Future BBA tanks? (1 Viewer)

Kurt

Sergeant
Joined
Jun 30, 2006
Messages
778
I love the Winter Chaffee but passed on the M10 Tank Destroyer (just don't care for the M10). I also passed on the sandbagged Sherman & knocked out Sherman because of the sand bags and knocked-out condition. But, I'm hoping for more winterized American tanks. Any there any other tanks used during the Bulge that K&C could make?
 
OK, here's a partial listing of possibilities...
M4 (original welded hull, 75mm, lots of these still in use by 12/44)
M4 "composite hull" - rare in US use in Europe but they were there - more common in British/Canadian use
M4A1 - cast hull - also lots of these still in use
M4/M4A1 with dozer blade - 75mm tanks with M1 dozer kit
M4, 105mm howitzer - the only radial engined version in the "wet stowage" type hull
M4A1 76mm, Wet Stowage - quite a few around, especially in US 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions
M4A3 75mm Wet stowage - a common replacment tank in the fall of '44
M4A3 76mm Wet Stowage - the M4A3 with the larger turret and 76mm gun, quite common in the ETO, especially in Third Army units.
M4A3, 105mm howitzer, this and the M4, 105mm were in the Assault Gun Platoons of each tank battalion
M4A3E2 - the "Jumbo" an up-armored "assault tank", 254 built with 250 going to the ETO starting in the fall of 1944.
M4A3E8 - just started appearing before the campaign started, more showed up for the counteroffensive in 1945.
M5A1 light tank - about 20-25% of the tanks in ETOUSA were light tanks
M24 light tank - first batch had just reached Europe before the Battle of the Bulge with more comming in 1945
M31 tank recovery vehicle - based on the M3 medium
M32, M32B1, M32B3 tank recovery vehicles - based on variations of the M4 tank
M10 3" gun motor carriage - the most common tank destroyer in Europe in 12/44
M18 - the lightweight 76mm tank destroyer
M36 - 90mm gun motor carriage - started appearing in Europe in the late fall of 1944 - the only mobile 90mm gun until the arrival of the "Pershing" tanks
M8 75mm howitzer motor carriage - an assault gun based on the M5 light tank, used in Mechanized Cavalry and Armored Infantry units.
M7 105mm howitzer motor carriage, the "Priest", appearing in every armored division plus some seperate battalions
M12 - SP 155mm gun

This is a quick list of the primary US tanks in use on 12/16/1944. I didn't list armored cars or halftracks, etc. The underlined ones have been produced by K&C. I didn't count the K&C "classic Sherman" M4A1 as it is an "odd duck" that would actually be more common in the Seventh Army, not common in the "Bulge" combat. The Strictly Limited "General Inspection" Sherman is an M4A1 76mm Wet Stowage under all the sandbags. K&C also did an M4A1 76mm with the wide tracks (HVSS) as DD27, and they did a rather mediocre (by current standards) M4A3 75mm Wet Stowage in the original Bulge series.

Note - don't worry about "whitewashing" or winterizing all your tanks. Most units operating during the initial German attack were in standard OD or OD &black colors. They didn't have time to repaint before they were deployed to meet the surprise German attack. The white paint jobs mostly came later when the Allies counterattacked the bulge in their lines.

Lots of possibilities out there and I think Andy has a desire to produce many of them if we give him the time.

Gary B.
 
Excellent list Gary,thanks for posting.I'd love to see an M7 Priest make another appearance,North Africa,Bulge,Normandy any version is just fine by me.

Gary,if you had to name a couple of books on the Sherman which ones would you choose?.Cheers

Rob
 
If desired it's easy to add some fake snow to the D-Day issues to give them a Winter Bulge or later look.
 
Gary,if you had to name a couple of books on the Sherman which ones would you choose?.Cheers Rob

For one of the best single books to understand the Sherman and its place in WW2 pick up Steve Zaloga's "Armored Thunderbolt". This is a recent book and looks at how the M4-series mediums fit into the overall picture of te US Army.
http://www.amazon.com/Armored-Thund...bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239893225&sr=8-1

Michael Green's "M4 Sherman At War" is not bad for a look at many versions of the tank, and is fairly cheap as tank books go
http://www.amazon.com/M4-Sherman-Wa...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239893271&sr=1-1

Harry Yeide's "Weapons of the Tankers" is a great volume that looks at all the tanks and other armor used in the US Army in WW2. Hard to beat it for the money.
http://www.amazon.com/Weapons-Tanke...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239893326&sr=1-1

I think that these could get you started without bogging you down in the minutae (that comes later!)

Gary B.
 
Boy Gary you sure do seem to know your Tanks:) I would like to see the Priest so I can get one in winterized form.
 
I would like to see the Priest so I can get one in winterized form.

One advantage for Andy - he would only need to do a "cold weather" gun crew and some "icy" weathering. The M7s generally operated back from the lines enough so not many were whitewashed - at least judging from available photos.

As I have stated before, a nice M7 could be done in "Normandy", "Ardennes", or Free French primarily by changing the crews and weathering. The same basic version could also be used for British or US in North Africa or Sicily. The British "Priest" from Alamein should have sand shield fenders and British stowage and crew as well as desert camouflage.

Gary B.
 
K&C also did an M4A1 76mm with the wide tracks (HVSS) as DD27, and they did a rather mediocre (by current standards) M4A3 75mm Wet Stowage in the original Bulge series.

For the 75mm you refer to, do you mean the oriiginal Iwo Jima Sherman?

Also, how is the Squadron 'Sherman in Action' book? Does it do justice to the technical changes in the Sherman?
 
For the 75mm you refer to, do you mean the oriiginal Iwo Jima Sherman?

Also, how is the Squadron 'Sherman in Action' book? Does it do justice to the technical changes in the Sherman?

1) I was told that the Iwo Jima Sherman was also released in the original "YA" range. I'm not the historical expert in K&C so I was just going by what I was told.

2) "Sherman in Action" is still a good book, especially for the price. It does suffer slightly from being an older book that doesn't benefit from newer information, but Bruce Culver was one of the original "Shermanoholics" back in the 70's so his material is basically quite good.

Gary B
 
I think you should change your moniker from Binder001 to Mr. Sherman.

But I also have a bad addiction to the M24 Chaffee, the Stuarts, the Pershings, the CCKW trucks, M1 rifles, OD wool shirts, etc. and up to and including the M1 "Abrams". My wife uses terms closer to "wasting your life".

Gary B.
 
1) I was told that the Iwo Jima Sherman was also released in the original "YA" range. I'm not the historical expert in K&C so I was just going by what I was told.

2) "Sherman in Action" is still a good book, especially for the price. It does suffer slightly from being an older book that doesn't benefit from newer information, but Bruce Culver was one of the original "Shermanoholics" back in the 70's so his material is basically quite good.

Gary B

The original Iwo Sherman was also released as a (very very limited) winter sherman under the set number IWJ11(w). They just white washed it. Here is a quote from one of the upcoming volumes of the book about it:

"The first two polystone vehicles, an LVT2 Amtrack (IWJ7) and Sherman Tank (IWJ11), were released in January, 1999 with the original Iwo Jima release. . . .

The Iwo Sherman (IWJ11) had the same defects listed above, but they were more glaringly obvious. There was so much extra material in the tracks and bogie wheels that much of the bogie wheels were covered, and there were absolutely no interior track details. The markings, stars on either side of the turret and a star in a circle on the front were carved and then painted on. The 75mm gun, sculpted separately, fit poorly into the mantlet, although the .50 Caliber Machine gun (the nicest part of the vehicle) fit snugly in a hole in the top of the turret. Several gas cans, two spare bogie wheels and a box were sculpted onto the back deck of the vehicle, and two spare sections of track were sculpted onto the front deck. In different production runs, the vehicle came painted a dark, weathered green, and a brighter green. This vehicle, which did not come with any figures, originally retailed for $69. Approximately 300 of this vehicle were produced.

An extremely limited production (10) winter version of the Iwo Sherman, denoted IWJ11(w), for use with the Battle of the Bulge sets, was sold exclusively through Tony Ciccarello of the Toy Soldier Gallery. Somehow the coat of white paint covered up a multitude of sins, and substantially improved the vehicle’s appearance."
 
Many men feel that a wife is a waste of one's life.

Mine is a fine lady, she just doesn't get the facination with "war stuff". She keeps hoping that someday I'll be more than 8 years old, but by now I think it ain't gonna happen!

Gary B.
 
No offense. Re-reading my post, it doesn't look pretty. Fresh in my mind was an article I had just read regarding the plummeting marriage rate...followed by my own curiosity as to whether we were meant to cohabitate at all:confused:
 
I love the Winter Chaffee but passed on the M10 Tank Destroyer (just don't care for the M10). I also passed on the sandbagged Sherman & knocked out Sherman because of the sand bags and knocked-out condition. But, I'm hoping for more winterized American tanks. Any there any other tanks used during the Bulge that K&C could make?

I share your views.....If the Sherman could be redone in a "properly winterized" non-damaged version with 75mm long gun....It would be an instant hit.....I saw a 35th scale model on e-bay which I considered purchasing......very well weathered....not overdone..... and detailed.....VERY NICE......
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top