Easy Eight

Historical Background

The US Army followed the events in Europe 1939-1940 and decided that their current medium tank the M2, was obsolete to face contemporary battlefield challenges and designed the M3 Medium Tank (later nicknamed Lee/Grant). The M3 was a stop-gap measure, with the main 75 mm gun in a right-side sponson with limited field of fire. In late August 1940, the Ordnance Department submitted characteristics for a new design to replace the M3. Development of the prototype was delayed to allow the M3 design to be finished and enter production. On 18 April 1941, the Ordnance Department chose the simplest design, called the T6. It was basically a modified M3 hull and chassis and mounted a fully-rotating turret armed with the M3 75 mm gun. The design borrowed many features from existing tank design such as the vertical volute spring suspension, rubberised track links and the usage of Continental R975 radial engine. The T6 prototype was completed on 2 September 1941 and production commenced in the next month.

The production M4s were kept as close as possible to the M3, including the tracks, suspension and transmission. The hull upper hull however was changed to cast type and the side entry door was eliminated. The lower hull was made of large welded parts with the bogies bolted to the hull to ease maintenance and repair. The upper hull was cast for the M4A1 version and welded for the rest of the variants (plus the cast front and welded rear 'composite hull' M4). The M4 was powered by a Continental R975 air-cooled radial petrol engine rated at 400 hp. 660 liters of petrol was carried, allowing a range of 195 km. Later versions was powered by Ford V8 petrol or General Motors diesel engine. The frontal armour was 51 mm thick while the turret front was between 64 mm to 76 mm, The front upper hull was angled at 56 degrees with the lower half rounded, making the armour effective against most early war anti-tank weapons. Even so, the early versions had shot traps, located just in front of the driver and co-driver's positions.

The M4, nicknamed Sherman (after General William Tecumseh Sherman) was originally armed with a L/40 M3 75 mm gun. The standard M61 round fired by this gun can penetrate 87 mm of RHA at 100 meters and 70 mm at 1,000 meters, sufficient to destroy Panzer IIIs and IVs. After protracted development, the Sherman was later armed with a more powerful M1/M1A2 76 mm gun, in a new T23 turret, giving it at least a parity with L/48-armed Panzer IVs. The main armament was backed by two Browning M1919 machine guns; one co-axial with  with the main gun and another in the hull. 60 rounds was provided for the main gun with the machine guns shared 4,750 rounds between them. For anti-aircraft and further anti-infantry/soft-skin capability, a Browning M2 12.7 mm machine gun can be mounted on the roof.  The Sherman was manned by a crew of five: commander, gunner, loader, driver and assistant driver/hull gunner. Each of the crew members had a periscope to allow 360-degree view of the outside.

Production began at the Lima Locomotive Works, Lima, Ohio with all the first production tanks going to the British Army. By the end of the war, ten other production lines were opened, delivering some 48,000 M4s. The Sherman was produced in a  number of variants but the most produced ,a nd the preferred model by the US Army was the M4A3. The M4A3 was basically the same with the M4 but was powered by a Ford GAA V-8 engine. The early M4A3s were armed with a shorter (L/31) M2 75 mm gun, which was later replaced with the L/40 M3 gun. Late versions of the M4A3 was armed with the more powerful M1/M1A1 76 mm gun. Work was also done to improve the Sherman's ride qualities and  this resulted in the finalization of the Horizontal Volute-Spring Suspension or HVSS.  Wider track was also included with the HVSS system. While this resulted in a heavier and wider vehicle, the ground pressure is reduced. The HVSS was applied to the late M4A3 variant and resulted in the M4A3(76)W HVSS or M4A3E8. The latter designation, coupled with the easier ride of the HVSS gave rise to the 'Easy Eight' nickname for this variant. A total of 2,617 M4A3E8 were built between by Detroit Tank Arsenal between August 1944 and April 1944.

The Sherman was originally issued in small numbers to familiarise the US Armored Divisions. American Shermans saw their first combat during Operation Torch in November 1942. The M4A1 (and the original M4) were the prime variants used by the US Army until the introduction of the M4A3 with a more powerful (500 hp) engine. The Easy Eight saw their first action during The Battle Of The Bulge. As individual tanks, the Sherman was inferior to the German tanks such as the Panther being weakly armed (at least for the early version) and thinly armoured. As a type however, it was superior to the German panzers, being reliable, easy to maintain and more mobile than the ponderous Tigers. Easy Eight were retained by the US Army post-World War 2 and saw combat again during the Korean War.

The Kit

In the 1970s, Tamiya came up with their kit of the Easy Eight and it is suffice to say that it is a collector's item. Although Tamiya released a number of new mould 'mainstream' M4A3s in the late 90s and the early Noughties, the M4A3E8 remain unkitted by them. In 2014, they released the re-boxed Asuka kit and eventually, in 2015, they released their own kit of the Easy Eight. This kit is packed inside a rather small (for a 1/35 WW2-era medium tank kit) box. Opening up the box, there are just six olive-colored sprues, one clear sprue, lower hull, turret shell, a pair of band-style rubber tracks, decals, poly caps and the instruction sheet. Obviously many parts, especially the HVSS were simplified, but the existing details are sufficient for many modellers. The relevant parts also has convincing cast texture moulded. Being a Tamiya kit, I don't expect any complications during construction. The decal sheet markings for two Easy Eights (the difference between the two is that one of them sports a blacked-out Allied Star).

Construction

Instead of a single hull pan, Tamiya has the lower hull as a multi-part assembly. The left and right side pieces have a further sub-piece which need to be cemented first. The joint between the side pieces and the bottom piece is reinforced by part P2. Apparently the engine bulkhead, Tamiya moulded holes in it for the non-existant engine (although they may be useful for those who wants more details for their model). The rear hull panel were next. No problem here but Tamiya apparently forgot to include the engine access door in their instructions. The part is however easily identified on the sprue. Moving to the transmission cover, I lost Part L9 to the Carpet Monster and have to fashion a replacement (badly!) using scrap plastic. The exhaust deflectors were assembled but I couldn't orient them in place. I'm not sure myself, but I think that the position for R17 and R18 should be swapped (either that or I somehow got it wrong while trying to insert it in place!). In the end, I just cut off the tabs and glued the deflector in place.

As mentioned before, the HVSS suspension is one of the items simplified in the Tamiya kit. While this means no articulation and lesser details, it makes up for a quick and hassle-free build. The main suspension unit consists of just four parts per bogie (not including the wheels and the mount). They were quickly assembled but for a short while was set aside as I wanted to do some weathering on the lower hull. The tracks were painted beforehand using AK Interactive Track Primer, followed by the same company's Track Wash. The tracks were later drybrushed silver. The ends can be joined together using regular hobby cement but I stick to using cyanoarcyclate glue. The tracks for my kit is a bit warped at the ends but it was easily rectified by cement. They fit without problem and the orientat

The upper hull is designed so that it can be attached to the lower without cement. Tamiya did this by using a clip at the front and a large pin which slots into a poly cap arrangement at the rear. The hull sponson, which was hollow in previous Tamiya (in-house) Sherman kits is closed by the fenders. The latter is also made stable with a spacer. Holes for the lifting lugs at the front hull were the drilled. And just to get the repetitive out of the way, the fender braces were cemented first. Since I intended to have the crew hatches shut, the periscopes were left off. While the front lifting lugs were moulded 'whole', the rear pair were moulded in half, and were to be cemented to stubs on the rear deck. Most of the fittings on the upper hull were then cemented but I temporarily left the pioneer tools and spare track links off to ease painting. The rear hull rack, while assembled, was also left off at this time. The upper hull was then attached to the lower hull. I applied a bit of Tamiya Thin Cement to close the few tiny gaps along the joint.

Painting and Decalling

There is just one colour used for US World War 2 era vehicles. This time I used Vallejo Air 743 Olive Drab. I was thinking of adding a brown filter after the initial paint layer has dried but apparently (according to Tamiya), late-war OD have a more greenish hue than the OD used earlier. So I ditched the brown filter. Wash solution from AK Interactive was then used to visually raise the details. The tools were also painted while still on the sprue although I used sand yellow to paint the wooden handles. Once dried, brown wash was used to make them look more like wood. Afterwards, it was time for the decals. As mentioned before, the markings selection is very bland with just two anonymous Easy Eights from the 4th and the 5th Armoured Divisions. While the majority of M4A3E8s at the time were indeed devoid of personalised markings, I wonder why didn't Tamiya pick the ones with those markings. I tried to make it look more interesting by using markings from the 4th AD with the blacked out US stars on the turret. With just four pieces of decals, this process took less than 10 minutes! 

Finishing

I brown-washed a pair of wood piece and placed them on the front of the hull (the bracket of this purpose has already been moulded in place). The model then received the usual wash and I tried the streaking method for this model. The running gear and the tracks received a rather thick pasting of Vallejo Dark Mud. Parts where the muddy boots of the crew stepped on the tank were splattered with a light mud solution. Afterwards, tank supplies using parts from Academy, Tamiya, Hero and the stash were placed on the relevant parts of the model. To hang the stuff on the turret, I cemented a length of plastic rod on the right side of the turret. I then robbed the metal tow cable from my broken Dragon M4A3(76) and placed it on the model. The commander's machine gun and the gun cradle were replaced with spares from Dragon's Sherman Firefly The original kit's cradle was cut and replaced. Since the I chose the markings for a tank in Bastogne during the Battle Of The Bulge,, I think I wanted to add some 'snow'. Using a mixture of water and white glue as adhesive, I sprinkled (and also mixing it with the aforementioned adhesive) sodium bicarbonate on the tracks, road wheels and at various points on the model.

Conclusion

If you want to punish yourself build an intricate kit with all the bells, whistles and screws, this model is not for you. The Tamiya kit is geared towards the more casual crowd (or those seeking relief after building 1,000+ parts kits). Anyway, admittedly mre simplified than its rivals, the Tamiya kit of E8 does have sharp and nice enough details. The letdown in this kit (to my viewpoint) is the rather uninspired markings chosen. This was can however be an advantage: being rather nondescript, you can work to your heart's content with regards to additional items you want to add to the model.