I would get it. Building a version for the Sherman campaign and I am liking it so far.
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It was a company name change. Only difference might be between the mid and late production boxings they have.
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I didn’t lie in my previous post but I did misremember. I have not built those Zvezda kits all the way from A-Z. I went back and looked in the boxes and on the 75mm A2 I built most of it but it’s missing the tracks, tools, and brush guards etc…Also I was not aware of those issues you mentioned with the hatch and the grouser lids. Not that I would go back and try to fix them now anyway.
On the 76mm I only partially built the turret. The turret came in pieces with the option to build an earlier version with the split loaders hatch. I was impressed with how Zvezda attacked that issue, they gave us two separate roofs one early and one late and two separate left sides, early and late, I believe the rear turret piece and the right turret piece usable for both early and late versions of the turret…The 76mm also comes with T-54E1 tracks instead of reusing the T-49 from the 75mm kit, I thought that was kind of cool.
Speaking of the T-49s in the 75mm kit, why are they backwards and how did you fix them? Those images and suggestions could help me tremendously when I complete that build. I did notice when I first looked at the sprues that the T-49 track has some sag molded in, which is probably why I wasn’t going to use them anyway, LOL! but they do look crisp and nice, too bad more manufacturers don’t do link and length, although Tamiya seems to be heading in that direction with some of their newer releases.
I found this video online of this gentleman building the tracks on his, did he put them on backwards too?
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Jakko, I found this photo online and it seems to have the tracks on like they are shown on the kit? is it possible that the tracks were completely reversible? I’ve seen images of a tank with T-54E1 tracks were one or two links were reversed.
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Yes, all M4 VVSS tracks could be reversed without detrimental effects.
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Speaking of having a lack of choices way back when…
The old Tamiya Jumbo with the TWS set. I used the academy tracks with EECs but I can’t remember what kit those came from. Now we have the gorgeous Tasca/Asuka or Meng Jumbos. But for a long time the only good alternatives were a couple of really hard to find and expensive resign kits. One from Verlinden and I can’t remember who made the other one. EDIT: It was the “Blast” resin Jumbo, I went back and researched it.
I can’t remember how old this is. When did TWS first release their upgrade set for the Tamiya kit?
I made the figure from different Tamiya figures, it doesn’t look as bad from far away
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You are way too modest, I’ve seen your work on multiple forums and you know your stuff. On my best day I can’t do the type of work you do and even tho I’m “Shermancrazy” I’m certainly no expert. I love to read all the stuff that you guys post on the different forums, always learning something new about Shermans from you guys. I look forward to seeing your build on the new Border Models 75mm 
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See this thread on Missing-Lynx for everything I found that needs fixing on the Zvezda M4A2 (75 mm) kit. I maintain that all (or at least nearly all) of it’s within the capabilities of most modellers, even though apparently some people disagree with that assessment 
They’re backwards because Zvezda moulded them that way, and I didn’t fix them — I decided to use the Red Army markings for the model, on the basis that they would be much more likely to put the tracks on backwards than the USMC would (which is the other marking option in the kit).
Again, I figured Red Army crews would be more likely to have tracks too slack, so I did use them.
TBH, I don’t like link-and-length tracks You either have to fit them before painting, which makes painting the whole suspension much more difficult, or fit them after and somehow have to conceal the glue. Which is why on this model, I attached them before painting and then just sprayed the whole underside in a dirt colour.
Yes, he has:
At the front, like here, the long bar should be at the bottom of the link. He has it at the top, per the kit parts.
That has them the right way round:
All Sherman tracks are reversible, if you ignore the profile. Though, of course, for T66 (the early type for HVSS) and CDP tracks, you would need to reverse the whole track, not just individual links.
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This is a nice kit.
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No Dan, this is a nice kit! Designed in 1:1 scale for those of us with failing eyesight and dexterity through the mileage of age… 
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@barkingdigger (Tom)
@Dan (Dan)
It’s one of the things I love about the Collection: I get to use big air tools, needle guns, and sledge hammers (like we did driving the CUSTOM track pins home on Tiger 712).
NO pussyfooting around!
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If that’s an actual vehicle from that campaign it would be a very rare puppy indeed. Weren’t there only like 186 or so of those early M4A1(76)w VVSS? If I recall correctly I read in Zalogas books that half went to 2nd AD and the other half to 3rd AD and it’s crazy because it seemed like nobody wanted them due to the logistical issues of having to deal with a different type of ammunition in the supply chain or something like that, also combined with the inferior HE performance of the longer round.
IDK, but I’ll guess just the same…if I was looking to make a giant splash with a historical vehicle I would’ve gone hunting for “In The Mood” Layayette Pool’s historic kitty killing tank…I mean they found “Cobra King” some time ago as a gate guard in Germany, I suppose anything is possible…is that Pool’s tank?
If you guys are restoring that tank please tell me that you have some kind of blog, documentary, or YouTube channel thing going…there are others that have become modeling subjects, like Duke and Elowee(?) and any of them would be historically important just for having taken part in such an important campaign but Pool’s tank would really take the cake…
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Hi Reynier,
After a LOT of dusting, here’s my Monogram Screamin’ Mimi. There’s a story behind it, as it took two decades to complete! When I was in Junior High as a young teen back in the 70s, a local hobby shop (we had three in easy bike-ride back then!) started a contest. I entered a Tamiya Panther, lovingly given a three-tone stripy camo (OD green, brown, and moulded-tan bare plastic), dry-brushed to within an inch of its life, and festooned with Tamiya’s Panzer Grenadiers - it won a prize! Bouyed by success my next entry was a Tamiya 8-RAD kit-bashed into the earlier 6-RAD (long before the Italeri kit) and I was so happy I left it unweathered in panzer grey - it got nothing. I realised what was happening and vowed revenge - I’d build the crudest old kit and decorate it with catchy details to show that “quality” had no place in their judging! So I grabbed the ancient M4A1 and a bunch of figures from the Tamiya set that was meant for their half-track, along with Tamiya and Italeri weapon sets and some ESCI fuel cans, and went to town. I even made the hatches workable by melting doll-house hinges into the plastic. It was almost complete, when I discovered all the distractions of High School - cars, girls, “hanging out”, etc, and it sat in a box for the next twenty years. But eventually I dug it out for final assembly!
Bear in mind these were the days before the internet, and as a teen my knowledge was limited, so the applique armour is a guess, the crew aren’t tankers, and the weapons are an odd mix - no excuses for the Sten gun or the Boys AT rifle!
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I’ll begin with the end in mind. This is not Lafayette Pool’s tank. There’s no record indicating that his third tank was salvaged after two hits, one in the turret and the other in the hull. But we do know this was a 3AD (76)w, and we are recreating In The Mood to celebrate and honor all who participated in Operation Cobra. We will certainly mark it as such, while still doing our best to honor the legacy of the original crew(s).
Whose tank was it?
The first batch of (76)w were made at PSC.
A total of 2171 were made between January and December 1944. We know ITM II was one of these when he had several successful engagements in August 1944 around the Falaise Pocket/Gap.
That tank was severely damaged by what is reported widely to have been a P-38. A reminder that a 20mm can do serious things to the top of a tank.
ITM III was lost to history, or maybe rebuilt by enterprising Frenchmen to honor the Allies, all.
Our tank:
You’ll notice the ventless turret. Well, we haven’t validated the hull/turret RNs or SNs yet (!), but we know of only two VVSS tanks so-equipped that were in American hands:
So, both those RNs come from that very first batch of PSC M4A1(76)w VVSS tanks. All the remaining tanks from that group (8) are in foreign hands. We think.
All the work has been done by young LTs under the watchful eye of a grizzled WO5 who is our restoration specialist. I’ve reminded them that preservation still requires documentation, LOLZ. More to follow.
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That’s awesome! And to still have it in your possession after all these years, amazing! I don’t think I have anything older than the mid 1990s. Thank you for sharing it.
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It doesn’t matter if it wasn’t Pool’s tank, sounds like the two numbers you guys have narrowed it down to place it into that early batch of 186 that was rushed thru production without getting all the upgrades like the ventilators or the later barrel with the thread protector etc…
So even if it was an HQ tank that didn’t see frontline action, just by virtue of having been present during that campaign makes it historically important. Where was it found and where are you guys restoring it?
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Interestingly, Commanders usually ride forward. When Pool was grievously wounded outside of Aachen (Germany), his Battalion CO was literally close at hand, and immediately was able to come to his aid. The BC administered the second stick of morphine, and then handed him off to medics.
It will be interesting to see what kind of dossier we can create about this tank.
I’ll copy a lot of this to 1:1. We can update it w/o hijacking a thread.
OBTW- My Dad worked with Pool at the Armor School. Creighton Abrams was the Director of the Tactics division. Dad spoke of Pool and Abrams several times. He then went to Saumur as the US LNO (Liaison Officer), and then was CO of 72d Tank who got the first CONUS M48 gassers.
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So tonight I played around with the Border Models 76w for about about an hour…the correction on the front of the hull removing the molded on ventilator cover is done. It took about 25 minutes to complete it because I found a shortcut to make it easier…on the inside of the kit the raised outside portion was created by a pushed up indentation on the inside…the indentation was the exact size needed to portray the unfinished look on the those Cobra A1s. I scored the inside corners of the indentation until the “lid” popped off. then I used a small piece of very thin styrene to cover the opening. then I cut the border off of the “lid” section. Finally I glued the lid part back on to the back part right in front of the turret ring area and on top of the tab I place inside the vehicle. I also started the rear hull angle correction. I learned a couple of things, you don’t have to cut that rear hull face completely off because the top edge of the upper rear hull is already at correct length from the measured from front of the tank. All I did was make a cut straight up from the bottom of the hull. Then I trimmed about a small tab from each section and then I just folded the bottom until it became flush with the bottom…I will be sanding and filling tomorrow, the flap is easy to place correctly by using the lower hull tub to align the bottom edge of that lower rear hull.
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