turret with MG stowage brackets dropped down halfway on bustle
inboard front hull lift rings
turret forward antenna but with bolted over circular plate
later suspension with upswept return roller mounts
smooth unthreaded M1A1 barrel
forward hull ventilator missing the cover like on “operation cobra” M4A1s
tow cable clamps in the early location
rear engine deck rear plate early one piece version
The Meng kit offers the options to make it right if you modify and drop the MG brackets on turret rear, everything else seems to be in the box if you and you have the option to drill out either early or late cable clamp, on most everything the kit gives you the option to mix and match early and late features:)
I found this thread from 2023 about a Meng build but no work in progress just the completed build.
It’s not a tank I’ve ever specifically looked into, but your assessment of the details seems correct. Going by Son of Sherman all of this probably makes it sort of spring 1944 production, which began to arrive in Europe in the summer.
Regarding Thunderbolt VI, I recall reading that Col Abrams was requested by either the Combat Command or Division CO to use the newly arrived M4A3 76mm tank as an example for his men to demonstrate faith in the type. They had only recently been received by 4th Armored Division. He had previously been using 75mm gun types up thru the fall battles in Alsace Lorraine, and quite effectively.
Wow! that’s the best picture I’ve ever seen of Thunderbolt VI. The extra lift ring on the turret and the smooth unthreaded barrel are both clear as day. Thank you for posting this!
That image also settles my concerns with the sprockets, CDA Shermans had those types of sprockets. I guess I’ve always associated the solid plain sprockets with later versions of the sherman and the fancy cast or forged sprockets with early sherman types and it’s just not the case at all.
One thing that’s not apparent is the ventilator cover and the early cable clamp position on the upper hull. Considering that it had the smooth unthreaded barrel it’s almost safe to assume that the rest of the hull and turret are early types too. So one piece rear engine deck aft of the engine doors, either missing the MG stowage brackets on the rear turret or maybe they’re positioned in the early lower position. It looks to have the bolted circular plate cover on the forward turret antenna too. I think the Meng kit is the right one to use for this tank.
I’ve searched this website and no Meng M4A3 builds, I know that @Dan says he built one before but I guess he didn’t do a build log on it. I did find that 2023 thread but he just shows the tank after painting and weathering and no mention of any issues with the build or with the instructions. Even on Youtube I can’t seem to find any solid build videos about this kit and it’s been out since 2019 which surprises me that more stuff wouldn’t be available. I did find a bunch of unboxing and in the box review videos but not actual build videos. The Meng M4A3 for some reason is not very well documented to date.
I think it’s a really interesting kit, I haven’t started the suspension but just the idea that the kit comes with a “realistic” and functioning VVSS suspension is fantastic. I’m building it in the Shermania 2026 campaign but I’m considering doing progress just so that someone else might be curious to see the build progress images and read about any issues encountered in the kit.
So fart the only thing I’ve found was that there is more flash than I anticipated and that the instructions have a small error when adding the exhaust pipes in the rear hull plate the instructions reversed the numbers on the parts and that could lead someone to put them on the wrong side.
I’ve read the same thing too. Do you know anything about the 75mm Sherman he had before Thunderbolt VI? I have this image but no idea if it is Thunderbolt V or not, hard to see in this photo.
I think it’s an older M4 DV…turns out it’s a remanufactured Baldwin M4 DV with a Douglas device hedgerow cutter up front, that’s why it has the appliqué armor on the sides of the hull front of the turret and in front of the driver and co-driver hoods
Starting out and noticed these bumps on the upper differential cover but will all be covered with stowage anyways so not messing with it but seems like the cover might have some unique contours I don’t remember seeing on any other Sherman kits with this late type of cover.
The picture you posted was taken in Vannes, France on August 5, 1944, and " provides a left side view of Thunderbolt V. Unfortunately, motion blur prevents us from getting an accurate read of the USA Number, but it can be seen to be in the 3022XXX range, indicating that it was built sometime from May through September, 1943 as part of Baldwin’s second Production Order. Along with the “thin spots” in the turret, the Ordnance Dept. found the pistol port to be a ballistic weak point, and in April, 1943 ordered that the turret be redesigned. The new casting did away with the pistol port, and at the same time, increased the thickness of the armor around the thin spots, thereby eliminating the need for the welded on turret patch. The redesigned turrets began to enter the production pipeline in the late summer of 1943, but in the meantime, the Government ordered that pistol ports on the remaining supply of original turrets be welded up. The lack of hinges indicates that Thunderbolt V had a welded up pistol port. Counting heads suggests that Baldwin M4s produced from May through July, 1943 were built with welded up pistol ports. We would note that the welding up and subsequent elimination of the pistol port was not popular with tankers, and the Ordnance Department reinstated it back into the design in July, 1943. The reinstated turrets, which also introduced a loader’s hatch, began to appear in production in late 1943."
And it has a hedge row cutter? I’m going to have to make one of those after I’m done with thunderbolt VI. I’m trying to think if a Baldwin M4 DV is available in plastic. I might have to order a hull from TMD or Formations if they make one.
Now I want to have all three thunderbolts 5,6, and 7
