M4 Sherman - Decal Sheets Final Version 170827

[ultravanillasmurf]

Nice, looking forward to this one.

Is the sand shield used for storage the same moulding as the complete sand shield? From the image it appears to lack some of the details(I have not seen a detailed photograph of the real thing but would assume that it would have the same fixtures).

[H0ffmn]

The one-piece transmission cover seems to have appeared quite early on the Sherman III.

@Pinky & HOffmn - That's true. We are including the one-piece version for the M4A2.  The 3-piece transmission will appear on our upcoming M4A1 with the early M3 bogie as an option.  And, of course, all these will be interchangeable between kits.

Rubicon - on the British version, the additional panels on the hull for stowage were fabricated from the sand shields.  So you won't normally see a Sherman with both these fittings and a complete set of sand shields.  This addition was largely unique to one unit - I mentioned this before.

We just wanted to show what can be "added" to make the M4A2 to become a Sherman Mk III.  Will be up to the modeller to decide how to assemble the kit.

   Great!!! I can't wait for the release of your M4A1!!!

[Rubicon Models]

This is the PRELIMINARY decal sheet designed for the upcoming M4A2 kits. We're asking for comments on possible improvements.  This is a tricky layout as it involves so many countries - USSR, Poland, New Zealand, Britain, and the Free French Forces.

Luckily USSR doesn't have many insignias to add (and can't afford to add slogans too), and most Commonwealth countries were sharing the same regiment numbers.  We are omitting a lot of items such as turret numbers and tank names, the problem is we have very limited space on this decal sheet!



Thank you!

[Pinky]

I haven't checked my references (we're moving, so my books are getting hard to find), but this looks like a good selection.  Again, the red star was rare even on Lend-Lease vehicles, so you could replace those with some more common Soviet markings. 

[ultravanillasmurf]

Do the division marks cover the major users of the Sherman III?

I am away and do not have access to my limited library.

[Pinky]

They seem to have most of them covered.  I haven't been able to check the regimental markings though.

[Rubicon Models]

They seem to have most of them covered.  I haven't been able to check the regimental markings though.

Think some of the service badges are not correct.  Need to cross-check again with some new books that are arriving.  If so, will have extra space to add some turret numbers.

[Pinky]

I dug out 'The New Breed' and a book on British equipment.

The arm of service marking (the square with the number in it) should be red (senior brigade) or green (junior brigade).  The red and blue unit sign is Royal Artillery and should be dropped.  Green over blue was reconnaissance - I don't think recon units used Shermans, so these are unnecessary.

For armoured divisions the numbers should be:

50 (Brigade HQ), 51, 52, 53 (regiments).  So these are correct.

8th Army and other middle east units used a different sequence, which carried on into the Italian campaign.

71 (Brigade HQ), 40, 86, 67 (regiments).  So these should all be available at least in red. 

The other numbers can be dropped.

[Rubicon Models]

@Pinky - yes, we have already dropped all the "non" red Arms of Service markings.  Will replace them with other appropriate decals, and repost for comment soon!

[Rubicon Models]

Based on feedback from this forum and from our FB Community page, we have revised the M4A2 decal sheet as follow:



Further comments?

[Pinky]

At risk of sounding like a broken record - how about some more markings for the M4A2(76mm)?  You've devoted a whole kit to a vehicle that mostly saw service with the Red Army, but it hardly has any decals.  In fact most of these decals are useless for the 76mm version.  Arguably you don't need Polish markings for this Sherman anyway - save them for the M4A4.  And the French markings are very incomplete, so you might as well just ditch them as well.

[Rubicon Models]

@Pinky, you might be correct in terms of reasoning, but creating a different decal sheet will upset our product costs estimates and packing procedure as well.

Anyway, here is a Soviet-only decal sheet for comments...
Will see how things progress over the next few days!



Comments please!

[ultravanillasmurf]

Za Rondiny!

Brings back memories of 'seventies comics.

I will  need to look at the Uncle Emcha book.

[Pinky]

@Pinky, you might be correct in terms of reasoning, but creating a different decal sheet will upset our product costs estimates and packing procedure as well.

I was suggesting that you simply drop some of the options from the decal sheet.  You're trying to cover too many bases, and ending up not doing justice to your 76mm version.  So I thought you should drop the Poles and the French, and focus on the British/Commonwealth and Soviets. 

I've also just realised that you don't have any US Marines markings at all, yet the Marines used the 75mm version of the M4A2 (the large hatch type was common in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns).  You'll presumably want a Marines version to compliment your forthcoming LVT models.  Marines Shermans didn't have a lot of markings - mostly call signs and tank names (the Marines had some good tank names!).

How about this:  cut down the number of British markings (arguably you don't need all the squadron symbols, or so many different arm of service markings).  Include some more Soviet markings - mostly turret numbers/symbols.  And include a few Marines markings.  That would cover the most important users, and the versions most likely to be required by wargamers.   

[Rubicon Models]

This is going to be the final version of the M4A2 decal sheet.  Will use the above "Soviet" sheet for the M4A2(76)W...



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