Any Idea What I Can Use In terms Of Making Spikes For The Hatches On A M4A2 USMC Sherman And What Size Should The Spikes be Cause I’m Terrible At Measuring LOL
Heated stretched sprue will do.
IIRC, the spike were nails welded to the hatches. Probably obtained from construction units. If stretching sprue isn’t your thing, you could probably get the thinnest Evergreen Rod styrene to cut to length and glue them in place.
What are those for?
stand off. The Japanese infantry anti tank teams would place satchel charges on the hatches, then pry them open after the charge exploded. The Marines improvised cages or spikes as a countermeasure. USMC M4s at Iwo Jima and Okinawa carried various stuff like this on hatches.
Thanks, I wasn’t sure as I don’t remember seeing this on ETO tanks.
I specify this stuff for the same reason…
https://www.nixalite.com/products/premium-nixalite-bird-spikes
The Japanese army had no real hand held anti tank weapons for their infantry. They were reduced to using “lunge mines”, a mine on a pole that the bearer used like a bayonet into the side of the tank, and satchel charges on hatches. In Europe, the Germans had Panzerfausts, Panzerschreks, mines of all sorts, even anti tank rifles, and multiple other AT weapons at their disposal. So no need for the Germans to resort to the desperate swarm tactics adapted by the IJA to stop American armor.
Cut fine copper wire strands to length and glue them to the hatches. It would be tedious like drilling out the holes for the dive brakes on a 1/48 Monogram SBD.
I think using narrow Evergreen rod or copper wire is preferable due to consistency in diameter.
I would make an L-shaped jig our of sheet styrene with the Y-axis (horizontal) arm the length you want the nails.
3" nails would be about 2.2mm
5" nails would be 3.6mm
Then place the rod/wire into the elbow bend of your jig, and cut them at the end of the arm – this gives you a uniform length of your “nails”
SeaBEEs had 16d (3.5") mails by the keg, but the 40d (5") amd 60d (6") spikes weremeant to only be used to need and were in limited quantity. There was, allegedly, an order to SeaBEEs to prevent “excessive loss” of the spikes, which happened due to Marine use on tanks.
And, it was mostly due to how the spikes were packaged, boxes in wooden crates, rather than like nails, which were in kegs (which held 10 gross or so). SeaBEEs had a limted number of 8" & 10" spikes for certain construction items.