Sherman Mk 1 Hybrid Hull
(M4 Composite)
for Dragon M4 and M4A1 Sherman Kits

Review by Stephen 'Tank Whisperer' Brezinski - sbrez(at)suscom-maine(dot)net
Edited by Rob Haelterman

This Sherman conversion set is designed to convert our regular 1/72-scale M4 or M4A1 kits into a Sherman 1c Firefly Hybrid kit, i.e. a 17 Pounder armed M4 Composite hull in US Army vernacular. The term “Hybrid” is a British term. This is one of my favorite Sherman variants!

By looking at the hull we can see that it consists of the front 1/3 of the cast large-hatch M4A1 hull and the rear 2/3 of the welded M4 hull. This combination allowed less welding and faster assembly of the tank. The composite hull was first produced with the small hatch cast hull but the large majority were with the large driver’s hatches. Even though it is a large-hatch M4 it has the original dry ammunition storage in the hull sponsons, hence the three appliqué armor plates on the hull sides.

This conversion kit is designed for the Dragon kits with VVSS bogies but I recommend we use the Trumpeter M4A3 kit with VVSS suspension as the Trumpeter model is a decent kit and the Dragon hulls are just too nice to not use.

I have not seen this composite hull used with the wide HVSS bogies but there could have been post war upgrades.

In the above scan are the 11 cast resin kit parts. Molding and casting is very good with just a little sanding to clean up a few edges. At far left, we see the two hull storage boxes included. The larger storage box at the bottom left was mounted on the hull rear but was particular to the Firefly Vc which is based on the M4A4 tank. This storage box was not standard to the Firefly 1c, the subject of this conversion.

The upper left, smaller storage box mounts on the rear engine deck of the Firefly 1c so would be normal for this Firefly 1c Hybrid. Check you references as there could be field modifications and exceptions.

In the center we have two small spare-track brackets that mount on the glacis plates below the driver’s hatches. Below center there are two long strips of spare track. These lengths of track could be mounted on the front, or after being bent in hot water attached around the Firefly turret. Again, check reference photos, as there could be great variation in applying spare track as supplemental armor. On the other pour plug are the two hatches and front fenders.

The hull piece has the features of the Firefly: the long (gun cleaning?) rod on the left side of the engine deck and the 17 Pounder gun travel lock lying down on the engine deck. Particular to British Shermans and Fireflies are the two bottle-shaped fire extinguishers mounted on the rear corners of the engine deck. On the left of the rear plate is a small (first aid?) box.

On the sides of the resin hull we see the three applique armor plates, characteristic of dry ammunition storage in the hull sponsons. The only problem, though not major, is that the weld seams between the cast and the welded hull sections appear too prominent for the scale. On most composite hull Shermans the hull weld seam should run through the right front appliqué armor plate indicating the appliqué armor was of two pieces; 72nd Brigade depicts this appliqué plate covering the hull weld. A third variation I’ve seen is the appliqué plate with a split with no weld connecting the two plate parts.

Here is the 72Brigade hull next to the DML early-mid M4 hull from their Firefly 1c kit. The gap between the engine plates of the resin kit appears too great. Many parts to complete the model will need to come from the plastic donor kit.

To use an M4 or M4A3 lower hull with the 72nd Brigade upper hull we’ll have to trim off the front corners of the sponson, and perhaps some off the rear. An M4A1 lower hull should drop right in with little trimming. This photo has the 72nd Brigade M4 composite hull with the Trumpeter M4A3 kit. Remember, the M4 Composite/Hybrid was produced with the mid-late war one-piece wedge shaped differential cover so we’ll have to use a mid to late war production M4A1 or M4A3 model donor kit.

Other Possibilities
It would not be difficult to convert this hull to an M4(75) gun tank in US or UK service by cutting and sanding off the external fire extinguishers, the gun travel lock, and the armor plug for the bow machine gun position.

The turret used on the Hybrid (composite hull) could be the low bustle with split hatch, high bustle with split hatch, or high bustle with all-round vision cupola. The turret should have the cast in cheek armor; it should not have welded on appliqué cheek armor plate. The 75-mm gun’s mantlet (rotor shield) should be the wide M34A1 type.

References

• Sherman 1c Firefly, Armor Photogallery #21, by Wojciech Gawrych, Model Centrum Progress (2009) ISBN 978-83-60672-10-5
• Sherman In Action, Armor No. 16, by Bruce Culver, Squadron Signal Publications. First published in 1977 this reference book has recently been updated.
• http://www.detailmaniacs.com/
• http://www.ebay.com/sch/72ndbrigade/m.html?_ipg=50&_sop=12&_rdc=1

Article Last Updated: 22 January 2013