USA M4A3E8 Sherman “Easy Eight” Europe Tank Tamiya-35346

Description

After World War I, the Americans developed several attempts at battle tanks that ended up in an early version of the light tank. The M2 was an 18.7 ton tank, armed with a 37mm gun, a raised hull and a small turret, this model became obsolete before the US actively participated in World War II. Its successor, the M3 Lee (or M3 Grant in its British variant), was better armed than the M2 but its 75mm gun was located in the front of the hull, instead of in the turret, which made it less effective in combat against other tanks.

The Sherman M4 was the first American tank that could really compete in good conditions with the German models, it was a relatively simple tank to produce and with a good balance between maneuverability, armor and firepower so that during the Second World War numerous versions of it were manufactured, among them, and almost at the end of the conflict, was the M4A3E8 “Easy Eight” which was equipped with a 76mm M1 long gun instead of the 75mm M3 L/40. This change in armament made the tank more effective in combat but increased the turret which ended up implying other changes in the width of the chains and in the suspension.

The M4A3E8 first entered combat in December 1944 during the Ardennes offensive and continued to operate after WWII, taking an active part in the Korean War.