M4 Composite Hull Sherman

Manufacturer: MR Models(#7223)

By Dave Showell

Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Resin, Plastic and Whitemetal Conversion to ESCI M4A1

This is a multi-mediaconversion/upgrade kit (white metal and resin) produced by MRModels of Germany. It is designed to be used with theItalieri/ESCI M4 A1 kit. It comes with a replacement upper hull,a replacement turret, new bogey wheels, a turned aluminum barreland various other fittings in resin and metal. Unlike most 1/72ndscale resin Sherman kits, it seems to be an entirely new mouldingfor the upper hull and turret. The moulding itself is excellent,holding such detail as subtle welding beading along the rearsides of the hull and realistic texture to the cast glacis andturret.

MR Models has obviouslyworked carefully to remove all of the problem areas of theoriginal ESCI moulding from the mid-70s. For example, they haverecast all of the bogey wheels to a more accurate size (the ESCIones were slightly small) and included more accurately detailedhubs. The turret has better detailed as well, and the internalmantlet (i.e. the gun-mounting beneath the armoured mantlet) hasdetail comparable with a 1/35th scale kit. This is good since theMR Models kit comes with two versions of the early"narrow" mantlet (one with extensions on either side ofthe gun, the other without) which would show the sides of theinternal mantlet.

MR Models has alsoaddressed the overly tall stance of the ESCI kit. Theinstructions call for the builder to use the lower hull sides andbottom of the styrene kit, but require that the top 5 mm becarved off the top of the sides to bring the sponsons closer tothe top of the tracks. The builder also has to cut off the lowerhull sides forward of the front bogie assembly. This is to allowthe one piece resin transmission cover and drive wheel mountingsto be fitted (very nicely cast). It is also necessary to carveoff the mountings for the idler wheels at the rear and replacethem with a two piece, detailed replacement unit. Thesemodifications make the assembly of the lower hull and runninggear rather complicated. I approached it by assembling the bogiesand tracks (the MR kit uses the ESCI hard tracks) first, withoutthe transmission cover and drive wheels.

Once I had the main bodyof the running gear assembled and painted I glued the two piece,white metal drive wheels together (careful to line up the teeth)and added the individual track links around the wheels. I thendry fitted the drive wheels glued them into place by the tracklengths from the front bogey wheel and front return roller.

A kind of odd choice by MRModels is that the turret they have chosen to include with the M4Composite Hull has no pistol/shell ejection port or turretloader's hatch. I really questioned the lack of a port, sincethere were a reasonably limited number of these turrets produced(late 1943-early 1944) and the photos I found in the SquadronSherman In Action book showed only composite M4s with the port.Fortunately, on page 32 of Steve Zaloga's The Sherman at War (2)The US Army in the European Theater 1943-45, there is a photo ofa composite hull M4 of 2nd Armoured Division, nicknamed Dodo,which, indeed, has no pistol port. From the photo you cannot tellif Dodo has a turret loader's hatch, but reviewing Hunnicut, Icame to the conclusion that the no port/no loader's hatchcombination was possible.

Since Dodo did not havethe early narrow mantlet, I used the Italeri/ESCI wide mantlet,with an opening drilled out for the co-axial machine gun. Theturned aluminum barrel fits the ESCI mantlet well but may be abit long. I probably could have recessed it into the turret a fewmore millimetres.

Unfortunately the MRModels hull is hollow, the turret is moulded as a"plug" (i.e. not hollow) - as a result, there is reallyno option but to build it with the turret hatch closed (thecommander's hatch on the Sherman is really wide so even asticking a figure in won't hide the lack of an interior). The MRModels kit calls for the use of the original ESCI commander'shatches which I thought were little soft on detail (theconversion provides white metal hatches for the driver and radiooperator positions).

Once I had assembled themain components, I painted the vehicle with Humbrol's Olive Drab#155 (I had already painted the track assembly - Olive Drab forthe metal parts and medium grey for the tracks themselves). Ithen added etched brass details (such as lift rings, headlightand periscope guards etc.) from the Extratech set produced forthe Revell M4 A1. Following this, I used a wash of Olive Drabdarkened with flat black around those areas which would not get alot of wear. With this two-tone base I carefully dry brushed themodel with Olive Drab considerably lightened with Humbrol 83Ochre. This highlighted high wear areas and brought out the finetexture of the cast areas of the tank.

To finish, I added theserial numbers (from my decal box) and nickname (from some poorquality rail road transfers - it's tough to find 4"D's" and 4 "O's" on any one decal sheet). Ithen did some light weathering and muddying-up using a wash ofmedium brown on the tracks and lower hull. The tracks alsoreceived a bit of work with a soft pencil to simulate the baremetal of the chevrons. Some stowage from various sets was thenadded and "tied down" as much as possible - this is areal problem in small scale. It is difficult to make tie downropes look right.

The final step was toprepare a base, flocked with rail road turf, a mix of brown turf,yellow and green grass. I built this up over a couple of hoursand, while it was still moist with liquid white glue, pressed themodel into the flocking. This helps it to settle into the turf ina realistic fashion. I then used the medium brown wash again tomark the path of the tank.

AMPS,April, 2003

For those of you whoaren't familiar with AMPS (Armor Modeling and PreservationSociety), the organization has developed and uses a very detailedjudging system. Unlike most competitions, pieces are judged notagainst each other (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd) but against a fixed setof criteria (and are awarded a gold, silver or bronze). Theyjudge only your work, not how it stacks up against other modelson the table. These criteria are available on the AMPS site ( http://www.amps-armor.org/contestRules.asp ). A really great feature of thisjudging approach is that not only do the judges (usually a teamof four or five) take a good amount of time examining your work,but they also provide written comments sheets indicating thescore you received in the three major criteria categories (9 subcategories) and why. These are necessarily brief (i.e. seam lineson engine deck, decals silvered on turret, etc.) but usually ofgreat use to the modeller who wants to improve and do better onthe next model. I have found (after attending two AMPS shows)that I do a lot of self-inflicted head-slapping when I read thejudges' comments!

I took three models toAMPS this year. The first, an Eastern Express T-34/76 in Germancolours, was a bit of a throw-off - I didn't expect it to do verywell but it was ready to go. The second was an Attack/PartAufklarungs 140/1 which is (or will be) covered in a separatebuild article here on "On the Way". The M4 Composite,however, was my best work (in my opinion anyway). Even thoughthis year I was entering the "Advanced" category ratherthan the "Intermediate" I really expected to get atleast a bronze and maybe even a silver medal.

Well, I was in for ashock. Here are the results of the judging taken from the scoringsheet ( comments from the judges’individual tally sheets are in italics ):

Total = 20.5 out of 30

(with 4 judges the lowestscore is dropped, if 5 judges are available, highest and lowestare dropped)

I came within a half pointof a Bronze medal! I was not pleased. However, here is where theAMPS system is different from other contests. When I got homefrom Havre de Grace (a quick 8 hour drive straight north back toOttawa), I actually read the comments and looked critically at mymodel.

The "Gap" - yup,it was there. When I joined the resin transmission housing to theESCI hull I hadn't cut the plastic quite straight and it left agap. I had forgotten all about it (apply open hand rapidly toforehead - slap - ouch).

Tracks - once again, afair call. There was definite toeing out of the starboard trackwhen looking from straight ahead (slap to forehead once again).

Silvered decals - this oneI didn't even have to think about. I had used some old Nittodecals for the serial number and USA marking on the side. Theyhad silvered and when I weathered the tank it got worse (slap).

Streaked paint - I wasconvinced this was unfair until I noticed said streaking on therear of the tank on either side of the engine deck - puresloppiness on my part! (Slap, slap)

Weathering - kind of amixed signal here, one judge liked it, one didn't. I'll be morecareful (i.e. subtle) next time. (Half slap)

Sink marks in hull - thehell you say! It's a resin kit, it didn't come out of a mouldthat would use push pins to release the sprue. It isn't possible!It isn't ... wait a minute ... hey look, sink marks! They are onthe ESCI hull, port side, behind each bogey assembly. Cute littlecircles just above the trailing bogey wheels. I never evennoticed them! (Slap, slap, slap).

So there you have it - theAMPS judges caught me on every one of my goofs and marked meaccordingly. It's up to me now to learn from my mistakes andbecome a better modeller. If you get a chance, go to AMPS or anAMPS regional show and get your kits judged - it's hard on theego sometimes (as I certainly learned) but it gives you what youneed to get better at your chosen hobby.