The welding of the hulls during production of the M4 was one of the most time consuming procedures that slowed up initial production. Traditionally this procedure required using highly skilled welders, but in order to speed up the process without compromising quality a new system was adopted. This divided the specific kinds of welds into individual categories that new hires would be trained in rather than be competent in every technique required in the tank assemblies. This significantly reduce the amount of time required for assembly, along with an improved use of jigs to weld components that could then be assembled as units. Many of the surviving tanks I have looked at have fairly obvious weld beads in numerous locations.
This weld bead detail has often been missing on scale models, and even when it is included in the tooling some modelers remove the molded on detail and replace it with epoxy putty or, more recently the use of decals with simulated raised weld beads. The Campaign Miniatures model has the traditional shallow groove molded in simulating the separate panels, so I decided to add the weld beads with epoxy putty. Overall this is pretty easy to do and I think it will look good when painted and I am nearly finished except for the smaller welds here and there.
I am also improving the texture that simulates the casting on the turret and the transmission housing at the front of the vehicle. I decided to add a bit more epoxy putty to the front right side of the turret casting as this area was thicker on production turrets for the wet stowage M4A3s. This is not always easy to see in photos because the welded guard around the turret on the hull covers this when viewing from ground level. Looking at the monument turrets during my last visit in and around Bastogne made this detail more obvious. I used Tamiya putty to add some thickness to this part of the turret casting and then used the same putty thinned with Testors liquid plastic cement to add the casting texture. This works really well and you simply thin it down and apply it with a brush using a stippling motion. If any part of the “casting” surface appears too pronounced when it drys it can be reduced with fine emery paper.
Another even more surprising surface detail on many Shermans are the crude grinding marks left from cleaning up the casting gates on the turrets and transmission housings during manufacturing. This detail is something I hope to add to at least one example but as my co-worker Jef and I always thought, those that did not understand what this represented might take it for very bad modeling! I have included a few additional photos of monument tanks that show areas where the evidence this grinding shows.
Below: The contours and textures were improved with thinned down Tamiya modeler's putty.
Below: Note the cast textures on the original M4A3 monument tank.
Below: Note the grinding scars and cast textures on this surviving tank.
Below: The welds were very prominent on the finished vehicles.
Below: Both the welds and the texture left from cutting the armor plate are plainly visible.
Below: The grinding scars on some foundry's castings are more extensive than others.
Below: Similar cast textures and grinding scars also appear on the transmission housing of this restored and running vehicle.
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