Need a Sherman Expert! Kelley's Heroes Tank

[Jnewboy]

In the book Osprey Modelling number 40 Modelling the US Army M4 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank on page 62 it states "A handful or M4A3 (75mm) were rearmed with the 76mm in February of 1945". It then shows this model.





This stands in contrast to many other unconfirmed sources that state that these modifications were done post-war. Such as the M4A3e4 which was given to allied countries after the war.

I am interested in this as a project but only if this information in the Osprey Book is correct and these were used in WWII. I only do WWII models as far as tanks go. A very similar tank was used in the movie Kelley's Heroes however it had no flash suppressor and in the movie as many of you recall Oddball states that the extra long barrel is just a pipe he welded on the end to scare the Germans. The ones used in the movie were all late-war or post war Shermans that we gave the Yugoslavians, and they had been rearmed with the long 76mm main guns.

Is the Osprey book correct? were they used in combat?

If anyone can shed some light on this I would appreciate it.

[PainlessWolf]

Good evening,
I'm no expert but there were a number of 76mm gun tanks used in the last year of the war. Most were like Sgt. Lafayette Poole's 'In The Mood', an M4A1 76(W), the tank that the current Mato Sherman is based off of. Some were M4A3 based but those tanks did not have the barrel
Flash Suppressors installed yet, just a band over the end of the barrel to protect the threading. Good luck with your build. It sounds like fun. ;o)
Regards.
Painless

[ALPHA]

Hello Jnewboy...looks like you're on the right track...but if you are going to build Oddball's tank... follow the movie first... then look for small details later...and even then it has it's difficulties... I model GIRLS UND PANZER...which has older models of tanks ... so finding one in RC is difficult,,, I just finished a Sherman..attempting to make a close replica.. I know it has some defects in the variant... but I can live with them... fortunately for you.. the Hollywood studios didn't defer from the Sherman itself... but added little details to it.... You do seem to have the correct variant ... all that is missing is the speaker





Another lucky thing for you is... the model has been done many times... in all scales... I even know someone who is making one himself... I will see if he will chime in to help you

ALPHA

[Swamprat33]

Hi guys, I bought a Tamiya M4 Sherman a few months ago that was adorned with Kelly's Heroes stuff.
The tank was completely standard which was of course totally wrong and is now being converted to a British Sherman 3.

Anyway, I have a package for sale if anyone wants to buy them.
Watering can, lamp and speaker and maybe a few extra bits.

Anyway, these bits should certainly get you started on the conversion.
Pm if interested.

Tim

[sassgrunt]

There's a discussion about this subject on Missing Lynx that you will find useful. -Mike

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/th ... 9%2Apic%2A

Also, this later message thread has a photograph of the one they're talking about in the first thread.

http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/th ... B+markings

[Jnewboy]

Thanks to all!! It is nice to be in the company of individuals who know their history. In the last post a link to this picture was very helpful!



This picture is great as it shows American GI's near it and perhaps another Sherman coming up the street on the left but all you can see are American GI's riding something large. It’s defiantly war time, even if it is just mopping up its good enough for me to do the project. Mine will look like the model featured in the Osprey book.

If I gave the impression I wanted to build the Kelley's Heroes tank I'm sorry, I only mentioned it as a reference to a similar tank however a Kelley's Heroes Tank would be very fun! Especially if I could rig it up to play the music from the movie.