Duplex Drive Tanks (1 Viewer)

[RAMC]

Does the Oracle know if K&C has in the passed made any Duplex Drive tanks or other modified armour for D-Day and after. I live quite near a lake where they tested Comets with swimming gear and up untill I visited I had only ever seen pictures of Shermans in this role.
I would love a Sherman with skirts folded (British if possible), a Churchill Royal Engineers or a flail tank. Ok this is a kind of wish list.

 

[Rob]

I'm with you on this.Any Sherman or Churchill 'funny' would be cool.

Rob

 

[binder001]

1) No there are no Duplex Drive tanks currently available. Airfix was supposed to do one in 1/76th, but it would have been an over-simplified skirt on their incorrect early M4.

Resicast has done Sherman V DD, with skirts folded and after skirts removed, and the US M4A1 DD with the skirts removed. Graham from Resicast has long promised the US M4A1 DD with skirts but no luck so far. These kits are resin conversions in 1/35th scale and are rather pricey.

2) I agree that a DD tank would be great, HOWEVER it is not to be undertaken by the faint of heart. The tanks have a LOT of bracing, plumbing and odd fittings that make them difficult in any scale, plus the propellers and their drives. There is a lot of difficult detail in a "proper" DD tank. Plus there were three models of DD. The British conversions were based on Sherman V (US M4A4) and some on the Sherman III (US M4A2) while the 350 US-produced versions were built on cast-hull M4A1s. Some British units used the US M4A1 DD for Normandy also (they had the idea - we had the industrial capacity to get them out fast).

A few of the Churchill types could be very interesting - AVRE with fascines or a Crocodile would be very impressive models.

Gary

 

[Louis Badolato]

I would definitely love to see one or more funnies, particularly a flail tank.

 

[Rob]

Yep Flail,Crocodile or Petard.Some badly needed back up for my commandos.

Rob

(Osprey release a book on the Crocodile in June)