Finished: British and Polish Shermans

Hi folks,

Another busy week, but I managed to progress a few things. Tank wise I'm waiting on 3 bases drying and I can get all of this batch done. As it stands I have finished (other than a couple of touch ups) my 144 RAC tanks and my Polish troop command tank.

For the 144 RAC tanks I painted:

3 x M4's (Sherman I's)
1 x M4 Composite with 75mm (Sherman I Hybrid)
1 x M4 Composite with OQF 17 Pounder (Sherman Ic Hybrid)

The turret numbers all match the correct allocations for the unit - so each troop will have the correct consecutive numbers. I'm pretty sure that the inclusion of the Hybrid Ic Firefly won't be correct for the time frame. I think these tanks became available later in the NWE campaign, certainly by the Ardennes offensive. However the unit did use them at some point and I'm happy (!!!) to let this one slip. It's a nice model and nice to see it compared to my home made 75mm Hybrid conversions.

As usual, two aerials and a commander signifies a troop leader. These tanks complete the 4th troop of the Squadron and provide the '3rd body' tank for the command troop as well.

Painting wise on these guys I toned down my edge highlights, used some of the weathering powders/wax and used my own mix of Magic Wash. I think the result is that these tanks are a bit lighter than some of the earlier ones - but I think now the unit is completed model wise, a bit of work is needed to unify the bases and hull painting techniques, as well as the decals on the turrets. I've decided, bases on mixed written and visual evidence (sources which say the unit did not use geometric Squadron markings vs film footage where the bloody tanks of the unit did have them) to leave some with and some without geometric hull markings. I think the unit may have deployed using them, but that replacement tanks wouldn't have them added.

My first Sherman Squadron is up to full strength!

Next up we have a Sherman M4A4 (Sherman V) of the 24th Polish Lancers Regiment, 10th Armoured Cavalry Brigade, 1st Polish Armoured Division. This is the troop command tank, and the other 3 are done but awaiting the static grass drying before they can be based!

This tank was one of the plastic 'Open Fire' models that I rescued. The sand bags (yes, they are supposed to be sand bags...) on the front help cover some of the damage. I decided for the Polish tanks to add pennants to the command tanks aerials. These are made from a little bit of yogurt pot lid and I received a lot of good tips from Steve and Bill on the MMM Hangouts while trying to figure out how to do them. Thanks guys!

The .50cal was from the Plastic Soldier Company half track box, and all my Polish command tanks have a similar mount. I think it looks much better 'at rest' on this tank than sitting horizontally. The mould line on the front hull I really thought I had gotten rid of, but is shows up on the pics!

I tried to follow guides and reference pictures for the placement of the markings, again to make the tanks look authentic and give a bit of variation from my other Shermans. I think these tanks should have the rear turret Squadron marking on the sides of the hull, but sources vary and I don't have enough of the blue triangles, so I have left them for now. I may revisit in the future!

For the Poles I had considered messing with my usual basing colours. Using red and white flowers, rather than yellow and white, really appealed and seemed like it might be a nice touch. In the end I went with the same basing as my other units.