The M4 Sherman medium tank was regarded by many as the workhorse of the US Army during World War II. In fact, virtually all of the Allied armies employed the Sherman in their armed forces, including the British, who developed an upgunned variant called the "Firefly". Eleven different US plants manufactured six basic models of the Sherman, and by June 1944 over 49,234 battle-ready vehicles had been produced. While it was no match for the German Panther or Tiger tanks, the Sherman soldiered on, using its weight in numbers to wrest control of Europe from the Wehrmacht. The M4A3 was fitted with a long-barrel M1A1 76mm gun, which replaced the shorter and less effective 75mm gun, and sported a larger, more angular turret to house the bigger gun. In addition, the slope of the M4A3's frontal armor was changed to 47-degrees to increase frontal protection and simplify the production process.

During the 1930s, many innovations in the components of light tanks would make US tanks considerably reliable. These included rubber-bushed tracks, rear mounted radial engines and the vertical volute spring suspension.

The vertical volute spring suspension system is a type of vehicle suspension system. This type of suspension system was mainly fitted onto US and Italian tanks and armored fighting vehicles starting in the 1930s and up until after the end of the Second World War in 1945.

A volute spring is a compression spring in the form of a cone (a volute). Under compression, the coils slide over each other, affording longer travel. The result is more stable and powerful than any leaf, coil, or torsion bar spring in the same volume. Mounted vertically in a road wheel bogie for a pair of road wheels in a tank made for a very compact unit.

The Rock Island Arsenal produced a small tank for the cavalry which used vertical volute spring suspension instead of leaf spring suspension. Standardized as the M1 Combat Car, it entered service with the US Army in 1937. The design was used in the M2 light tank and subsequent Stuart tank series. Design features of the Stuart were scaled up for use in the first M2 medium tanks which would evolve into the more successful M3 Lee and M4 Sherman, all using the vertical volute spring suspension system.

Pictured here is a 1:32 scale model kit of a US M4A3(105) Sherman medium tank with VVSS suspension. Comes with bonus Ford GAA V-8 engine. Pre-order! Ship Date: 2024.

Dimensions:
Length: 7-1/2-inches
Width: 3-1/2-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Hard Fighting" - The 5th Armored Division plunged into combat in August 1944, when it was charged with seizing Le Mans in France. The unit swept between Coutances and St Lo, then across the Selune River thus starting the organization's 300 mile exploitation behind the German Seventh Army. Le Mans fell and the 5th pursued the enemy, wrecking their armor and inflicting heavy casualties all the way to the Seine River. The Euro-Seine Campaign, waged toward the end of August, was the culmination of a successful strike to the south bank of the Seine.

When September opened, the 5th began a 130-mile push from Paris north to Belgium. The Division cut through the Compiegne Forest, crossed the Olse and Aisne Rivers, and then the Somme. New orders sent the unit racing another 100 miles to the Meuse River, advancing southeast below the Belgium border. Speeding onward, the 5th figured in the freeing of Luxembourg. On September 11th, the Our River was crossed in the vicinity of Stalzembourg, and Germany had been entered. In November, the 5th Armored Division, along with the 90th Inf Division, participated in the original crossing of the Moselle River.

Retarded by the terrain, weather and thousands of mines, the tankers and infantrymen fought a slow, hacking foot-by-foot engagement through the Huertgen Forest. They lived in mud, rain and ice and were constantly exposed to tremendous artillery fire. Fighting hard in December during the 'Bulge' period, the 5th greeted 1945 by continuing to advance through Germany and by crushing enemy armor within XV Corps objectives. At Coblenz, the unit smashed and then mopped up all enemy resistance. By spring 1945, the Division had rolled to the Wesser River and in May, driving north of Brunswick, it reached the Elbe, fanning out in the vicinity of Tangermuonde, 50 miles northeast of Magdeburg. In crossing the Elbe the 5th became the nearest US unit to Berlin just prior to V-E Day.