D-Day Sherman Wading Vents

gary1930 · Post by **gary1930** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:30 pm

At the instigation of grunt1 I had a try at making the wading vents for a D-Day Sherman. I'm going to send them to him for revision and possibly to get some scale drawings. If anybody has any good detail photos, dimensions, or drawings, please let one of us know. Whatever we come up with will be made available to forum members.

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 3:39 pm

That type of Sherman had a canvas screen with poles that formed a cushion around it for it be boyant as it made for shore.
History Channel had a program about them.
There is a special name for it...
When the Sherman got ashore the crew would take down the screen and stow it away and it would enter into combat like a regular Sherman.
Of the 12 that used this to try to get ashore on D-Day, I think only 2 made it. There was really rough seas on June 6th...
Looks good so far.

grunt1 · Post by **grunt1** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 6:08 pm

Razor those were DD tanks. This is a wading/fording kit. Both were used in landings depending on how far out to sea the tank was "launched".

The fording kits were also used to cross streams and small rivers.

Here is the photo that started the madness.

KAMIKAZE · Post by **KAMIKAZE** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 8:02 pm

Put me down for one of these as well Gary.

Mark

Threetoughtrucks · Post by **Threetoughtrucks** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:42 pm

The DD tanks were launched too far out when they were used in the U.S. beaches and almost all were sunk by rough seas. The DD Shermans used in the Brit sector were a different matter. Almost or all of the DD tanks made it to shore and were a major factor in allowing the Brits landing an early success.

The Brit DD's were used exactly as designed, launched close to shore, swam to shore and were used against beach defenses.

Gary, put me down for one of your wading attachments if and when you make them.

TTT

immeww2 · Post by **immeww2** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:43 pm

Looks cool! I'd be interested in getting a set too!

MK · Post by MK » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:54 pm

I'd take a set. It looks great! Now start working on the Calliope for the Sherman.

MK

Razor17019 · Post by **Razor17019** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:19 pm

Gary,
I would like a set of those too, if you are planning on making several sets.

Here is a Duplex Drive (DD) Sherman Tank:

scope uk · Post by **scope uk** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:55 am

looks very cool! nicely done!

RED · Post by **RED** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:37 pm

Nice job!!!I had thought of doing this before but never got around to it!!!! Looks like I will have some good work to go by with yours if/when I get to do mine!!!

---RED---

STUKA · Post by **STUKA** » Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:15 pm

great job - id like a set as well.

pickelhaube · Post by **pickelhaube** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 7:07 am

This would be a cool (needed) add on.

MIGMADMAVIS · Post by **MIGMADMAVIS** » Sun Mar 11, 2007 6:41 pm

Put me down for one of these too!!! I love your customs gary1930!!!!!!!

steelbonnet · Post by **steelbonnet** » Mon Mar 12, 2007 12:25 am

Gary,

WOW mate I think it`s about time these were covered.Shame it`s come down to a customizer But these are easily looking production quality anyway.

So Top marks mate & looking forward to seeing these done.

Ja

grunt1 · Post by **grunt1** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:31 pm

Ok gang, this is what we've come up with so far:

Gary sent me the prototype. From it I was able to create some cad drawings. I then tweaked the cad drawings into something you can try on your own printer.

The full size drawings are here:

http://www.sshqdb.com/images/Sherman-Ta ... t-v2.1.pdf

Note you will need to install the free Acrobat PDF reader from Adobe if you don't already have it.

Additional instructions to follow...

gary1930 · Post by **gary1930** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:40 pm

Nice work, grunt1.
I don't know if it's my printer, or Adobe, but the drawings came out too small. I needed to increase the size by 6.667% to match your measurements.

grunt1 · Post by **grunt1** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:42 pm

Instructions:

Option 1: Use the drawings as a styrene plastic template

- Print the drawings onto standard paper
- Using a ruler, compare any of the 1 inch markings (like the top portion of the stacks) to the 1 inch marking on your ruler. They should match perfectly.
- If they don't match, adjust your printer settings.
- Once they match up, cut out each item from the paper.
- Place it on the sheet of styrene plastic, mark the plastic with a knife to create the piece.
- Glue the various pieces together.
- Let them dry
- Paint

Option 2: Make some stacks from thick paper

- Print the drawings onto standard paper
- Using a ruler, compare any of the 1 inch markings (like the top portion of the stacks) to the 1 inch marking on your ruler. They should match perfectly.
- If they don't match, adjust your printer settings.
- Once they match up, print the drawings onto card stock or some kind of thick paper
- Cut out each item from the paper.
- Glue the various pieces together.
- Let them dry
- Paint

Free Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

grunt1 · Post by **grunt1** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:45 pm

gary1930 wrote:Nice work, grunt1.
I don't know if it's my printer, or Adobe, but the drawings came out too small. I needed to increase the size by 6.667% to match your measurements.

Same thing happened to me. I had to adjust the printer settings. Under the section called Page Handling, I set Page Scaling from "Fit printer margins" to "None". That took care of it.

gary1930 · Post by **gary1930** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:52 pm

Good.
May we have an explanation for the small parts on the right side of each page?

Re plastic. I used .040 thick styrene for the front and back of the stacks, and .060 for the sides and the rest. Even so I had to make several attempts to bend the plastic with a heat gun and a 1" dowel rod. I might try boiling water for the next one.

I'm not telling anybody how to do it, just sharing. I hope others with better ideas share theirs.

grunt1 · Post by **grunt1** » Tue Mar 13, 2007 9:28 pm

Note that the instructions refer to a north stack and a south stack. The north stack is the one closest to the turret, south stack is the one that hangs off of the back of the tank.

I also used east and west to refer to the sides of the tank. So as you look at this picture, we are looking at the "west" side of the tank.

Here's a quick photo to help explain where the smaller parts go: