SPA Modeler

I made it down to Dallas and am looking for a home. It's tough to find something while competing with the investors. They have the money, I don't. As soon as I find a place and settle in, I'll get back to the bench.
I do have a question about PTO armor and I'm sure someone knows the answer, Stick.
Is the M4 Sherman that we used in Europe the same as was used in the Pacific, same tracks and all?

I've been having a hankering to do a PTO Sherman.
Steve

Good luck on the home hunting Steve.

As far as PTO Sherman’s go, the answers is yes and no. In US service, some versions of the tank were used in Europe, but not used in the PTO, and vice versa. As far as tracks go, pretty much all types were used in both theaters.

Here’s a quick rundown of versions and their PTO service
M4, early & mid production, not really used in PTO
M4 Composite Hull, used by US Army late 1944 to VJ Day
M4 105mm, used by US Army 1945
M4A1, early & mid production, briefly used by USMC in Solomons on Bougainville. Widely used by US Army late 1943 onwards
M4A1 76mm, not used in PTO
M4A2 mid production, used by USMC only, Tarawa to Iwo Jima
M4A2 75mm late, used by USMC Peliliu to Okinawa
M4A2 76mm, not used in PTO
M4A3 early & mid production, not used in PTO
M4A3 75mm late, used by USMC Iwo Jima, Okinawa, US Army late 1944 on in Philippines and at Okinawa
M4A3 76mm, not used in PTO

M4A4 not used by US forces

Thank you my friend, I knew you had the answers
IS the Tamiya M4A3 a candidate for Iwo and Okinawa? If not, which kit would you suggest in 1/35?
On a a whim, I bought some Tuskmodel US PTO Marines and wanted to have a vehicle for them to walk behind. What other vehicles were used besides the Jeep, M3?

The Tamiya M4A3 will work for an Iwo Jima or Okinawa USMC tank, but the Italeri, Academy, or Dragon M4A3 kits would each be better. All three of those kits come with the plank armor and other fittings added by the Marines in those battles. If you use the Tamiya kit, you’ll have to source that stuff from AM providers, or scratch build your own.







As far as what other vehicles you could use alongside? Pretty much any of the common wheeled types: jeep, amphibious jeep, DUKW, CCKW, WC family, plus a most any of the LVT-2, LVT-4, LVT(A)-1, LVT(A)-4 Amtracs/Amtanks. The Marines also started using M7 HMCs at Okinawa. I believe that they had phased out their light tanks from their tank battalions by 1945

Thanks Stick

Sweet information Carlos! Now I need to see about getting some of those other Sherman variants for my USMC in my scale. My Marines need more tanks!

Since the latest acquisitions thread seems to be locked, I'll put them here.

My latest addition, well not yet exactly, is a 1/1 1750 sq ft house in northern Texas. It's a....how should I say, glue bomb that I'll need to take apart, clean up and reassemble. That should take a few years to complete but assuming my closing date stays and the loan passes the underwriters (less that $100K than I was pre qualled for). I'll be moving my goods and my precious stash in on the 28th.

Besides that, I have been a busy guy.

Most were bought during Sprue Bros sales.













I ordered some Pacific Marines walking up a road from Tusk so (of course) I needed something to go with them. I'll get the AM wood planks for the sides.

gonna need another box! Glad you are making progress.

Nice!!

Good to here from you, Steve, by the way congrats for getting your USS Puffer diorama in the current Great Scale Modeling magazine. Puts my XP-59 to shame, which is also in there.