i’m looking for info on the white stars on eatly shermans. i know that on the right side they had one one the turrent and the hull, and the kit instructions have on on the top of the turret by the commanders cupola, is there two also on the left side? for a total of 6? including the one on the front glascis plate?
Hey Roo…If your Shermy has stars on the right, it stands to reason that they’d be repeated on the left–they were, after all, used for ID. In December 1942, the yellow “stars andd bars” on AFV’s was changed to white for greater visibility (panzer crews said “thanks!”) A 20-inch turret star was on the left top of the turret, point forward, and a 60-inch star went on the engine deck. This is typical for Shermans in North Africa. In Italy you’d se the turret star with a 4-inch band around it.Check some visual references though; a lot of my references show no side stars at all, so don’t be too quick to decal whayever ya got without spending some time in your library,
Doog is right about consulting photographic references. Stars were applied at the unit level so there was naturally some variation.
Didn’t the white or yellow band around the turret denote a command vehicle?
Nope, in the 1st Armored Div.,platoons were designated by BARREL bands, in company colors; command tanks had a half-band.
Many times the Tankers in the field would spray over the Stars as they found out the hard way that the Stars gave the German gunners a great target to aim at. [:O] [:-^]