The M4 Sherman medium tank was the second most produced tank during the war (after the Russian T-34), with some 49,234 M4s and M4 variants built. The Sherman was reliable, relatively inexpensive to build and easy to mass produce; it became the backbone of the Unites States armoured forces. The Sherman M4A3 was the fourth model in the M4 tank series; the M4A3 had a welded hull and was powered by the Ford GAA V8 gasoline engine. The Sherman M4A3(76)W was an upgraded variant of the M4A3 armed with a more powerful 76 mm tank gun and equipped with ‘wet’ ammunition stowage bins.
The Sherman M4A3E2 Assault Tank, best known by the post-war nickname the ‘Sherman Jumbo’, was an up-armoured variant of the Sherman M4A3 tank. Extra armour was added to the M4A3 Sherman and a larger/heavier turret was installed. The up-armoured Sherman was created due to the need for a heavily armoured assault tank in the European Theatre and time constraints in designing a new tank for this role.
Italeri produces ‘fast assembly’ 1/72 scale Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’ and Sherman M4A3 76mm model kits. While the two kits have different turret/gun sprues, both kits share the same hull sprue.
I built and painted two M4A3 variant model kits: One kit came with the Battle of Bastogne box set (this kit contains both the M4A3 76 mm turret and the M4A3E2 turret) and the other kit was the Sherman M4A3 76mm model set (which only contained the M4A3 76 mm turret). Since the Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’ was uncommon (only 254 M4A3E2s were built, accounting for less than 1 percent of the total M4s produced), I built only one of the M4A3s as a ‘Sherman Jumbo’ and the other three as M4A3(76)W variants.
Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’: Front
Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’: Side 1
Sherman M4A3E2 ‘Jumbo’: Side 2
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Front
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 1
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 2
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Front
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 1
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 2
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Front
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 1
Sherman M4A3(76)W: Side 2
The images below could be found in the American Armour section of Citizen Soldiers: A 1/72 scale World War 2 Model Site.
Citizen Soldiers: A 1/72 scale World War 2 Model Site is devoted to the hobby of painting and collecting World War 2 models/miniatures. It is my hope, through creating this website, to honour the men and women who served in the Second World War, whose sacrifices and courage have given us the freedom and quality of life we have today.
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