My Next Project: AFV Club M10

Werner Voss

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Joined
Jan 17, 2022
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15
I should wrap up my Tamiya M4A3E8 this weekend. Just a couple hours for finishing details. i already have my next project ready to go.

When I started the Sherman, it was in honor of my wife’s uncle. We knew Al Snarski was awarded the Purple Heart when he “had his tank blown out from under him” at The Battle of the Bulge. I assumed Uncle Al commanded a Sherman, but during my research I learned he trained at Camp Swift in Texas. The only armored units to train at Swift were the 116th and 120th Tank Destroyer Battalions. It was likely Uncle commanded an M10, not an M4 Sherman.

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That being the case I researched M10 kits. I decided on the AFV Club kit. Part of what appealed to was the metal barrel included in the stock kit. As you can see in the picture of Uncle Al, he attached to his M10 an extra couple spare wheels to the turret. I went ahead and ordered the M4 Sherman Medium HVSS kit. This will will add spring suspension to the M10 while giving me the extra wheels for the turret spares.

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The M10 was a frightening machine. Yes, under ideal conditions, it could knock out a Panther tank, but God bless the M10 crews. Yeah, it had a more powerful gun than the Sherman, but the turret was OPEN. Go cruising past German infantry and they could easily lob a potato masher grenade into the turret and wipe out the crew. They may have well been cruising through the hedge rows in a ‘63 T-Bird convertible.

While the Sherman had an enclosed turret, as almost every WWII tank, the M10 turret was manually cranked to turn. It was not motorized. Brute strength was used to crank the gun into position.

Yes, Uncle Al was awarded a Purple Heart. He was lucky to survive. Two of his crew did not.
 

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