M4 Sherman – Early Production

Scale: 1/35 | Manufacturer: Tamiya | Kit nr: 35190 | Scheme: H Co., 66 Arm. Reg., 2 Arm. Div. (Normandy 1944)

about the Sherman

The M4 Sherman, officially Medium Tank, M4, was the medium tank most widely used by the United States and Western Allies in World War II. The M4 Sherman was reliable and well adapted to mass production. Tens of thousands were distributed through the Lend-Lease program to the British Commonwealth, Soviet Union, and other Allied Nations. The tank was named by the British after the American Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman. It was also the basis of several other armored fighting vehicles including self-propelled artillery, tank destroyers, and armored recovery vehicles.

The M4 Sherman was instrumental in the success of several Allied offensives, particularly after 1942, when the Allies began to gain momentum following the Allied landings in North Africa (Operation Torch) and the subsequent campaigns in Italy and France.

regarding the build

Building the kit was a pleasant experience. I started by painting the crew figures, which are an excellent addition to the model. In order to make life easier for myself I prepainted the hull and transmission parts. I added some light weathering to the underside, with Earth texture and different kinds of browns. Some pigment powder also played its part in realising a convincing dust effect.

After the parts were assembled I applied my method of ‘stippling’ painting, where I dabbed the lighter green olive with a brush on the darker brown olive base paint. By pulling watered down acrylics I tried to add subtle rain streaks. Dry brushing also played a role in highlighting the many details, from the stowage to the bolts on the metal. The street base is from DioDump, which I painted with different tones and washes.

Although this Tamiya tooling dates back to 1995 (if I’m correct), I believe this is a very nice kit and I recommend this to someone who wants to get into 1/35 scale models.

Other projects: