Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale
 
M4 Sherman
M4
The M4 entered service with the early small hatch, dry-stowage hull, and 75mm M4 turret. Early versions had direct vision ports in the hull front, later models switched to periscopes.
Name Manufacturer Medium Type Rating Comments Links
M4 early ARMO Resin Conversion *** With 3-piece nose and M34 gun shield. No direct-vision ports. Comes with etched brass details and turned metal gun barrel. Converted from ESCI. Preview
M4 early Extratech Plastic Kit **** Original tooling plastic kit. Comes with photoetched details. Preview
M4 early HäT Plastic Kit N/A Original tooling wargamer model. Good scale accuracy but very simplistic with only eight parts. High conversion potential. Review
M4 early & mid ModellTrans Resin Conversion **** Conversion hull for Dragon. Review
M4 Mid-Production Trumpeter Plastic Kit * Very poor model. The turret is very nice, but the front hull is so far out of whack as to be nearly useless. Preview
M4 75mm with Deep Wading Kit Dragon Plastic Kit **** Early dry-stowage M4 hull. Rear deck is designed to only accept the deep wading stacks. Cannot leave them off. Preview
M4 late ARMO Resin Conversion ? Although it is labeled as a "late" version, it is actually an early, small-hatch hull with single piece nose and M34A1 gun shield. Comes with etched brass details and turned metal gun barrel. Converted from ESCI.  
M4 Sherman UM (Unimodel) Plastic Kit *** Mediocre kit. Nice hull, but poor turret and wheels. Preview

 

M4 (75)W
The M4 was never up-gunned with the 76mm T23 turret, however it did get upgraded to the big-hatch, wet-stowage hull. According to my references, all of these hulls mounted the 105mm M4 turret, yet we have this kit shown below released by MR Modellbau with the 75mm turret. I had thought I had seen a reference in one of my books about this unusual combination, but I can't seem to find it now. If anyone had any information about this, please let me know, because as it stands now, it appears that this vehicle never existed.
Name Manufacturer Medium Type Rating Comments Links
M4 (75)W MR Modellbau Resin Conversion ***** Comes with white metal details and turned metal gun barrel. Did this tank ever exist?  

 

M4 (105)
This is the big-hatch hull armed with the 105mm M4 turret. Although it's the late hull style, it retained dry stowage for the ammunition.
Name Manufacturer Medium Type Rating Comments Links
M4 (105) ARMO Resin Conversion *** Comes with etched brass details. Resin hull and turret converted from ESCI. Preview
M4 (105) Commander Series Resin Conversion *** Includes hull, turret and gun. Consists of modified ESCI M4A3 hull and modified ESCI turret and a new gun. OOP Preview
M4 Mid-Production Hull Iron Division Resin Conversion **** Resin upper hull and lower hull details to convert Dragon M4A3 (105). Preview
M4 (105) MR Modellbau Resin Conversion ***** Comes with white metal details and turned metal gun barrel. Preview
M4 (105) HVSS UM (UniModel) Plastic Kit *** Original tooling. Modular kit allowing the builder to make several hull and turret versions, but seriously lacking in detail. Suspension is very nice. Hard plastic tracks. Preview

 

M4 Composite
The M4 Composite was developed by welding the cast front hull piece from the M4A1 onto the welded main hull of the M4. This version was made with only the late version, large hatch, wet-stowage hull, not the early hull. The ARMO conversions listed below all come with the large-hatch hulls, despite their misleading labels (the differences are in their turrets).
Name Manufacturer Medium Type Rating Comments Links
M4 Composite early ARMO Resin Conversion ? Turret has no loader's hatch. Comes with etched brass details and turned metal gun barrel. Converted from ESCI.  
M4 Composite mid ARMO Resin Conversion ? Turret has oval loader's hatch. Comes with etched brass details and turned metal gun barrel. Converted from ESCI.  
M4 Composite late ARMO Resin Conversion ? Turret has oval loader's hatch and commander's cupola. Comes with etched brass details and turned metal gun barrel. Converted from ESCI.  
M4 Composite CPL Overby's Motorpool Resin Kit ? Converted from ESCI. OOP  
M4 Composite ModellTrans Resin Conversion ? Converted from Dragon.  
M4 Composite late Iron Division Resin Conversion ? Resin upper hull to convert Dragon kits.  
M4 Composite MR Modellbau Resin Conversion ***** Comes with white metal details and turned metal gun barrel.  
M4 (Late) Composite Fine Scale Factory Resin Kit **** Very good kitbash of ESCI M4A1 front, and M4A3 rear hulls. Review
M4 Composite VVV Models Resin Conversion ? Single-piece upper hull with open hatches, directly replaces upper hull part in ESCI M4A1 kit. OOP  
 

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Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale