adrianforest

Just thought I'd post an update on my progress. It's getting pretty close, though I may need to make it a little narrower for a correct fit.

Printed a very early, very basic version of the M4A2 engine deck piece, just to get an idea of dimensions and fit, and see how the fuel cap details look at this scale. It's extremely rough, printed at 0.1mm layer height, where I'll print the final piece at 0.001mm ideally, so about 100x finer. This should give some idea what I'm going for. This test shot was worth doing because it showed I need to strengthen the plate by making it thicker to stop it bending up at the edges.

I have a bunch of Sherman reference, most of the relevant Osprey books, and a copy of Hunnicut's Sherman book, but Son of Sherman cannot be had for love or money anywhere. WorldCat lists a single library copy in a small museum library in IIllinois, which is sadly a little out of reach for me in Australia. By all accounts it's an invaluable reference for Sherman modellers, but I just don't think I can get my hands on it. To the best of my knowledge, Soviet M4A2s are probably the least well-covered variant across the breadth of available reference material on Shermans, and the HVSS-equipped Soviet M4A2s are the least well-covered of those. There's a bit more coverage of the post-war Canadian M4A2 HVSS models, but these are often confusing because it's not always clear what details are post-war modifications. This is actually pretty odd, considering that many of the surviving M4A2s are ex-Russian.

I'm well aware of the rarity of the M4A2 76(W) HVSS, but as is so often the case with modelling subjects, that's the primary appeal! I'm committed to 1/48 because I want to use the Tamiya kit. This is primarily an exercise in modelling and 3D-printing conversion parts to turn it into an M4A2, so what I'm really looking for is to put together a list of what parts need to get changed/modified, rather than figuring out the best way to model a M4A2 76(W) HVSS Sherman in general.

Cross-kitting the Zvezda kits is a great idea, and if I was building in 1/35th scale, that'd probably be the way to go. Unfortunately their M4A3 is a VVSS model, so I'd still have to get the HVSS suspension from somewhere else. The truth is, I've had the Tamiya 1/48 Easy Eight in my stash for a while now, and I really like building in quarter-scale. Unfortunately, there are absolutely no 1/48 scale M4A2 kits that Scalemates is aware of, although there are some conversion kits meant for Tamiya's other 1/48 Shermans. The advantage of starting with the Easy Eight is that, as we've established, most of the tank is identical to late-model M4A2s, and it has the HVSS suspension, so I can build one of those rare late models. What I'm actually planning to do is 3D print some conversion parts. I have the engine deck modelled and ready to go as a drop-in replacement for the Tamiya kit, and I'm now considering doing some welded hatches and fabricated bogie arms. I just need to figure out the other essential details for the M4A2. My understanding is that the Dragon M4A2(76) is probably the most accurate 1/35 scale kit, so I can probably use that as a reference for the lower rear hull. I'm not entirely sure whether the angle of the rear upper hull is noticeable enough to be worth remodelling such a core structural part...

Okay, so aside from the engine deck/doors area on the back/top of the hull, the primary differences seem to be on the lower rear hull. But in most cases that area is completely covered from the rear by the large exhaust grille. So any differences aren't going to be visible except from below the tank. I can barely see any differences in the walkarounds. The Sherman minutia site has some interesting details on welded drivers hatches and fabricated bogie arms, but my reading of that is those aren't features that are common to all late M4A2s, They'd certainly be interesting to model, but I'm primarily concerned with differences that all late-model M4A2s *must* have. Aside from the back/top of the hull and the lower rear hull, are there any other major differences I'm missing that show up on all late-model M4A2s?

I'd like to model one of the M4A2 76(W) HVSS Shermans sent to the USSR via Lend Lease towards the end of the war. My understanding is that these late-model M4A2s were almost indistinguishable from the M4A3 equivalents, as evinced by the use of an M4A2 to play the part of Fury in the movie. The major difference I'm aware of is the engine deck, which should look pretty much the same as any other late-model M4A2. But what other differences are there? If I were to take a late-model M4A3 76(W) HVSS kit as the basis of this model, say, Tamiya's 1/48 example, what other changes would I need to make to turn it into a Lend Lease M4A2 76(W) HVSS?

For the record, I noticed in the WIP thread you mentioned the questionable quality/provenance of the Nitto Ma. K. heads. I can confirm the genuine article is exactly as dodgy. The Nitto kits you see around these days are basically just reissues of 1984 kits, and the quality of the head moulding reflects that, sadly.