Hey guys. I find my self in need of some advice. I need to make a m4 Sherman , that would have been deployed in Italy or Normandy but my knowledge if the Sherman is sketchy at best. I know they were in WW2 and I know there are a tone of variants. What info I require is a kit that can be built , with minimal aftermarket and scratch building, from those operational theaters. I know tasca/asuka is the biggest name in Shermans but dragon and tamiya have offerings as well.
Which one should I get? Help me out .

You don't say you are new to the hobby Trevor but Tamiya are very easy to build and are pretty accurate. Especially if this is you starting in the hobby.

Cheers Pete

[quote]You don't say you are new to the hobby Trevor but Tamiya are very easy to build and are pretty accurate. Especially if this is you starting in the hobby.

Cheers Pete[/quote

Thanks for the response Pete. No, I'm not new to modeling and yes tamiya make excellent kits. But I'm looking for something a bit more detailed straight from the Box. What is confusing for me is the plethora of variants out there and the amount of different manufactures of this model. Also, my primary focus is modern armor. Anything post 1950 and I'm your huckleberry, but ww2 leaves me s catching my head.

Trevor,

I'm not too sure about the Italian theatre, but for a Normandy/ETO Sherman I would recommend one of these kits:

Dragon kit #6511 M4 Sherman 75mm Normandy
Dragon kit #6698 M4A3(75)W ETO - Smart Kit
Dragon Kit #6083 M4A1(76)W "Operation Cobra"

The three links below are to a site that shows you the contents of each kit.

http://www.model-making.eu/products/M4-Sherman-75mm-Normandy.html?start_p=1

http://www.model-making.eu/products/M4A3-75-W-ETO-Smart-Kit.html

http://www.model-making.eu/products/M4A1-76-W.html

Hope this helped.

Thanks Shawn! Will definetly look I got these kits .

You can add the Tasca M4A1 kits, and Dragon's M4A1 DV. Their M4DV is not accurate on the hull but builds into a nice looking kit.

Any of the listed M4 variants would have seen action in Italy at some point. You can do a generic search on Google, and there are a number of reference books that will provide more specific details. I don't have anything handy right now to link to.