Sherman flail tank

[Dave Wilson]

Hi all. Never built any armour at all, I'm strictly an aeroplane man. What I'm looking at doing is building the Sherman flail in 1/48 or 1/35 as my uncle drove one in Normandy. He's passed away now but I'd like to build one. I prefer Tamiya kits but will be willing to look at any good (and easy!) kit. Price not really an issue as long as it's not astronomical. The next question, is it possible to find out how his tank would have been marked and camouflaged? I have one dodgy b/w photo of him standing by the flails that tells me nothing.

His unit was Lothian and Border Horse, 79th Armoured division. His battleline was Normandy-Calais-Falais-Le Havre-Lille-Lens-Brussels-Antwerp-Arnhem-Bastoigne and his war came to an end in the Richwald Forest in Feb '45 when his tank was hit and he was seriously wounded. Incidentally the unit's worst loss came in Feb '45 when 17 of his pals were killed in a friendly fire incident with US troops, the only men of this unit to be killed in the entire war.

Any information gratefully received.

Edited November 22, 2014 by Dave Wilson

[Bangor Lad]

You've certainly picked quite a subject for your first AFV!

I don't think there's a complete kit but I think Resicast do a pretty good conversion for the Tasca M4A4 Sherman V.

Dave

Edited November 22, 2014 by Bangor Lad

[JackG]

I've never built one, but I've found (through googling) that at least one member here has, so hopefully they and others will chime in.

The Tasca M4A4 is considered the best out there, but it can also be found as a Tamiya rebox .

For the crab flail attachment, Legend also has produces it in resin form. Prices on ebay appear quite a bit cheaper than Resicast, but not sure if this indicates a difference in quality/detail?

For decals, Bison has a set that includes two options for the unit you have inquired:

regards,

Jack

[Dave Wilson]

Many thanks for the input guys. It's a least given me some options.

[jimbob1974]

Hi Dave

I have built a 1/35 Sherman Flail. The flail conversion kit was from Resicast the problem I had was getting the Sherman V required at the time the only Sherman V hull was the firefly. so ended up getting a Firefly and a Sherman III (Both Dragon kits) to use the turret but if Tasca M4A4 is available I would recommend it.

Just a few words on Resicast kit I find them grate value for money they do tend to be a bit bit costly but I find them to be a bit better than others but the flail is hard work I had to build the lower hull pant and weather it first. Then make legs for the upper hull and flail as it had a lot of stuff hanging down. I would also say the flail is very heavy mine hull is full of nuts and washers to counter this.

I am really not trying to put you off (honestly) you find mine on this site under D-Day funnys P.S The Sherman III ended up as a A.R.V also on this site. feel free to contact me if you decide to do the build and need some advice (if i remember)

Jim

[General Jumbo]

Hello Dave,

I was interested to read your post as I undertook a similar task a few years ago. My grandfather also served in the Lothian and Border Horse (1st Lothians) in Normandy - I wonder if they knew each other?

I did my build of the Sherman "Crab" (as they were officially known) in the days before web shopping really took off and I ended up sourcing a resin conversion kit through a relative in Texas. The Resicast one certainly looks similar in terms of parts but looks of considerably better quality than the one I received. The kit I used for the basis of the build was the Dragon M4A4 which has the correct, longer hull type for the basis of the Crab (Crabs were powered by Chrysler radial petrol engines). I didn't do a build thread but I do have a RFI here that includes a bit of background on my grandfather.

For reference material I had my dear grandpa on hand (who is sadly no longer with us), including quite a few of his personal photographs. I also managed to obtain a copy of a book which has some excellent black and white photographs of the Crab (considerably cheaper than the one in the link but it was the only example I could find!)

In terms of markings on the 1st Lothian's Shermans, my grandpa said that the only markings he could recall were the 79th Armoured Division badge, tank serial number, troop insignia and a tank 'nickname'. The troop insignia was a yellow shape on the flailing gear and each tank was named after an area of Edinburgh (my grandpa's tank was 'Marchmont'). You can see the placement of these in my RFI photos although please note that the font I've used for the nickname is not right but was all I had at the time I built it. I still have some spare dry transfers of the 79th Armoured Division badge which I would be delighted to give to you (I can't see me making another of these).

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch and I will help out where I can.

Regards,

GJ

[Dave Wilson]

Many thanks chaps. Jimbob that is an excellent build.

Jumbo my Uncle was Albert Smith from Shafton in Sth Yorks (as is now). He died in 2008. I have a group portrait of him in the field with a bunch of mates, how weird would it be if your grandad was one of them.

[ijoftaa]

Hi Dave. I found your post while searching for my grandfather's  tank which was a flail from lothian and borders(wandering willie tank 94). I would be intrested to see the picture you have if that is possible.

 

Thanks in advance