Walter_Sobchak Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 1 hour ago, Collimatrix said: As a broad generalization, it seems like US and Soviet tank production and design in WWII piggybacked on the automotive industry, while in the UK it was derived from the railroad industry, and in Germany from general industry. I'd say that Soviet production piggybacked on the tractor industry as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted March 28, 2017 Report Share Posted March 28, 2017 Tukhachevskiy proposed the confiscation of all agricultural tractors to build second rate ersatz tanks in case of war. Crippling the agricultural sector in favour of the military was dismissed as lunacy, and emergency measures looking into this during the GPW found that most tractors were hilariously ill-fitted for the job. Also there was a general tractor shortage anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted March 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 I wonder what the story is on it being hard to find a Firefly to review, there are a few that show up in European meets and events, there is even a amazingly restored M4A4 over there. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoooSeR Posted March 29, 2017 Report Share Posted March 29, 2017 Egyptian M4 with FT-10 turret abandoned somewhere in the sands of Sinai Zyklon, Meplat and Jeeps_Guns_Tanks 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 This is the content from the new 75mm M3 Gun Data Page. M3 gun Data PDF 75mm gun Ammo info Shell, fixed, HE, M48 with fuze, pd, M51A5, 0.05-sec delay, for 75mm guns M3, M6, and M17 showing reduced, normal and supercharge markings. Caption from 9-7018, image from TM9-1901 A 75mm Heat round I didn't know existed, but was not issued to tank units because the standard AP round had much better penetration than the HEAT round when fired from an M3 gun. 75mm Shrapnel round and the 37mm Canister Round Typical packing tubes for 75mm rounds. This is the fuze used in the Shermans 75 main HE round the M48 HE. Click the image for a much larger version. This is the base detonating fuze used in the M61 and M61A1, and the M62 and M62A1 rounds. These fuze were not always used, sometimes just a tracer was was swapped in. Meplat, Ramlaen and Bronezhilet 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Yeah, the HEAT situation was the same for T-34s. A HEAT shell was developed, but there wasn't really a point in using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meplat Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 On 3/29/2017 at 5:18 AM, LoooSeR said: Egyptian M4 with FT-10 turret abandoned somewhere in the sands of Sinai You know that M4 is still saying "no worries, we'll get pulled out and fixed up. It's cool guys.. Guys?" M4's never surrender, they just change jobs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramlaen Posted April 8, 2017 Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZloyKrolik Posted April 8, 2017 Report Share Posted April 8, 2017 I wonder why that never caught on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 19, 2017 Report Share Posted April 19, 2017 What is the purpose of this hole? It's drawn in the manual, so it's supposed to be there, but... it's just a hole in a relatively vulnerable place in the turret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Its the firing port for the smoke grenade launcher. The Brits really wanted it added to the production lines, so it was in sometime in 44, and then was deleted from the tanks post war, and the port welded closed. It really intruded on the loader and was not a popular feature with American tankers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 20, 2017 Report Share Posted April 20, 2017 Wow, the Brits sure love their smoke grenade launchers. What was wrong with external ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 12 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said: Wow, the Brits sure love their smoke grenade launchers. What was wrong with external ones? They wanted to be able to reload from inside the tank, so this was the fix for the hull mounted ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scolopax Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 Not sure how many of these have been posted before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 Pasholok's Warspot article today is about the M4A2 in the Red Army, @Jeeps_Guns_Tanks you'll probably be interested. Shall I add it to the queue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 EE, yes please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 19 hours ago, Scolopax said: Not sure how many of these have been posted before. I have a few of those, but not all. The E8 with the star with hash marks on it is a fairly famous tank. Flatfoot Floose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 22, 2017 Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 2 hours ago, Jeeps_Guns_Tanks said: EE, yes please! I put it in the queue. Don't get too excited though, upon further inspection it's only about the M4A2(76)W and he barely mentions the M4A2E8. He hints at a whole article dedicated to it, though, so fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 22, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2017 Anything Sherman is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 27, 2017 Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 CoD: WWII published a screenshot of their Sherman. It's uh... not great To be fair their PzIV is also shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 27, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2017 3 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said: CoD: WWII published a screenshot of their Sherman. It's uh... not great To be fair their PzIV is also shit. Wow, that's pathetic looking, I mean, even release day world of tanks looked way better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted April 28, 2017 Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 I think my favourite part is how the tank can't actually move the way it's modeled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted April 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2017 Shermans Tanks In real Life: The Planes of Fame of fame Air Museum Owning and flying WWII airplanes has been a thing much longer than restoring running tanks, and to this day, WWII aircraft tend to get more attention from Americans than armor or ships. That’s changed a lot over the years, and armor is more popular than ever with collectors, museums and the general public. There are several Tank museums or businesses around the country with running Shermans. The one we are going to talk about today is the Planes of Fame Air Museum, it is legendary in the Warbird world, because it has so many interesting and rare aircraft. It also has a long, history, and saved some amazing planes along the way, and one tank. The Planes of Fame air museum has been around so long, it surely had a hand it kicking off the interest in Warbirds that has been popular in the United States since WWII. My Dad, a Baby Boomer, loved warbirds, and his love transferred right over to me, and I ran with it buying more books on airplanes, and tanks than he ever did, and I still have them al. When I was a kid, we went to the Reno Air Races, and I probably saw Steve Hinton, the President of Planes of Fame flying a racer. There is something about the roar of a warbird flying by that really gives you a sense of what seeing planes like that filling the sky in the mid-40s must have been like. They have a special sound, and hopefully this is a sound we will hear for decades to come. Planes of fame got started in the 50s when Ed Maloney started collecting airplanes on a minuscule budget, his museums moved around, but really took root at Chino Airport, where Planes of Fame is to this day. Mr. Maloney had fallen in love with airplanes in high school, and just missed WWII. Shortly after the war he began collecting anything with wings on a shoestring budget for his future airplane museum. He was saddened and disgusted to see the warbirds that helped win WWII unceremoniously melted down for Scrap or for a lucky few to rot away on a remote part of an airport. I know the feeling, it makes me deeply sad to see the piles of P-38s bulldozed off a cliff in the Philippines, because flying them home was a waste of time and money… By the 60s Ed Maloney had achieved his goal of building a museum and around the same time found a Sherman tank on range on Edwards Air Force base while he was scrounging for B-17 parts. He managed to buy the tank for $1! That’s not even the best part of the story! The Sherman, a very early production M4A1 75 tank, still ran! It had been sitting on Edwards for at least a decade untouched, and they got it running. The tanks interior was not gutted, though some things like the hull ammo boxes had been removed a lot of the important parts were still there. They collected more parts over the years, and serious restoration started in the 80s and continues even now. Image from Air & Space magazine, of Ed Moloney at Planes of Fame. Ed died in 2016, and it was a huge loss for the aviation community. Sometimes, when a man with a love for, and a collection of things like airplanes or tanks, when the man passes on, his labor of love dies with him, I know of a least two cases. The Littlefield collection only lasted a few years before his widow grew tired of it and donated it to a great museum on the east coast, but to build a place to keep it they sold most of it off, and now can’t build the new facility because of zoning problems. That wasn’t a worry of Ed Maloney, because PoF is a family affair. Steve Hinton, who took thinks over when Ed passed, has been around the place since he was a kid, and his best friend was Ed’s son. I’m also pretty sure Steve married Ed’s daughter! Planes of Fame lives on, stronger than ever, and with another generation working and flying the planes, I think they have a bright future. This image is from Warbird Depot, a great site for the airplane lover! This is the Planes of fame F4U-1 Corsair, one of the earliest flying Corsairs! Now you might be wondering how a bunch of airplane people can keep a tank working, but trust me, they have guys there who can keep an F4U-1 Corsair, with a magnificent Pratt and Whitney R-2800 running, they can figure out a simple Sherman. The nice thing about a Tank is it handles the weather a lot better than an Airplane, though being stored outside unprotected still isn’t good for them. The Sherman in particular has some very sturdy components, and more often than not, if the powertrain remained sealed up, even after decades on the firing range, if it didn’t get penetrated, they rarely needed much work to be operational again. The engines are a bit less robust, but in a nice warm dry environment, they could last a surprising amount of time as well. Currently the Planes of Fame M4A1 is about 50% complete, and they restore a little more every year, as money and parts allow. I’m sure in some cases things have to be fabricated. It has a little Joe back auxiliary generator inside, has a working stock electric traverse system, but the stabilizer needs a little more work. The electric firing system works, and though the main gun is de-milled, it can still fire 75mm blanks. A blank firing co-ax M1919 machine gun can be fired with the foot switch, just like the main gun. The intercom is complete and works at all stations, as does all the interior lighting. A place like PoF probably has little trouble keeping the R-975 radial running either. This summer the turret comes off, new ammo boxes go in and they will complete the interiors restoration. The M4A1 is already a part of their shows, but it is also available to rent, TV, Movies, Weddings, you name it, I could see an M4A1 being a cool addition! I hope to get down there sometimes in the next year or two and check the place out. The real Zero planes of fame has, with the real motor that belongs in it, and it was used in the movie Pearl Harbor, making a not so great movie a must see. Image from the wonderful www.Warbirddepot.com If you are in the area and have even the smallest interest in aviation, you owe yourself a trip to Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino California. The Sherman tank is of course going to see all on its own, but they also have a real Japanese Zero, with its correct engine and it flies! Even crazier? It was used in the Ben Aflack movie Pearl Harbor! Steve did all the flying, but they wouldn’t let him shoot Ben down for real! Steve Hinton in front of an F-86 Sabre. Image from Warbird News. You can find the Planes of Fame Air Museum at 14998 Cal Aero Drive, Chino, Ca, 91710-9085 Click the link to go to their contact page. Collimatrix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnsignExpendable Posted May 21, 2017 Report Share Posted May 21, 2017 @Jeeps_Guns_Tanks what do you call this? HVSS, wet rack, but still a 75 mm gun!? Met749 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeeps_Guns_Tanks Posted May 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2017 There were a few hundred factory made like that, I think that one has an early 75mm turret on a M4 105 or M4A3 105 tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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