M4A3E8 HVSS rear gas deflector

[Jhaelen]

Good afternoon fellows

I wonder if one of you knowledgable gentlmen could help with a question that i am struggling to find the answer to.

I am building an M4A3E8 from the Tamiya full option kit and have been using alot of the ideas for the coversion from these great forums.

i've merged the rear deck and back plate from a Heng long M4A3 onto the Tamiya hull top, strengthened what i have done and applied some filler to neaten it up and have the lower hull pretty much built.

I am looking at the rear and have extended the rear plate back a bit. i am struggling to know which type of gas deflector I should be adding for a WW2 Easy eight.

Should if be
1. the full length gas deflector with straight vertical slats?
2. The full length gas deflector with the centre slats that gradually align to the right?
3. The split in half gas deflector which is hinged at the top and either side can be moved instead of the whole diffuser.

I hope i have described them correctly so you know what i am on about.

Any advice would be most greatfully received.

Thanks

Brian

[PainlessWolf]

Good morning,
http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/
regards,
Painless

[Jhaelen]

Thanks for the link to the sherman site Painless.

I've had a good look there and it shows that the gas deflector for the M4A3E8 was the split deflector that was attached with hinges at the top and came in two halves.

I found on another site however that this gas deflector was very late war and probably did not make it to the European Theatre before the end of the war.....is this correct?

And if this is the case then which gas deflector would have been on most of the M4A3E8's in Europe in late 1944 and early 1945 ?

Thanks again

Brian

[PainlessWolf]

Good afternoon,
I have an M4A3 105mm with the split deflector that is late war. That Sherman site will advise as to types of almost everything used on these machines and from when it was used to which plant manufactured it. If you plan to build an earlier model Easy 8, see which deflector was used. Those were 'late' war also and should have come with the split deflector and the HVSS suspensions. Have fun, thats the most important point.
regards,
Painless

[Jhaelen]

Brilliant thanks Painless

This is my first real go at 1/16 scale ( I do have a Tiger 1 on the go too) so i want to get things right on the tanks and am trying to scratch build bits (which again something new to me).

I am enjoying evry minute of it, apart from the moments i turn the air blue when i cock something up, still as a hobby its lowering my stress levels and thats the main thing.

Does the website have blueprints for the various bits hidden somewhere within its depths? Or should i just go from the reference photos and a bit of scale guesswork?

Thanks again Painless

Cheers

Brian

[PainlessWolf]

Good evening,
Most of the fellows here just scale. It is an effective way to produce the right size part.
regards,
Painless