Jump to content

Adrian Barrell

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,559

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    8

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Adrian Barrell

  1. Adrian Barrell
    Thanks Kuno, they're excellent. They confirm it's an M4A4 with M4A2 engine.
  2. Adrian Barrell
    It's a very complex subject but I'll have a go....
  3. Adrian Barrell
    More to the point, wet stowage is all in the lower hull, dry stowage is in the upper hull and gained the applique armour patches to improve protection. Wet stowage does not require it. All the later series tanks were wet stowage. As Alastair points out, it was the ammunition stowage that gave Shermans a tendency to burn easily, not the fuel.
  4. Adrian Barrell
    Bar grips is a made up name that is applied to the original non directional US mud and snow pattern such as Good Year all service. This is the standard tyre tread for Jeep, Dodge GMC but also used on Bedford MK etc. Tracgrip is another made up term but Trak Grip is a Dunlop tyre sometimes known as banana bar for obvious reasons. It is also a non directional tread pattern that is often seen on British vehicles and is more usual now in run flats as fitted to ferret etc. There are loads of other patterns but these are the two that are most applicable to our vehicles.
  5. Adrian Barrell
    The late M4A2(75) were dry stowage and would nave applique armour even on the late hull, only changing to wet stowage with the 76mm. So a late hull, 75mm without applique will be M4A3. Many of which were retrofitted with 76mm post war, often for mutual aid.
  6. Adrian Barrell
    Yes, the late M4s were composite hulls, I was just illustrating the presence of the plate is not a guaranteed M4A4 feature as some believe. You have to use all the clues and even then it's sometimes not possible to say for sure. All good fun!
  7. Adrian Barrell
    There was no doubt that it was an M4A4 though it is good to get the number. The small plate at the back of the turret ring is a double edged sword as early M4A4 did not have it and late Chrysler built M4 did. It's presence is not conclusive of an M4A4 and it's absence is not proof it's not. A useful clue none the less. Serial number 9085 was built at the end of March 1943 and probably had a reg. number of USA 3060895. Joe DeMarco could confirm the latter. There is a chance that 9085 should be 19085 as there is a jump in the serial numbers, again Joe would know.
  8. Adrian Barrell
    As Slovenia was part of Yugoslavia and not Czechoslovakia, Q1 might be irrelevant! They could be M4A3 rebuilt with 76mm guns as seen in Kellys Heroes or M36 or indeed anything!
  9. Adrian Barrell
    That's a White, not an International.
  10. Adrian Barrell
    That's exactly as I see it.
  11. Adrian Barrell
    Actually tighter, with the weight of the vehicle removed from the suspension, the wheels drop down and tighten the tracks. You get the same result when you remove a turret.
  12. Adrian Barrell
    It was to positively drive the propellers which were driven through a bevel box from the rear idlers. In practice it seems they were not necessary as the friction between the tracks and idlers was more than suficient. Often removed, the flange on the idler is a giveaway as to the tanks i.d. if the screen has been removed.
  13. Adrian Barrell
    Looks like they are setting up to run it, there is a fuel and oil can connected.
  14. Adrian Barrell
    First two pics are an early M4A2, next is an M4A1(76)W HVSS which is a very late tank not actually seeing action in WW2 and the last is a Sherman V DD (M4A4 Duplex Drive). The 'different' turret on the M4A1 is the 76mm turret from the T23 project. It also has HVSS (different suspension with wider tracks) which came in in late 1944.
  15. Adrian Barrell
    Speaking of ammo boxes, in one of the many .30 cal boxes I aquired for the Sherman was the original packing slip.
  16. Adrian Barrell
    This is the one I bought on ebay a couple of years ago. The guy sent it from the US and then told me he had another. He wouldn't sell that though. The second pic is of his other box showing the stencilling on the top.
  17. Adrian Barrell
    No, lifes too short to worry about that sort of thing. In my case, there was no financial loss, it would be different if I was depending on them for my livelyhood. I might suggest he compansates me with one of the kits! It was cheeky though because my name is clearly on the site though upon checking just now the copyright is listed as belonging to Hanno. I suppose the site is though the photos are mine. He may have asked Hanno but I'm sure Hanno would have checked with me. Unless he did and I have forgotten....... Like I said, lifes too short!
  18. Adrian Barrell
    The composite hull was more for ballistic reasons than one of cost or else there would have been more M4A1s. Mark Haywards Firefly book is excellent and he also runs an online addenda which is frequently being updated as new information comes to light. It is a very good book though and I highly recommend it.
  19. Adrian Barrell
    Pictures of mine that Hanno hosted have been lifted for commercial use in a model kit. My permission was not sought, though I would have given it! I look forward to meeting the chap concerned and hearing his explanation....
  20. Adrian Barrell
    Alastair, short answer is I don't know..... The welded assemblies (hulls)were not heat treated after fabrication but whether the sub-assemblies were? In the sadly now defunct AFV Interiors site, there was a lot of fascinating photos from Chryslers M4A4 production line showing all stages of assembly but I have never seen pictures of castings though I too assume they were cast in floor pits. On many castings you can see where the mould has been cleaned up with a trowel but I do not know how many units you would get per mould or whether the cores were re-used or not.
  21. Adrian Barrell
    A much clearer explanation, thanks Hanno.
  22. Adrian Barrell
    Maurice, I don't think it is a WW1 box, just early or pre WW2. WW1 boxes were, I believe, made from wood and anyway, the .50 Browning was not about in WW1.
  23. Adrian Barrell
    Hanno, the early 100 rd box is the 'chest, ammunition, cal. .50 M17 D39091' and is not designed to fit on a pintle mount. It seems to be used purely for the storage of belted ammo. The 50 rd box seems to be only known as 'box, ammn. .50 D68375 and this is designed to fit on a mount. I think the M17 was replaced by the standard box we all know which is designed to fit on a mount.
  24. Adrian Barrell
    My attempt at showing how the numbers are stamped doesn't seem to work so just to explain, they are often stamped as a vertical row rather than in a conventional line. Hope that is clearer! If possible, could you get some pictures of the engine bay? Good luck! Adrian
  25. Adrian Barrell
    Common huh? Why I oughta..... :-D They have to have the correct engine to be counted you know! Good spot on the roller bracket, they are an interchangeable item so it's no surprise after 65 years!
×
×
  • Create New...