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If you like the Sherman, you are fortunate since there are more versions than kits available, and so you could try different conversions during years, adding in this way more models to you collection. Following the Saga of Sherman I started some years ago with the Tamiya M4 105, this time I present my last work, the M4A3 76mm.

The M4A3 is a tank with VVSS suspension and an eight cylinder liquid cooled, "V" type engine. The 76mm version had a T23 turret similar to the M4A1’s, one of the most well known Sherman.

The aim of this article is to share with the reader the work accomplished to fulfill this version based on the pictures taken during the construction and the materials used for it.

It’s necessary to have some experience because I’ll neither go deeper in the basic constructions topics nor in the electronics or wiring, is an article oriented to the static model appearance, then each one will add what he/she wants depending on their skills, liking and budget.

What you need to build a M4A3 76mm 

Obviously the first you need is a T23 turret; a friend of mine Nick Aguilar made a resin one some years ago and is available under request. Next picture shows the turret and a M4A1 hull offered by Nick too, but that will not be used in this construction.

On the other hand, it’s necessary to have a Sherman M4A3 chassis, this involves a VVSS suspension. There are three Sherman(s) available (in the market) in this scale: the Tamiya M4/M51, the Mato Toys M4A1 and the Heng Long M4A3, the two last ones are more toys than serious models. You can't compare them to the Tamiya kits.

Best choice would be using a Tamiya Sherman, with its magnificent electronics and highly detailed parts, replacing its HVSS suspension with the metal VVSS one from Mato Toys, as I did with the Jumbo I built some time ago.
http://www.modelersite.com/en/112168/m4a3e2-sherman-jumbo-1-16-scale-for-rc

However, this expensive option was out of my budget, so I decided to use Heng Long M4A3.

I also used a Tamiya upper hull, just cause I had it, but you may go ahead straight with the HL’s.

Construction

In my opinion, the Tamiya upper hull looks more real, you may purchase the parts for a few dollars if you live in USA or in Europe, anyway you may always go ahead with the Heng Long´s.
 

I started disassembling the Heng Long model completely. The turret is not useful for this project but some of the mechanical parts are. Next image shows the hull, with all the electronics and wiring removed.

I used the parts C4 of the Tamiya M4 kit to easily hold the upper to the lower hull. This is something I did in nearly all my Shermans.

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