Today I want to talk about probably the most popular tank of World War II, the M4 Sherman.
The M4 Sherman was the most widely used medium tank harnessed by the Allies during that period. It was named after General William Tecumseh Sherman who served during the American Civil War in 1861.
This tank was mass produced by the United States and was an important piece of machinery, not because it was better on the battlefield but because the Allies could manufacture these at a faster pace and was able to repair and replace parts with greater efficiency. This advantage was a turning point for the Allies during the war.
Here I’ve made the most basic version, and while I didn’t plan on copying anyone, similarities in this scale(1:120) are unavoidable. That said, I used a different technique to create the tracks(which is a bit of an overkill), by using 1×2 round plates and I found that it is more modular than the technic beam piece normally employed. I can go from 5, to 6 or 7 studs with ease. It’s looks more detailed even on the underbelly, which I also tried to make convincing in this scale. I actually used curves and plates in my initial design for the tracks but scrapped it after developing this technique instead. I think it’s just more visually appealing because you can have a very slight bend on the “tracks” and with the holes, it kind of looks like wheels.
I also remember seeing in one of Brick Mini’s photos of how a Harry Potter wand would be useful as a barrel and that element was perfect for this scale. The stickers and nano figure elements of course can be found at Brickmania and Brick Mini.
Another feature of the Sherman was how adaptable it became, which saw many forms during its service. There are too many to name here, but one of my favourites include the M4A3E8(Easy Eight).
If you’ve watched the movie Fury, you would have seen this bad boy in action against the fearsome Tiger 1. (Note to self, I have to make a diorama of that at some point!)
I then made some modifications on the original build and upgraded the gun, (the most prominent change) and also added in that M2 Browning to complete the look.
There is also the Sherman DD(duplex drive), which is an amphibious version used during the Normandy landings. You’ll recognise it because of the protruding snorkels(which was very difficult to add to the small body). Finally I squared it off with the some tan tiles, held together by 1×1 brackets.
I researched a little bit more and saw they had a minesweeper variant as well! This one was a little easier to make as it was just an attachment consisting of 4 pieces.
That short chain piece really came in handy, but you could also use other things like minifigure hands or even a technic pin in dark bluish grey that could do the job.
The last variant I wanted to build was the Rocket Launcher T34, and the rocket attachment was a quick assembly using claw pieces clipped onto a 1×3 bar. I modified the turret by adding brackets which would hold the thing in place. I used the shorter clips from Brickmania because it looked nicer, but if you don’t have those you could just stick to the claw piece(48729b).
All these models could be used in the Micro Brick Battle game and here’s a tutorial if you want to build one:
There is already an extensive archive of models they have created before, but I’m just adding on to that world piece by piece.
If you like my post on this subject, stay tuned and subscribe to my mailing list because there will many more of these coming! Also, leave a comment and let me know what else you would like to see in future posts. Thanks for reading!
Tip: Every plate matters when building in micro-scale. 1 brick = 3 plates height and 2.5 plates width.