Sherman M4A1 with cast in appliqué armor using photogrammetry

[MonsieurTox]

MonsieurTox, you knowledge of electronics, of computerized drafting, of 3D printing all amaze me.



1000_F_64426925_tDrC4TpSEqUNndkEvnvEJbEopZXo9k4t.jpg


I just look at the photos and am stunned. If I ever get to Paris, I want to see your AFVs.

Thank you Herr Dr. Professor ! Well to be h onest electronics is not really something I'm good at and that's something I really want to improve someday !
You'd be very welcome if you ever come over here.

Never thought to simply cut out the M4A3 rear doors and replace with card! I've always worked for hours to chisel/scrape/grind/cry them off. Next time...

That hull looks fantastic, will be watching for updates.

Yeah sometimes, more is less work
I've chiseled details on the HL Panzer IV and StuG III to glue Trumpeter parts and it was a lot of work, here it was imply easier to remove a large portion. At first I only cut the door then I think , hmmm I'll have to fill the exhaust holes too... so lets cut bigger, put a single piece of styrene instead of one square and 2 roundels. It was a 10 min job !

[tankme]

Looks great.

[Ecam]

I ddi some research about the M4A1 small hatch with cast in appliqué armor. There's not a lot of pictures of them because only a few hundreds (out of 49000 shermans) have been produced.
Several of them became Canadian Grizzly, and most of the other have been used by British and Polish.
I haven't find a pic of one used by the US yet, nor by France.

Quick search on the Sherman Minutia site: http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minu ... /m4a1.html
...says over 6000 built. Do you mean a few hundred of the cast in appliqué armor? I know they were the earliest on the field and likely fewer surviving until the end of the conflict.

[MonsieurTox]

I ddi some research about the M4A1 small hatch with cast in appliqué armor. There's not a lot of pictures of them because only a few hundreds (out of 49000 shermans) have been produced.
Several of them became Canadian Grizzly, and most of the other have been used by British and Polish.
I haven't find a pic of one used by the US yet, nor by France.

Quick search on the Sherman Minutia site: http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minu ... /m4a1.html
...says over 6000 built. Do you mean a few hundred of the cast in appliqué armor? I know they were the earliest on the field and likely fewer surviving until the end of the conflict.

Yes a few hundred of the cast in appliqué armor with small hatches !

[ColemanCollector]

That Sherman Minutia site has been my go to Grizzly source for years. Great photos and comparisons to explain the...well...minutia! And you wander over to the other M4s, and the manufacturer differences, and the turret variables, and then you notice it's 2am.

Your M4A1 is a work of art Monsieur Tox! Really enjoyed the design process you detailed for all of us still struggling to get a good Benchy printed!

Mike.

[Ecam]

Ok that makes sense. I just got confused, really easy for me.

[Barmonkey]

This is awesome! Love the cast hull Shermans.

[MonsieurTox]

Ok that makes sense. I just got confused, really easy for me.

Eric, I won't blame you if you don't understand my english Don't worry, I'm sorry if it wasn't clear. Yeah the M4A1 (all versions) has been built in huge numbers, it's said it's been the first one and the last to be produced ! I don't know if it's true, but it's one of the variant you can see in any configurations possible !

This is awesome! Love the cast hull Shermans.

Thanks mate, I do love vast hull Shermans too ! I find them sexier than their weld hull counterparts !

That Sherman Minutia site has been my go to Grizzly source for years. Great photos and comparisons to explain the...well...minutia! And you wander over to the other M4s, and the manufacturer differences, and the turret variables, and then you notice it's 2am.

Same for me, I think I've read it 10 times (I mean every section), and I'm still discover or rediscover things (or understand better). But as you said, it's a bit like open a can of worms, because while you know the basics, everything was possible when it comes to the Sherman ! Every combination of hulls, turrets, guns, suspensions, idlers, road wheels, sprockets, tracks and so on was possible... not even taking in account the post war modified Shermans.

If you studied the Grizzly page you may have noticed something not accurate with my hull !

Grizzly_47.JPG (100.5 KiB) Viewed 237 times

Grizzly_51.JPG (67.28 KiB) Viewed 237 times

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minu ... izzly.html

There's a groove in the center of the rear of the hull made by General Steel...

And the one I used for photogrammetry did not but I 3D modeled and added the General Steel logo to it :

M4A1_18.jpg (51.62 KiB) Viewed 237 times

This is not accurate as General Steel stopped to make this groove (which was unique to them) when they switched to the production of the M4A1 hull with large hatches. This means the Sherman I used as reference has a hull that was probably manufactured by Continental Steel. But... I like the General Steel logo so much so I decided to include it in my 3D model, I thought I would be easier to sand it if I ever changed my mind aboout it than adding it.

Your M4A1 is a work of art Monsieur Tox! Really enjoyed the design process you detailed for all of us still struggling to get a good Benchy printed!

Mike.

Thanks Mike ! Haha I'm not sure I could even get a good benchy on my FDM printer to be honnest, I should recalibrate it.
You know I've been playing with photogrammetry for 10 years now, and it's been a long learning process, even now I don't always got the results I would have hoped, but I have a better comprehension of how to photograph the model to get good result and how to play with the settings of the software. I know I can get even better results but that will be for the next decades haha. I love to play with all that stuff, you learn new things every time ! I would like to make as many tanks as I could using this technique !

Julien

[Ecam]

Mr. Tox, your English is great, far better than mine at times.

[ColemanCollector]

The Grizzly Groove! Yes, I noticed its absence, but I'm not enough of a Shermaniac to say whether all small hatch cast hulls had one. Anyways, I was too busy drooling over the small hatch configuration up front! Plus the fact your hull has "The Look".
I have a Mato M4A1 hull with nice thick plastic (and the General [Grizzly] shield upfront--more Sherman Minutia fun there), so the groove is no problem to carve in. The large hatches to small hatches? Not so easy!
You've got mad skillz my man, mad skillz!

Mike.