Sherman M4A4 Upper and Lower Hull
1:35 #F051
Review by Terry Ashley
Consisting of 77 parts in the usual light cream resin the set gives you a new upper and lower hull casting with separate bolted transmission cover, rear upper and lower hull plates plus numerous other detail part and a short length of brass wire.
The quality of the casting is again excellent without any blemishes evident on any of the parts with just the usual casting blocks and some thin resin film to be removed before using the parts. The main large castings of the upper and lower hull are perfectly square without any warping which is excellent and helps during assembly while the resin blocks include the part numbers to help identification.
The upper hull casting is in one piece with the resin ‘fill’ inside
the turret ring and front hatches being quite thick which helps with the parts
rigidity before cleanup but will take a little effort to remove but the warp
free part is worth this.
The details on the hull are excellent with fine raised weld seams with casting
numbers on the hull top and glacis, drain holes in the various splash plates
and fine bolt head details on the engine decking while all detail items are
separate parts.
Those provided in this set include the separate fuel filler caps, lifting eyes,
ventilator covers, open grouser vent covers, three part periscopes, tail lights
and steel cable clips plus the front crew hatches.
There are also the front fenders and separate appliqué armour panels to use as required with the rear hull plate also being separate to give the join line and plate details and a British style storage box sometimes fitted to the rear hull plate.
Additional parts can be used from the donor kits or other Formations sets such as Sherman Detail set #F005 while for the turret you can again use the kit turret or any of the Formations turrets (Sets #F003, #F017 or #F030) depending on the model being built as well as any available etched set for things like the headlight guards and grouser cover mesh.
The lower hull tub has the bottom, sides and sponson fillers included with
as mentioned separate rear plate and transmission cover and features excellent
underside details while the suspension mounting plates are designed to accept
the bogies from Dragon Firefly kit #6182 but any other suspension can be used
with minor modifications.
The detail on the rear hull plate is also excellent with doors, upper intake
mesh (cast as solid with mesh embossing) and weld seam details as well as fine
casting numbers on the lower edge with provision for the new idler wheel mounts.
The idler mountings are in three parts per side and are designed so the axle can be re-positioned which is just the thing for fitting any of the available aftermarket individual track sets but it not recommended for vinyl kit track as the tension will be too great for the axle join unless this is reinforced. This idler mount set has also been released separately as set #F052 if you just want these for other kits?
The front transmission cover again has excellent details with raised bullet splash and finely defined bolt head details on the transmission cover joining flanges and upper bolt strip. There are also very fine casting numbers and the underside grease plug details and outer final drive covers included for a nicely detailed transmission cover.
The fit of the main resin parts will require some minor trimming to get a good fit but nothing out of the ordinary for a resin set and the adjustments are only minor while the additional detail parts from the donor kit or elsewhere are only smaller detail items and should fit without problems as will the selected turret.
The instructions are on two letter sized pages with text notes and drawings showing the location of the parts and are quite adequate as most Shermaholics will know where the parts go in any case.
Conclusion:
Another superb update set Formations with excellent details on the parts and
blemish free castings that will provide you with an accurate M4A4 and can
be combined with the Formations Firelfy detail set #F021 for a fully detailed
Firefly.
You will have to provide additional items such as the turret, suspension and
some other details from elsewhere but the set has all the necessary parts for
a detailed M4A4 main hull.
Highly recommended
References:
| Sherman Firefly Mark Hayward  |
Sherman VC M4A4 Firefly Military Ordnance Special No.19  |
British Tanks
of WWII (1) Concord #7027  |
| SHERMAN A History
of the American Medium Tank R.P.Hunnicutt. Presidio Books ISBN 0-89141-080-5  |
Modeler's Guide
to the Sherman MMIR Special. Ampersand Publishing Company, Inc  |
Check the Formations website for details of other update sets available and thanks to Rob for the review sample.
Page created 19 June 2005