Saturday, April 28, 2012 Could you guess what it was before looking? Here comes another oldie and goodie by Airfix, the M4 Sherman. My first one was assembled early 1967. The ones here were assembled 1988 and represent a Sherman in North Africa and a Sherman after D-Day. The M4 Sherman was designed to replace the M3 Lee/Grant tank from which it was developed. It was designed to be a “cruiser” tank, a role that quickly changed. The first Sherman tanks were sent to Britain for action in North Africa, first seeing action in October 1942 (Second Battle of El Alamein). It was at that time able to defeat the PZ Mk III with long 50 mm. L/60 gun, and the Pz Mk IV with short 75 mm. L/24 gun. Later up-armouring and up-gunning of these German tanks made for more difficult encounters. Designed 1940 – 1941 Production – 1942 – 1955 Some 53,000 were made, including variants Length – 19 feet 2 inches Width – 8 feet 7 inches Height – 9 feet Weight – 33.4 tons Armour – 51 mm. front (later up-graded), sides 38 – 45 mm., 76 mm. gun mantle, turret sides 50 mm. Armament – One turret mounted 75 mm. M3 L/40 gun (same as in the M3 Lee/Grant tank), 90 rounds Muzzle velocity – 2,031 ft./sec. (619 meters/sec.) Penetration – 76 mm. vertical at 457 meters One 0.50 caliber Browning M2HB macine gun (commander’s hatch), 300 rounds or two 0.30-06 Browning M1919A4 machine guns (hull and coaxial mounts), 4,750 rounds Engine – gasoline, 30 cylinder 21 liter multibank Horsepower – 470 hp Suspension – vertical volute spring Speed – 25 to 30 mph (40 – 48 km per hour) Range – 120 miles (193 km.) on 175 US gallons (660 litres) ENJOY!