My kit should be here any day now [:D] but I’ve got a few questions before the build. I’ve been reading a bunch about these tanks and have almost decided how I want it to look. I’m thinking either French or US, but I want it to be one of the few Shermans that made it. I saw a neat article on adding dents etc, using a warm soldering iron or something. Does anyone tried/read anything on this? Also, because I want it to be a lasting Sherman I’d like it to have the added aplique armor, but this will make it inaccurate will it not? The added armor was on older tanks with dry stowage and the M4A3 with the 105mm Howitzer would have had wet-storage would it not? Please help me come to a decision, this is my first build and I want some input! Thanks everyone!
Is this your first armor model ever? If so, then try to build it out of the box. Tamiya’s kit builds up nicely and is pretty accurate.
For applique armor, none was affixed to the M4A3 (105). Even though it was dry stowage, planners deemed the howitzer tank as not needing applique. Leave it off.
As for dents using heat: don’t do it. If a round gouged a hole into a tanks armor, maintenance crews would patch it up and re-paint the area.
Later on, if you want to make the kit more accurate, you can refer to this article (on the 75mm armed Tamiya M4A3). http://www.usarmymodels.com/MANUFACTURERS/Tamiya/tamiya35122.html
Enjoy the kit!