A couple of years ago while working for W. Britain we decided to add some vehicles to our growing WWII collection. It seemed like everyone else in the collectibles industry was concentrating on every kind of vehicle the German army used, with little attention to the Allied armies. As we were focusing on the last few months of the war in western Europe it was pretty obvious that we should consider offering an M4 Sherman tank. Although we could have chosen any one of several models in that series that were deployed in combat at that time, the M4A3 with the new Ford GAA V8 motor seemed like the best choice. It became the preferred US Army version of the tank in both the 75mm and 76mm armed tanks, would see all the improvements and be the first hull type to take the HVSS suspension system into combat. The first production run of the GAA V8 engined M4A3 tanks were small hatch versions built by Ford, with most being used in the USA for training. With higher than expected tank losses during the Normandy Campaign some of these vehicles were rebuilt and sent to Europe and soldiered on to the end of the war side by side with newer variants. When Ford turned to other war work and the production was shifted to other makers the front hull was redesigned incorporating larger hatches for the driver and assistant driver/bow gunner and a change to the angle of the front plate to accommodate this new feature. This final variant of the hull would become the most iconic late war M4A3 armed with both the 75mm and 76mm guns and turrets. The M4A3 was produced in three factories with all turret types and armament with a total of 12,596 being built between June 42 and June of 45.
But back to modeling and how this project is a little different than the conventional approach. Part of our new product development process at W. Britain was to review the final components of any new project and then assemble them for painting in our studio. This allowed us to see how they worked with other parts of our collection and also allowed principle photography for packaging and website use. I have included one of those photos I took in this posting, and I think the various components worked together pretty well. When my co-worker Jef and I looked at the preassembled sub assemblies of the Sherman tank our first reaction was that the running gear assemblies looked great and we wished many of the 1/35th scale kits we had built could have been that fast and easy to complete. I am pretty sure that we are not the only modelers that hate removing parts from the plastic runners that kit components are molded on, and then cleaning them up before they can be put together. That is exactly what lead us to experiment with a 1/30th scale kit and the photo shows the result. This concept of pre-cleaned subassemblies eliminated the majority of the bench time required to identify, clean and assemble a tank model so you could get to the detailing and painting sooner, which honestly is the best part to me.
Some time after the finished models were released, I was commissioned to redecorate three of these M4A3 models to represent vehicles of a single unit operating together. I realized that building the kit versions for this project rather than stripping decals and redecorating finished models would allow me the opportunity to add additional details and individualize the stowage. The good news is that now that I have retired, most of the daily deadlines I had to deal with for over 30 years have been lifted. The benefit of this new reality is that I can now spend more time researching and incorporating the more creative elements of the process that I really enjoy. As this project advances I thought some of you might enjoy following the build, revisions, painting, weathering and the rational behind my choices. You can see that I have already applied new casting textures and am working on the hull welds with more details to be applied soon. I have to confess that I am enjoying this project so much that I am already thinking about detailing one of these kits![]()
for my own collection along with a fully realized scenic base. More to follow...
Below: US Infantry and Armor advance into Germany in 1945.
Below: A diorama inspired by wartime photographs.
Below: W.Britain's Campaign Miniatures 1/30th scale resin kit of the M4A3 Sherman Tank.
Below: Components of the stock Campaign Miniatures kit.
Below: Basic kit 90% assembled.
