"Cowboys from Hell" Topic

Nice Vignette…

From here
link

Amicalement
Armand

Bad…?

Amicalement
Armand

Oh no – not bad at all but, bad timing…

Right between Christmas and New Years!

Let me work it out.

M4A3 76 ?

Marc33594 will know

Shame is that if you do visit Asuka Models, almost everything is sold out. Suggests a better trading history than future!

(smile)

Amicalement
Armand

Let me work it out.

M4A3 76 ?

I say you are correct.

Probably.

But it is hard to be sure. The engine deck is pretty much covered. I can see enough to say it is not an M4, and M4A1 or an M4A4. (M4 and M4A4 should not appear with the 76mm "T23" turret even if we can't judge by the visible hull details.) But I can not get an eye on the visual indicators that I would normally use to distinguish between M4A3 and M4A2.

As the crewmen appear in US Army livery, it shouldn't be an M4A2. But it is a modeller's interpretation, and who knows…

Can anyone else see a visual recognition point that dis-ambiguates between M4A3 and M4A2?

So I too say it's an M4A3 76. Or more properly an M4A3(76)W (Tank, Medium, M4A3, 76mm gun, Wet).

Oh no – not bad at all…

The tank, figures and base are nicely modeled. But when I look at it I can't "get" the story this diorama tries to tell.

Is the tank immobilized? I can't think of a tank crew in their right minds that would just up and decide to take a coffee break with their tank in such a position, but there is no indication that anyone is fussed about what has stopped the tank.

Is the guy on the front slope one of the crew? He is dressed as an infantryman, not a tanker. But he doesn't have a weapon close at hand.

The guy on the horse looks like he might be wearing tanker's overalls. But then why is he on a horse? And why is he wearing web gear over his overalls? If he's just a member of the crew messing about, or perhaps preparing to ride off to find the company maintenance & recovery section, why is he carrying a Garand (a weapon that was not issued to tankers)?

There could be a story that ties these loose ends down, but there are no clues in the diorama as to what that story might be.

And as a bit of a tangent, most folks who put so much effort into their dioramas also put some markings on their vehicles. This tank has no reg number, no bridging plate, no unit ID, not even a national insignia. Hello?

I like to look at well done dioramas to find all that the modeller has thought to put in for me to see. The more I look at this diorama, the less sense it makes.

Oh well.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)

What a great analysis of the diorama. So much there I simply had not noticed.

I think I see an M4A3 feature. Top and bottom images above one can just make out the little vertical struts on the sponsons that supported the fully opened engine covers. I seem to recall unique to A3?

Those engine covers were very large grills and must have been thus for a good reason. Could one really get away with loading kit all over their surface? I have always left them exposed but wonder if this is right.

Looking at it a bit more, I now believe the character on the horse is in an Airborne M42 jumpsuit. I think I can see the line between the jacket and trousers, and the kneepads and elbowpads make better sense.

This explains the Garand and the webbing well enough.

If I wanted to identify a soldier on horseback as a US paratrooper I would have given him black lace-up jump boots, not brown boots with buckles on the upper portion (as were more common with regular infantry once they got out of the field shoes with gators). But a soldier in a combat zone might well have replaced his footwear, and once fighting as foot soldiers I would expect that the airborne troops had as much access to regular infantry kit as to their own special kit. Also a chin-strap on his helmet (which would have been particularly useful on horseback), would have helped to "tell the story" a bit. But most of all -- US paratroopers always had prominent shoulder patches, which most modellers like to put on their figures.

And again … what is the story of this diorama? I can imagine an airborne trooper picking up a locally found horse to ride off an make contact with advancing ground forces. But I can't explain when/where this might have happened between an airborne op and an advancing US force equipped with M4A3(76)W tanks during non-winter weather except perhaps in Operation Varsity. With no explanation or back story, no 17th Airborne shoulder patch on the paratrooper, (and I have no idea what tank units -- if the tank even had a unit marking -- might have crossed the Rhine fast enough to relieve any of the airborne pockets) that's all I can guess at.

So I would say nicely built and painted models and base, but not a well told story. Too bad, really. About 75% of the way there, but alas a score of 75% only gets you a grade of C in most classes.

-Mark
(aka: Mk 1)