Ever since I first saw the StahlHelm Models Assault Sherman kit, I have been intriqued by the idea of a Sherman variant like the German Jagdpanther, JagdPanzer and similar type vehicles. My interest was further increased when I saw the models made by Maschinen Krueger (Bryan Krueger) in the Facebook group “https://www.facebook.com/groups/324369661324650/”. So I began looking around, if any companies did models similar what Bryan Krueger had accomplished.
The German company Bold Division has a small number of “JagdShermans” ready for sale, and I have bought the both of them for future projects. I am of course aware no such vehicles were made IRL, but still the idea of a US JagdSherman is very interesting to me.
The kit “Assault Sherman Tankhunter (Art. No. 35081)” I was initially rather reluctant about. The obvious choice would be to just build it as it is. However, it disturbs my peace of mind, that this kit is designed by somebody, who has never seen the inside of a Sherman. The transmission and the power transfer axle from the engine compartment take up too much room inside the kit low profile crew compartment to make this version possible. So I was thinking of raising the crew compartment with the aid of a M4A3 kit as donor, and so I proceded. What you see in the photos is my first attempt to make a “JagdSherman” from a combination of the BoldDivision “Assault Sherman Tankhunter” kit and an Asuka M4A3 kit with HVSS. The casemate is obviously still too long, but I will fix that later. In order to have stable base for the casemate, I removed the upper side of the hull, and replaced it with a 2mm plastic plate.
The other BD kit is the “British Tank Hunter 77mm OQF 17pdr. kit (Art. Nr. 35082)”. The “British” features are quite evident, the 17 Pdr. gun, the loaders hatch, and the two different commanders cupolas. This conversion will require a M4A4 donor kit. If I should have designed this kit, I would have made it more modular, so it could be used for more variants. Different plug-ins modules for the loaders hatch (standard US loaders hatch/the square British version) and a separate engine deck, so any engine deck could be fitted. It is still possible to do this, just with a lot of work.
The T121 dual .50 HB cupola is a neat addon for one of the above projects.
Generally speaking the workmanship of the Bold Division kits is very high. All casting are sharp, straight and blemish free. More info on kit contents can be found in the link below.
https://www.bolddivision.de/shop/bausätze-kits-1/liste/
Summing up, inspired by Bryan Krueger in particular, I have couple of very interesting projects in front of me.
Please let me know, how you feel about these “What If” Sherman variants?
