M4A3 US 761st Tank Battalion The Black Panthers

[Kingsman]

So this is my somewhat boring entry for this GB from about a dozen possible choices - some of which are already being covered by others.  Yes, it's just Olive Drab and Black.  But it's more about the unit than the vehicle here since a colleague of mine became very interested in coloured soldiers in WW2.  The US Army was infamously segregated in WW2 and coloured soldiers were often relegated to mundane non-combat duties.  However there was a single coloured African-American tank battalion, the 761st.  They operated in NW Europe from October 44 and christened themselves The Black Panthers after the unit insignia. 

Out of a nominal strength of 702 they won a Presidential Unit Citation, 1 Medal Of Honour, 11 Silver Stars and 300 Purple Hearts.  Although the posthumous Medal of Honour for SSgt Ruben Rivers was not awarded until 1997 and the Presidential Citation not until 1978.  Such was the way of things.  While Patton publicly praised them he privately held continuing (unjustified) doubts about them.  Such was the way of things then.

 

In fighting in November 44 alone the battalion suffered 156 casualties (22%), had 14 tanks out of 70 destroyed and another 20 damaged: half their tank strength.  On 10 November 1944 Sergeant Warren Crecy earned the title "The Baddest Man in the 761st".  Fighting through German positions until his tank was destroyed, he then took out the PaK 40 that had knocked out his tank by commandeering a Jeep armed with only a .30" machine gun.  He then turned his attention to German forward observers who were directing artillery fire on US positions and eliminated them.  In a scene reminiscent of the films "Fury" or "To Hell And Back" his replacement tank lost traction later in the day in heavy mud and he was forced to get out under fierce fire to try to free it.  The stranded tank was then attacked by German infantry so Crecy abandoned his salvage efforts to man the turret-top .50" machine gun, still under fire, stopping the German advance and forcing their withdrawal.  For this he was nominated for the Medal of Honor (rejected) but did receive a battlefield commission and eventually reached the rank of Major.

 

In fighting in The Bulge in January 45 the Battalion was down to just 11 operational tanks and lost 9 in 2 days of fighting, driving back the German 113th Panzer Brigade.  If anyone is more interested in this unit I can recommend these excellent books.

  

 

Fortunately Star Decals offer a decal set for the 761st in 1/35, including this tank, which will be my subject - with a bit of liberty on stowage.  "Julia", AKA "Cool Studs Inc #4".

 

My model choice for this is the recent Zvezda M4A3.  And I have to say that this is a stonking kit for £25 with some very clever parts engineering for things like the optional early/late glacis and large or small hatch turret.  The pre-shaped moulded tow cable with clamps is a work of genius.  OK, it's a Russian product but I've had it now for some months since it first appeared in my LHS, so forgive me.  Yes you need to be a bit of an octopus to get the turret parts together and there are some awkward joins to deal with after, and some of the cast edges are a bit square.  But nothing too difficult.  Cast texture is lacking anywhere but that is easily solved.

 

Below are the parts I intend to deploy to help it out.  Usual stuff.  I probably won't use the Eureka tow cable unless the moulded one proves to be a bust.  The kit light guards might get thinned down: for once they actually have the stowage tubes for the light mounting hole plugs.  The kit tools might need some help: the shovel is definitely undersize. 

 

The subject tank has different wheels and tracks to those provided in the kit.  Star (not always renowned for their accuracy) suggest open-spoke wheels but enlarging the photo I believe those are the closed-spoke type.  The open-spoke type had largely disappeared by the time Fisher began producing M4A3s and only the closed type was produced with the later strengthened enlarged hub as in the photo.  Yes that tank is one of Fisher's 525 M4A3s and not one of Chrysler's 1,445.  Chryler used different wheels and sprockets on all theirs.  Otherwise the configurations were pretty much identical as there were fewer variations in large-hatch models compared to small-hatch.  So that means kit parts changes.  Fortunately I have a set of large-hub closed-spoke wheels somewhere and also a spare set of Bronco T49 tracks and a matching set of extended end connectors.  The kit comes with nice link-and-length T54E1s which I can't now use.

 

The loader's hatch in the photo says that's a turret with the earlier large loaders's cupola.  The kit provides for both by having a multi-part turret with 2 separate tops and 2 different left side halves which can be assembled to make either configuration.  Rather than the Dragon approach of 2 complete different shells.  But that does leave some awkward joins to deal with.  More on that next.

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Welcome aboard sir, Ive read a bit about them over the years and they more than accounted for themselves. One of my all time favorite units was the 442 combat regiment, another minority in this case the Nisei. Of course the Tuskegee pilots are well known and well documented.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)

[Bertie McBoatface]

That was a very interesting and well written introduction. Thanks.

[Longbow]

Looking forward to this one, Das !! A very interesting subject...

[PlaStix]

Hi Das. Welcome to the GB. Great to have you here with a great looking project in prospect. Looks like you have a lot of extras to add to the kit. I can't wait to follow your progress.

Kind regards,

Stix

 

[Kingsman]

So the turret is essentially done.  Still missing a couple of details including the 2" mortar muzzle.  The kit blob needed to be replaced.  Thinking this might end up as a desk model in a case I opted to use thinned kit parts instead of etched options really for strength of attachment.  The cupola vision blocks wouldn't fit in the single ring as provided so I cut them into individual pieces. As I mentioned the turret construction gives you 2 optional tops for the different hatch arrangements and 2 optional left sides to match.  Awkward join down the back and all around the top edge to fill and sand.  Fortunately no cast texture to damage.  Several layers of Mr Surfacer 500 to the rescue there and on the mantlet.  With hindsight I could have filed the lower edge of the turret to a slightly sharper profile.  The bottom edges of the 76mm turret castings were machined, giving a variable but often sharp profile there.  As far as I can determine, Fisher used General Steel turret castings without the prominent casting numbers on the sides seen on Continental turrets most often seen on M4A1 and M4A2.  Aber gun barrel as I couldn't get a cheaper DEF or RB one.  The 0.30" MG muzzles for the co-ax and hull weapons not only have a slightly drilled muzzle but they also have the little cut across the muzzle that most others miss.

 

The hull is a multi-part affair and since the photo was taken I've fitted the engine deck.  Attention to detail again: 2 optional rear sections for the original 1-piece and later 2-piece types.  2 glacis' are provided for the early and late configurations, essentially inner or outer lifting rings. I chose the earlier type but that may have been an error as it seems that Fisher were using the later type much sooner than Chrysler.  It doesn't fit too well (note the gap on the right in the picture) but as there are no welds depicted some stretched sprue and the trusty pyrogravure will fix that pesky problem.  Things were abit warped and this is the first tank where I've had to use elastic bands to hold the hull top and bottom together.

 

The final drive cover is a bit of a problem.  The bolt strip incudes several mm of the cover, giving an awkward join across.  Again, with no cast texture, some filler and Mr Surfacer fixes that.  Contrary to the instructions I assembled those together and filled them first.  With hindsight I would follow the instructions and fit them separately then deal with the join to get a better fit to the glacis.  It's about right, but only just.  The mountings for the front fenders should sit on top of the FDA but on mine they ended up below, so will need to be overlaid with plastic strip.  the fenders are moulded with the hull sides and top whereas the more conventional separate parts would have been better.  The sponson undersides didn't fit too well but the separate sandshield mounting strips will hide that.  The APU exhaust under the left sponson rear is provided, something missed by others.  Because of the way the upper hull is moulded there is a sharp mould line up the front angles and along the top edges.  Too sharp.  So that needs a blade run along it to soften the edge.  On which subject I got a Trumpeter Master Tools seam scraper a while back and it is most excellent.  Sharper than a sharp thing with a very fine point as well as 2 edges.

 

The cover for the U vent outlet was probably not fitted at this time.  The rear hull exhaust deflector is a work of genius as it is made up like the real one with curved full-depth slats and for once includes the hold-up rod.  This hides the fact that the open ends of the cobra head exhausts are not moulded very deeply,

 

Edited March 31, 2022 by Das Abteilung
Bad spelling!

[PlaStix]

Hi Das. Great to see you are successfully underway and thank you for your thorough writeup of your modelling. Very useful for future builders of this kit or similar Sherman.

Kind regards, 

Stix

 

[bigfoot]

Nice work so far Peter, really interesting to see you applying your wealth of Sherman knowledge to making this kit period accurate. Interesting subject too, something that is sadly often overlooked. I will have to pick up one or other of those books you recommend.

[edjbartos]

That's a great start Peter and very interesting reading too...Looking forward to more...

 

Ed

[Geo1966]

An interesting build and story.

 

I am interested in the 3d printed light guards, are they available in the UK?

 

George

[bigfoot]

40 minutes ago, Geo1966 said:

I am interested in the 3d printed light guards, are they available in the UK?

Yes, those MJ miniature ones are available from historex agents, also some on eBay.

[Kingsman]

MJ ones are good from Historex. You get enough for 4 tanks in a set and you also get the tow cable clamps missing from most kits.  Their pre-buckled tool straps are useful too. I will probably end up using them here as the kits parts aren't thinning too well. I don't rate the FCM 3D ones as well and they work out more expensive. FCM's tool clamp set is OK but I dont fancy trying to bend and buckle the flat tool straps.  The MiG Ammo 3D range is just re-packaged FCM. You can get FCM in the UK from Wildcats Models.

[Kingsman]

Not directly related to this build, but brand-related. I had been looking forward to the Zvezda M4A2(76) to do a Russian Emcha. But things being as they are I doubt we'll see that any time soon. Then I realised that there is a simple cross-kit option.  M4A3(76) + M4A2(75) = M4A2(76) + M4A3(75)W. So I parted with £25 each for these in my local toy shop. Yes I know there are some worries with the 75mm turret but I have a Dragon low bustle turret shell I may be able to use. 300 of the M4A3(75)Ws used recycled low bustle turrets. If anyone has a spare Dragon 75mm turret base  I could be interested.

[Kingsman]

Some progress.  I thought I'd try to break the back of the hull work yesterday morning but that morphed into most of yesterday afternoon and some of this morning.  But apart from some fiddling with the stowage and fitting the sand shield strips I'm calling the hull done.

 

Fitting the Blast stowage blocks early was necessary in order to see the effect on things like tools.  I don't know which kit this was designed for but the rear sections weren't a great fit to the Zvezda hull.  I had to shave off some rear deck detail to get a half decent fit.  Now, the eagle-eyed among you will have noticed that the spare wheels are HVSS, not VVSS.  This was an M4A3E8 stowage set but the spare wheel penny clearly hadn't dropped with me: d'oh..........!  However, since the photos I have cut and ground away the incorrect wheels and replaced them with VVSS wheels.  Yes I remembered my dust mask: resin dust is nasty stuff to ingest.  Not a perfect job but will be OK.  A different wheel pattern to those on the bogies but age-appropriate. 

 

Photos often show the tow cable trapped beneath glacis stowage but if that were my tank I would want faster access if I needed a tow in a hurry.  So I've run it over the stowage.  My subject tank had the late-pattern T tow shackles fitted at the front.  I coudn't salvage the front light guards so replaced these and added the front and rear tow cable clamps from MJ Productions parts.  The rear light guards provided looked OK.  Some of the tools provided weren't great so these were replaced with Tamiya parts and MJ's tool straps.

 

[Milan Mynar]

Looks great, model and accessories.

[Longbow]

Well that's looking rather superb !! Very nicely done !!

[bigfoot]

Looks really good with all that stowage piled on the back.

[Kingsman]

Note to self.  Forgot the wing nuts on the spare link holders, which are not provided.  The link holders themselves are moulded as single pieces yet are still open all the way through with the spuds moulded onto the 2 lower links.  This tank will be shod with different tracks and while spare links often didn't match I might think about hacking them about later if there are any Bronco T49s left over. 

 

Painting the crockery and pot of tools in the middle of the rear stowage will be a challenge.  I think I have some bottle label decals somewhere

[PlaStix]

Well that is really looking superb! Your detailing and the stowage are really going to bring your project to life. Lovely modelling.

Kind regards, 

Stix

[Kingsman]

OK, so I think I'm calling this one "built".  Suspension fitted since last time plus a few other bits and pieces and correcting the wrong spare wheels.

 

I managed to find some correct-for-this-tank closed-spoke large hub wheels in the bits box, but annoyingly only 11.  Rather than splash out £13 on a Panzer Art set for the sake of 1 wheel I decided to have one bogie with the concave disc wheels from the kit.  These types were in use at the same time - and were the only 2 types with the later larger strengthened hubs - and mixed-up wheels on M4s were not uncommon.  I could have fettled the thick kit bogie skids but found some thinner ones and used them.  Drilled out the roller bracket holes in the bogie fronts and added 2 of the 4 bolts to the brackets: you can't see the top ones.  The bogies go together fine: no faffing with springs or foam and they don't move.  Usual awkward joins to fill and mould seams to eradicate. The bogie casting marks are for OSF (Ordnance Steel Foundry) which may be OK for Fisher but photos suggest that both Fisher and Chrysler were using National Malleable bogie castings on A3s.  So making an accurate Chrysler-built tank from this kit will need some fiddling here.  Archer's 3D casting symbol decal set has the right symbology IIRC.  Wheels and rollers are a little too square-edged but that is easily solved.  Sand shield mounting strips are far too thick and trying to thin them down just broke them.  Found some spare brass ones.  There will be some rope stowage tie-downs after painting.

 

 

 

Now all I have to do is put these zillion parts together........   Talk about wasted packaging for the EECs.

 

[edjbartos]

That is looking fabulous, lots of detail, this is going to look brilliant..

 

Ed

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

This is looking great, good luck on the track’s. I am trying to decide wether to add my stowage and tools before paint, do you find it easier this way ? 

[Jasper dog]

Remarkable!

Super quick build and a ton of AM stowage, superb modelling!

 

Looking forward to seeing it painted. 

 

Darryl 

[Billy400]

Looking forward to the paint job

[Kingsman]

3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

I am trying to decide wether to add my stowage and tools before paint, do you find it easier this way ? 

I guess it depends, which is not very helpful.  I have done both. 

 

You certainly need to have all your fits fully sorted and adjusted first if you're going to paint separately.  Here I needed to adjust the stowage blocks to fit and do some work on the engine deck: too late to do that after paint.  The 2 rear pieces also nest together - or at least they're supposed to.......   Stowage blocks can also cover parts and detail you don't need to add and which will just get in their way.  Then there's the risk of splurging glue in the wrong places and the glue only adhering to the paint layer and springing loose.

 

I suppose the key is how more difficult painting on the model will be compared to painting loose.  On my WIP IDF Shermans on the Shelf Of Doom all the oil and water cans are still separate for painting but stowage blocka are once again attached.