors was perfect. (If an engine kit is added the doors could be left open and the blank across the opening removed) The rear hull plate was then glued to the lower hull. One side required minor filing but the alignment was right on the button. Next the directions call for the exhaust stacks to be attached to the top inside of the rear plate. There are no alignment marks or notches so a photo or line drawing reference will have to be found for correct placement. The directions are a bit vague here. One method would be to find the center point of the rear hull plate, mark it then glue the exhaust stacks to the top inside leaving about 1mm separation between the flared downward outlet ends.

What I ended up doing was to cut both stacks off the resin carrier leaving a small square plug attached to the exhaust pipes. Then set them side by side leaving about 1mm separation between the flared outlets. A small piece of scrap plastic was glued to the top of both pieces, this acts as a spacer and keeps the pipes aligned and equally spaced. They were then super glued to the top edge of the rear hull plate aliening the pipes directly above the center of the engine access doors. The kit includes a photo etch piece of screening with a cut out for the exhaust pipes to fit through. (To my knowledge no other Sherman kit on the market includes the exhaust screen) This was test fitted to check the placement of the pipes and was found to be spot on. Before super-gluing the upper and lower hull sections together the exhaust screen will be attached. (The directions call for it to be placed after the two major hull sections are joined together. But I felt accessibility would be more difficult.)

The mounting plate for the idler wheel & axles has a raised, wedge shaped section on it’s inside face that lines up with a wedge shape cut out in the end of the lower hull. This makes placement of the assembly foolproof and goes to show just how much thought Resicraft puts into their kits. Without the positive alignment wedges correct placement of the idler units would be a real headache.

Assembly of the Bogie units and road wheels requires removal of resin pour plugs and some thin flash. Once the clean up is done the suspension units are remarkably simple to put together. Each unit consists of just three pieces and is about the most accurately detailed that I have ever seen. The road wheels have the grease fitting and relief valves, as well as all the inside face detail. The rubber on the road wheels even has wear detail cast into the surface. The bottom of each bogie unit has the three prominent retaining bolts as well as raised casting (actually part) numbers. The bogies also have the four open mounting bolt holes on their forward face. The return track skids have the four retaining bolts and are close to scale thickness. The correct mid production (straight) return roller arms are nicely done, the rollers themselves have the grease fitting present as well. Placement of the completed bogie units on the hull sides is no problem at all because there are alignment pins on the back of each unit. The hull sides have corresponding locator holes.

 In my opinion (for whatever that may be worth) the Resicraft suspension is the best on the market today for a model of the VVSS equipped mid production Sherman Tank. I say this based on the fact I have built about twenty Sherman’s over the years and have studied and read about them for over thirty years. I have seen, photographed and climbed around on just about every variant and sub type of Sherman tank up to and including the very rare M4A3E2 Jumbo and British Sherman BARV. But I do not consider myself an “expert”. That is someone who thinks he knows everything about a given subject. Me, well I am still learning things about the Sherman tank family and I am smart enough to know that I don’t know everything.

Anyway on to the drive sprockets, here again simply the finest I have seen. The hub is resin, which requires removal of a pour plug but that is no big deal. The interior braces are exquisitely molded onto the insides of the hub, which must be an all time first for any manufacture. The drive sprockets and mounting bolts (13 for each sprocket side) are photo etch. The completed units must be quite impressive, I say must be because truth be told I coped out. Now I realize that because of my action here I probably would not fully reach “modeling nirvana” but was willing to risk it for the sake of my sanity. The thought of correctly placing those 13 tiny photo etch bolts on the face of each of the four drive sprockets was more than I could bear. So I did what is known in the military as a “field modification”. I happened to notice that the drive sprocket hubs each had a small cut out or locator notch just like the old Italeri Sherman kit hubs did. I also recalled that the Italeri drive sprockets had a locator tab to align the two pieces correctly. A quick trip to my over flowing “parts box” confirmed this, sure enough the Italeri sprockets and Resicraft sprocket hubs were a close match. Now I will grant you the bolt detail was not quite as sharp and the bolts of slightly smaller diameter but I can live with it. After everything was painted and the tracks were on the “field modified” sprockets the difference would be indiscernible. Best of all I would still have my sanity, at least I think so…maybe.

After the suspension is in place the suggested assembly sequence would have you put the tracks on and then glue the upper and lower hull together. I opted to want until the model was complete and fully painted before mounting the tracks. Also I felt it would be easier (and more accessible) to add most of the parts from step 3 (rear plate detailing) before joining the hull sections together.

The exhaust screen went in first; the exhaust pipes fit through the rectangular cut out in the screen. The exhaust screen was then super-glued to the top edge of the rear plate. The top hull and box type air cleaners were then dry fitted to check for clearance. The kit instructions make reference to the fact that the exhaust screen is over-sized. Sure enough about 2mm needed to be trimmed from each side and the rear edge for everything to fit properly. Next the vertical side plate extensions were placed. These can be a bit confusing to install correctly. Each panel is very lightly scribed “Top” toward the edge that faces upward. The edge that is straight (it’s an odd shaped piece) is what you want to glue to the outside edges of the rear hull plate level with the top of the lower hull. After that the photo-etch parts for the box type air cleaners were attached to the filters. (The directions leave something to be desired as far as the exact placement of components for much of step 3.) Place the hold down clamps (P48) to the air cleaners, one on the rear facing side and one on the inner side of each filter unit with the hook end facing upward. After being sure everything fit and that there was enough clearance the upper and lower hull sections were bonded together without the any problem. The fit between the sponson floor panels and the upper hull as well as the transmission cover and glacis was perfect. The joint between the upper hull and sponson floor was sparingly covered with filler (I like to use “Bondo” it’s a red colored auto body filler product.) after it was dry it was lightly sanded.

Step 2; This covers the detailing of the front hull and glacis plate, it was very straightforward and no difficulty was encountered. Resicast gives you the option here of having the periscope lids open or closed. I decided to have the driver and bow gunner hatches both closed, so the periscope on the drivers side was placed in the up position and the co-drivers was left closed. The detailing on the interior side of the forward hatches is the most accurate I have ever seen. They even have the casting numbers, which not only is correct but something no other producer offers in any kit I am aware of. In fact they are so nice I decided not to use them! Since I was going to have the forward hatches closed, a couple of replacement ones from a Tamiya M4 was good enough. The Resicraft hatches were set aside for another Sherman I have plans to build with the front hatches open. Then those two little gems will be just the things to use.

You start to use a lot of the extensive array of photo etch parts on this step. Brush guards for the lights and siren, fender braces and another “first” in parts that are included with any kit, the mysterious “comb device” (To this day there is no widely accepted explanation of exactly what it’s purpose was. It is seen in numerous photos of Sherman’s in Europe and there are several theories of what it was for but the jury is still out. I think it had to do with Trans-Atlantic shipment. But for the record, I don’t know for sure and am content to leave it up to the “experts”.)

Another unique feature to this kit is mentioned in this step also. Clear plastic headlights, they are included! Most injected plastic kits don’t even include these items, let alone resin kits so you end up painting the lights silver or white. (Which is ok as far as it goes, but doesn’t look all that realistic) Or you buy these little silver-backed bezels produced by MV Lenses for a buck apiece if you can find the size you need. Then you have to grind out the molded plastic lenses so that the replacement lenses will fit. It does not seem like that big a deal but the clear plastic lenses do add to the overall appearance, enhance the realism and are noticed by judges at model shows. Again just another example of the thought Resicraft puts into their kits. By the way the photo etch piece (part P59) which is the base for the horn should be bent into the shape of a triangle. The picture illustration for that piece is not very clear.

Step 3; This was an easy one to do, mainly because most of the parts and components for this step I had opted to do back on step 1. The area of the lower rear plate was much more accessible at that time, prior to joining the upper and lower hull. About the only items that still had to be placed were the tow coupling, the U shaped tow shackles and mounting strips for the rear fenders. I was able to find only one photo reference for the exact placement of the A.P.U. exhaust pipe, which the directions call for. It comes through the exhaust screen on the left side between the air filter and the left engine exhaust pipe. Makes a ninety-degree bend and runs straight back along the screen stopping short of the rear upper hull plate. Here again this is the first kit I know of that accounts for this detail item.

Step 4; Upper hull and engine deck detailing. This step was very straightforward, no real problems were encountered. The fire extinguisher handles are these two tiny “ T “shaped photo etch pieces that fit into a small armored three sided box. I managed to get them in place on the first attempt then glued the box to the upper hull. If you glue the armored box on the hull first, then try and put the handles in it will be much more difficult. On many of the restored Sherman’s I have seen, the extinguisher handles are painted red (which makes sense) but I do not know for sure if in fact they were always that way on the actual WWII Sherman’s. Another nice little feature on this kit is the optional position of the armored fuel filler cap on the left side of the engine deck. The location of the opening in the hull is bored out and counter sunk. This allows you to leave the armored cap in the open position, a photo etch inner filler cap and locking pin are included. They can be placed on the deck as though the tank crew is in the process of refueling. (Which is what I intend to do) or of course the armored fuel cap can be placed in the closed position. The rear taillights are captured perfectly for an M4A1 and its cast hull. There was an additional spacer at the base of the tail light neck, which is as it should be. All the welded hull variants of the Sherman didn’t have the spacer. Resicast certainly does its homework.

Step 5. Adding the vehicle tools to the engine deck sides. This step, while admittedly being a bit time consuming because of all the photo etch hold down fittings is no problem at all. However at this point I did notice a couple of omissions to the kit. This is about the only thing I found fault with from beginning to end and they are minor really. The first is that their should be a engine crank and two mounting brackets for it on the left center of the rear vertical hull plate.(Oddly enough the direction do show exactly where on the rear vertical plate to drill out a crank hole.) The second thing is that no tie down straps is provided for any of the tank tools. (All American made tanks were equipped with tool tie down straps and if they weren’t used half the tools would vibrate loose and be lost) A quick trip to my trusty “parts box” solved these little problems and it was on with the show. If need be you could make the crank handle from a short section of plastic or brass rod by putting two ninety degree bends in it. The clamps for the crank and tie down straps can be made using scrap photo etch strips or thin strips of foil. Or of course the parts box could be consulted and perhaps a spare crank plucked from it.

Step 6. Turret and turret detailing. Resicast captured both accurately and beautifully the factory thickening of the armor on the front and side of the turret behind which was the gunner’s position. Many of the mid war 75mm Sherman turrets had an additional 1 inch thick curved piece of rolled armor plate welded to this area of the turret for added protection. The welded add on plates are very noticeable in photos of the period. The factory cast type is more of a slight bulge in the turret front and side with no welding seams because naturally enough it was cast at the same time as the rest of the turret. There are less than two dozen resin parts to the turret but again on this step you really get into the photo etch sheet.

Once again I substituted a kit-supplied part, not that there was anything actually wrong with it. The full width M34A1 gun mantlet that Resicast supplies is fine except it does not have any raised casting part numbers on it. So one from “Tank Workshop” was used instead. There were no problems at all with any of the resin turret parts, which with Resicast kits is something you come to take for granted. A rather extensive amount of photo etch parts are attached all about the turret roof. Several detail changes in the production of the 75mm turrets were introduced with this variant along with the cast thickening of the armor around the gunner’s position. There is an additional stowage arraignment for a 50 cal. heavy machine gun. It consisted of a mounting point on a spacer bar to the rear of the high bustle turret. A raised barrel clamp to the right of the radio antenna armored cooler and a muzzle hold down clamp behind the turret ventilator housing. A mounting point for a searchlight and a cap for it were also introduced. Also an armored housing for the gunners periscope was incorporated as well. Perhaps the most important change to the turret was the addition of a well designed second hatch to the roof, oval in shape and used by the loader for easy and faster exit and entry. Resicast has captured beautifully all these details in resin and photo etch. There is however one minor omission, you will have to consult your parts box and come up with an antenna mount since none is provided with the kit.

Included in the photo etch sheets that Resicast provides is perforated mounting strips (3 sections for each side of the hull) that thin metal sand shields or if you prefer, fender skirts would be attached to. The directions make no mention of these mounting strips and they are not present in any of the “in progress” photos either. After checking numerous books and photo references I opted to use them on my M4A1, however either way would be acceptable. It seems based on photographic evidence that early production, narrow hatch cast hull M4A1s did not have the mounting strips or sand shields till near the end of the production run for that type. However by the time the big hatch, dry storage M4A1 76mm with T23 type turret began to be produced, the mounting strips with sand shields were standard. Since this variant fell exactly in between the two production types it’s a toss up weather or not they would be present. I feel that odds are the mounting strips should be on the vehicle so I went with that thought.

There are no sand shields included and that’s fine because although many Sherman’s left the factory with them in place they did not stay on once the tank was issued to an operational US Army tank unit. Front line tankers did not like them and considered the shields as non-essential or “extra parts” and simply removed them. There are numerous photos of US Sherman’s where the mounting strips are visible, but the shields are long gone. On the other hand most photos of British “lend lease” Sherman’s show the shields still in place!

Track assembly: As noted before Resicast provides you with a full set of T48 rubber chevron tracks cast in 10 straight sections of resin. They are nicely detailed, very accurate and clean up is zero. To place them you have to super glue the sections together then heat and bend the tracks where they go around the drive sprocket and idler wheel. It’s easier said than done, for one thing they have to fit just right around the sprocket and idler and since Sherman’s (as well as most other WWII US made tanks) used what’s refereed to as “live track” there is no slack at all in the top track run. No doubt about it, resin tracks are at best tricky to install and fit correctly. Based on some less than pleasant experiences in the past while trying to use all resin tracks I once again deviated from the directions. I considered using a combination of the kit supplied resin straight sections and the Academy T48 individual link track set for around the drive sprocket and idler. (The track blocks from both producers match perfectly so it could be done that way.)  However from my time spent in the US Army I remembered the time honored axiom: Keep it simple, stupid! So a set of T48 rubber chevron band type tracks from a Tamiya M4 kit were used. After painting and weathering the tracks looked good and fit nicely with just a bit of trimming where they join to remove a small amount of slack. It defiantly was quicker and easier using the band type of track. To build two complete runs of link to link track would have been very time consuming and tedious. Resin track on the other hand is somewhat faster but not easy to work with to obtain the necessary result. At any rate, the track was installed after the tank was painted and the dry transfers placed.

Painting: As a first step in preparation for painting the completed model was given a washing in warm soapy water, rinsed and left to dry overnight. This assures you that the surfaces are clean of oils from your hands, sanding particles, and resin dust. It’s worth the extra step as the paint adheres really well to the surfaces. I used Tamiya acrylic paint but there are other brands that will work equally as well, it is just a matter of preference (and what you might have on hand at a given time).

I base coated the Sherman with Tamiya XF-27 black-green, rather than with flat black. XF-27 is a very dark green color bordering on the shade of black. However it is a “softer” color and blends better with the finish coat applied later. The base coat serves two purposes, it seals the surface of the model and because it is a dark color it gives depth to any recesses not covered by other colors that are applied. In this case I also used it as a blending or contrast shade to complement the color coats. After spraying on a good even coat the Sherman was given ample time to dry. The color coat was a blend of 80% XF-62 olive drab and 20% XF-49 khaki. It was sprayed lightly on the lower hull and boggy trucks so that the base coat was still visible. Then more evenly as I covered the upper and top components of the tank. Once that was completed I added a bit more khaki to the mixture which made it a little lighter shade of olive drab. This was then lightly sprayed on the top surfaces only. The three shades of color blended together nicely, darkest near the bottom of the tank, medium shade in the middle and lightest on top. The overall effect is very subtle and realistic looking.

Weathering: After letting the model dry for a day or two it was given a wash of thinned down “lamp black” artist oils. (About 10 to 1 thinner to oil ratio) The thinned mixture was applied evenly starting at the bottom of the hull working upward. If at first it appears to you like the wash is overdone and too dark don’t worry, after a couple of days it quiets down as it dries and blends in with the paint. Once again after allowing time to dry a “pin wash” of artist oil was applied selectively to recesses where added contrast was wanted. The “pin wash” was less thinned than the first application and was a mix of medium green and brown. Also I should mention here that if you apply transfers (either wet or dry) to the model prior to using artist oils (which is what I like to do because the markings adhere better) use the wash sparingly on or around the markings. To further weather the model powered chalk pastels were applied with a worn out brush. Several shades ranging from dark brown to light tan were used for a random effect to duplicate dirt and mud. The lower hull and suspension received repeated coats of pastels then lighter coats were given to the sides of the hull and above. A silver marking pencil was very lightly used to duplicate wear areas around the hatches, random bolt heads, filler caps and track links. Care must be taken to avoid over doing this effect, any successful weather job should blend in and no single aspect should be overpowering.

Conclusion: The Resicast Sherman M4A1 75mm (late) kit is, if not the best and most accurate now on the market it is certainly right up at the top of the list for Sherman tanks. Assembly was trouble free from start to finish, nothing was warped and clean up of parts was minimal. This multi-media kit is a good example of what a well researched, designed, high quality model should be. The directions were well written and illustrated, the only thing you have to add that is not supplied with the kit is transfer markings. If you are all ready experienced at building plastic models and have been wanting to try a full resin kit, then this is the one for you to build.

                                                                 History

The Resicast M4A1 in 1/35^th scale is an interesting and unique variant of the cast hull Sherman family and was different from any of the other M4A1 types. It was the first of the M4A1s with the enlarged hull hatches for the driver and bow gunner. It was also the first of the 75mm turrets to have the oval loaders hatch in the roof. It was equipped with the high bustle 75mm turret with factory cast thickened armor on the exterior of the turret around the gunner’s position. The hull also had thickened armor sections cast into the sides around the exterior of the ammo. bins. They were produced only by Pullman Car&Foundry in the closing months of 1943. It is doubtful if more than 150 were made, exact production figures of this type are unknown. However Pullman was completing about 100 Sherman’s a month at that time and based on the time frame of say November to the end of December 1943 the 150 figure should be close. Prior to that time Pullman was still delivering the small hatch, low bustle turret, 75mm Sherman to the US Army. Before the end of January 1944 they had started to produce the big hatch 76mm M4A1s with the larger T-23 type turret with “wet” ammo storage.

A number of these big hatch 75mm M4A1s were modified into Duplex Drive or D/D configuration and were used at Normandy on June 6^th 1944. (Firestone Corp. modified 300 M4A1s of both the small hatch and big hatch type in early 1944 to Duplex Drive standards.) Some of these big hatch 75mm D/D Sherman’s were also used in their specialized role during the Rhine River crossing in March of 1945. Most, but not all were converted to D/D standard, I have seen photos of the big hatch M4A1s (75mm with factory cast thickened side armor) in use as standard gun tanks with units not involved in the D-Day landings. Such as the U.S. 2^nd & 3^rd Armor Divisions and several independent Armor Battalions during the later battles in France & Germany. There are only two known examples left in existence (both were configured as D/D tanks) which makes this variant the rarest of the surviving Sherman’s.