Customer Reviews

Modelling the US Army M4 (75mm) Sherman Medium Tank (Osprey Modelling)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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I am an experienced armor modeler but I am always looking for new painting and weathering techniques. I found this book to offer several color schemes and painting approaches for the Sherman tank. I have been able to take and adapt the author's ideas to my work on some recent models. My litmus test for modeling books is simple: whether it helps me improve my skills in the hobby or not. This book did.

I do not have the time or patience for scratch building using styrene plastic and I seldom use aftermarket parts on my models--in part because I have a hard time making large cuts on a $40 plus tank model that I may or may not be able to repair. The author provided information about upgrading Sherman tank models with aftermarket parts and scratchbuilding parts. That is not, as stated, my interest, albeit it may be interesting or valuable to another modeler with different skills.

I have three other books of the same genre by the same author; I have ordered another. My opinion is that these are good products for the serious modeler and worth the money.

Dr. Mark McDonald

Mr. Zaloga, a noted armor historian, strikes again with this volume in the Osprey Modelling series. This volume is themed around the famous M4 "Sherman" tank with the 75mm gun. The later "Shermans" with 76mm guns will be in a follow-on volume. This voluime has a brief overview and several model projects in different scales. The quality of workmanship is tremendous and each chapter has lots of historical information as well as modelling techniques. Each model has in-progress photos as well as descriptions and photographs of the finished project. This book is very handy for beginners as well as advanced modelers and should be in the collection of any person who enjoys military vehicle modeling.

This book is really geared for advanced modelers. It does have some nice color photos including some beautiful models by the author. But the modeling tips are really more advanced and are a bit beyond my current abilities. Maybe someday I'll be able to put this to better use.

...this book is probably more appropriate for modelers with intermediate to advanced skills. It is a good place to find ideas for your own projects because it offers a starting point research wise. I am a fan of this author and have many of his books and I recommend his title, but my dilema is finding a book about shermans that I can give my son to read that will take him through the whole process. I have yet to find what I feel would be the most helpful tool for a beginning modeler. For example, a book this size that is dedicated to one sherman and that takes the novice modeller through every single step in construction, painting, and weathering. With clear large photos of every step and detailed captions explaining how, what, and why.

Very good book from the well known author Steven Zaloga. Steven describes step by step how to improve your modelling skills. Excellent photos also.

Good Refference material found in this book for those looking to make historically correct models. Only drawback was not as much material as I would have liked and maybe more effort in using color photos.
Thanks,
Roger White
Brookings, OR.

Very helpful manual for the advanced modeler. I am not an advanced modeler but even I found the book helpful. So it is suitable for all skill levels.

Steve Zaloga is a superb historian of US and Soviet military equipment, and a very capable model builder, as well as an extremely talented writer, so you really cannot go wrong with any title he has written. Where Amazon has gone wrong is that they have confused his two books on "Modelling the US Army M4 Sherman Tank" as different editions of the same book. If you are looking at the page for the late 76 mm variants, click on the "paperback" edition link, you'll find the companion volume, which deals with building the early variants of the Sherman family with the 75 mm gun. The second volume deals with the later, 76 mm gun versions.
Since space is at a premium in these little booklets, the author just addresses variants actually used by US Army units (some types, like the M4A4, and late M4A2 versions were used mainly by Allied troops). There are new 1/35th scale Sherman kits released almost every month, now, but the books are still a useful overview on how to improve the many older kits on the market. He points up some basic improvements needed to make the available kits from Tamiya and DML/Dragon accurate (which are also applicable to other maker's versions, like Italeri and Academy), and includes very helpful "in progress" photos to illustrate the fixes. He also shows the novice how to deal with the individual link tracks included in some older Dragon Sherman kits, which are challenging to assemble unless you build a simple jig, as demonstrated in the book (newer Dragon releases offer excellent soft plastic track, which actually looks better than the single link type, and is much less arduous to install). The tanks are expertly painted and weathered using simple and effective techniques, and since Zaloga likes to display completed models in small vignettes, you get some nice tips on producing simple but effective dioramas, as well.