PMMS
Formationa

M4A2 Mid-Production
with Welded Drivers Hoods

1/35 #F008

Review by Terry Ashley
Formations
The M4A2 is the only major version of the Sherman not kitted by any of the major manufacturers, some have issued kits labelled M4A2 but are that in name only as they have actually contained parts for the M4 or M4A3 types.
The only real M4A2s have been in the form of resin conversion from CMD (with the early direct vision slots) and Verlinden.

This conversion from Formations is of a Mid-Production M4A2 with welded driver’s hoods is designed to fit the Academy M10/Achilles kits. The reason for this is they are based on the M4A2 hull and so already incorporate the correct rear hull plate and exhaust arrangement. You could of course use any Sherman kit but extra work will be need for the additional mods.

The set consists of 108 finely cast pieces in a light cream resin, a length of plastic rod and brass wire plus three MV Lenses and a length of twine for the tow cable.

The quality of the resin casting is excellent with just the usual casting blocks and some fine resin film to be removed from the parts.
Some of the smaller parts will require care to remove from the casting blocks and with others such as the lifting eyes it could be easier to remove the resin film before cutting them off the casting blocks.

The largest part is the hull top and it is cast perfectly straight without any hint of warping, the thick resin ‘plug’ in the turret ring helps to keep the hull rigid but does require a bit more effort to remove.
The detail on the hull is excellent with raised weld seams where they should be as well as details extending to the drain holes in the splash guards around the turret, hull ventilators and rear fuel filler caps. All of the small details on the hull are separate parts such as the fuel filler caps, lifting eyes, steel cable clips, front and rear lights and all the pioneer tools. The crew hatches are also separate with detail on both sides to show open if you wish. The result of all the parts being separate is excellent detail definition when compared to a hull with these parts moulded on, about the only extra you will need are the light bush guards from any of the available Sherman etched sets, the Eduard Zoom set TP028 with just the light guards would be just the thing here. Additional appliqué armour plates are provided to attach to the hull sides if required for the Sherman you are building.

Main hull casting (click for addional details)
Formations

The rear hull plate is also separate and the fit to the main hull is excellent without any gaps or trimming required.

At the front is the early type 2A cast transmission cover which has the raised bullet splash guard and includes details such as the casting numbers and drain plugs on the underside of each final drive bulges. The two separate front fenders have nice details and extremely thin edge profiles.

To fit the resin hull to the Academy kit will require a bit of surgery to the lower kit hull and the rear hull panel (part C1) and the sponson extensions (parts B62, B63). These alterations are shown in the Formations instructions and are quite easy to deal with; they took me all of ten minutes to trim the parts ready for the new resin bits. The fit of the upper resin hull to the lower kit hull will require a bit of trimming along the lower edge of the resin hull but nothing too dramatic and with a bit of test fitting the two fitted together quite well.
The fit of the Academy engine deck doors (parts C19, C20) is spot on and did not require any trimming to fit the opening in the resin engine deck.

The turret is the early dry storage type without the loader’s hatch and the M34 gun mount with very nice bolt head details and alternate rotor shields, one the plain early type and the other with the barrel protection extensions as well as the small armour guard sometimes fitted to the .30cal MG barrel. As with the hull all the turret detail bits are separate items such as the hatch ring with casting numbers included and split hatches with detail on both sides, the pistol port though is moulded in place.
You have a choice of open or closed periscopes plus the five lifting eyes and a very finely cast .50cal barrel support of the rear of the hatch ring.
The 75mm barrel is the early type with the slight flair at the muzzle and has a small indention at the tip that could do with being drilled out at bit more. Two .30cal MG barrels are provided (one for the turret and the other for the hull) and have very nice cooling jacket details included.
The fit of the resin parts is excellent with the gun shield fitting into the turret opening with only a very small adjustment required on one corner and the lower turret ring was also a very good fit to the undersides of the turret with only a small amount of resin needing to be shaved off the ring to fit into the indentations inside the turret walls. The turret ring then fitted into the hull turret ring as snug as the proverbial bug in rug which is very good for resin parts.

On the turret roof there are more casting numbers and drain holes in the central ventilator housing and on the rear turret is the foundry casting shield and the turret also has a very subtle casting texture to the surface. A nice search light is included as well as a separate sighting vane and antenna mount.

The pioneer tools deserve a special mention as these are very well done and eliminate the need for etched clips or tie downs.
There are cast on a very thick backing block with small undercuts where the tools attach to the block so are fairly easy to remove although care will be needed.
The tools have very nice details included as well as the tie down cleats and straps which also have the holes included in them to give you what are some excellent tools for your Sherman. Note that the straps on the two sledge hammers are different for some nice variety.

The tools have also been released as a separate set #F018
Formations

The Instructions:
The instructions are six ‘letter’ sized pages with notes on construction and drawings of the construction sequences including the surgery needed on the Academy parts.
While the drawings are fairly clear some extra reference wouldn’t go astray as with any kit.

Formations
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Conclusion:
A very nice update set with excellent details included on the castings and the many small separate detail parts make for better appearance of the finished model.
Formations also release some of the parts in this set as separate sets such as the transmission cover and turret if you just want these for use on another Sherman project.

Definitely a company to watch for future releases judging by the quality of this set.

Highly recommended for Sherman fans.

Check the Formations website for details of other update sets available and thanks to Rob for the quick turnaround time with my order for this set.



Page created 27 September 2003

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