Scale: 1/72

It's a model of a Polish Sherman IIA from the 2nd Armoured Regiment, 1st Polish Armoured Division, May 1945, somewhere near Wilhelmshaven. I got the ideas for the markings from a book by the Polish publisher Militaria, "Polskie Shermany vol. II." The model itself is from Italeri which has been re-releasing old Esci kits for the past year or so. However, Esci originally based their model on a museum reconstruction with a M4A1 hull but a 75mm turret. Except for a few DD tanks, it seems to be a very rare beast. Luckily, Armo has come out with resin 76mm turrets, both early and late. This is the early, and includes some photoetch parts and a turned aluminium barrel. Excellent value. I added a lot of stowage from Mars and Armo and a gascan from Academy. I scratchbuilt the British stowage box on the rear plate. The white stars are from Italeri and were very good for kit decals. The other markings came from an old Intech booklet on Polish Army vehicles. I had read that this company had problems with their decals so after testing one (it shattered as soon as I touched it), I coated the rest in Microscale Liquid Decal Film and saved them. I carefully taped up the barrel and painted the white design; it could have been a bit finer  but my eyes are getting worse the older I get.