1/72 Shermans - the good, the bad, and the ugly?

Modeling Subjects Armor
1

I’m certain this is a question asked almost weekly, but here goes again.

I’ve built the 1/76 Airfix M4 Sherman as a way to seriously jump into small-scale armor, with results that satisfied me. It also served another test-run on getting used to airbrushing and getting those necessary skills. So now I’d like to fully leap into building a 1/72 Sherman, but I have no idea what to choose.

In my much younger days I built the Hasegawa 1/72 M4A3E8 and the Revell 1/72 M4A1. I remember not really enjoying the end result of the latter. The decal for the stars attempted to be chipped, but it appeared overdone to me at the time- quite a far cry from the ‘prototype’ depicted on the side. Oh well, I was superficial.

So now that I’m coming back into scale modeling after a five-year hiatus, what are some of the best Sherman kits available on the market? And what should I stay away from?

(I know Airfix gets some tough love, but for the life of me I can’t figure out why it’s such a joy to build their Sherman tanks. There’s even something appealing about the old box-art. )

2

Everything you need to know about 1/72 scale Sherman tank modeling is found on Doug Chaltry’s site, Modeling the Sherman tank in 1/72 Scale: http://www.172shermans.com/index.htm#Table%20of%20Contents

Doug is also the creator/founder of the best 1/72 scale armor modeling site: On The Way!
http://www.onthewaymodels.com/index.html

Between the two sites, you’ll find virtually everything you need to know about modeling the Sherman in 1/72 scale.

In a nutshell

  • the Eduard/ExtraTech kits were overpriced flops
  • the Revell/Matchbox/Monogram M4A1 was inaccurate/misshapen
  • the Hasegawa M4A3E8 was overscaled
  • Airfix M4 was simplified/crude and 1/76, not 1/72
  • Esci/AMT/Ertl/Italeri M4A1 was decent but a rare variant (the ultra-rare Esci M4A3 was more accurate)
  • Dragon kits are the way to go, you really can’t go wrong choosing their kit over another of the same variant
  • UM (UniModel) has some decent variants with some issues
  • Trumpeter has a pretty good M4A3 and M4A3E8 but with some simplified, molded on details
3

1/72 scale armor is my favorite form of model building. I’ve built many versions of the Airfix and Hasegawa kits and liked neither of them. I once added VAC-U-CAST sandbag armor to an Airfix kit, and that wasn’t all that unfun.

Recently I built the Dragon 1/72 M4A3 105mm HVSS Sherman, and the judges seem to like it at competition. It is so much better than the old Airfix and Hasegawa kits. I’d pick up a Dragon kit and give it a go.

I have an Extratech 105mm, but I haven’t attempted to build it yet.