1:35 Sherman Clive crew

A Sherman crew by their vehicle

The figures belong with the M4 Sherman medium tank, which from 1942 formed the backbone of the armored units of the western Allies and served from North Africa through Italy as far as the Elbe. The designation Clive refers to the name of a particular machine: naming tanks was common practice among British and American crews, and the name was painted on the side of the hull or on the turret so that the vehicles within a troop could be told apart even on the move.

Who sat in the tank

The crew of a Sherman numbered five men: the commander in the turret, the gunner and the loader beside him, the driver and his assistant at the bow machine gun. That division is reflected in the poses in which the figures are captured, as some of the men peer out of the hatches and others are conceived as standing by the machine. It is exactly the human figure that gives a finished tank its scale: the viewer immediately compares the height of a man with the hull, and only then takes in how big that vehicle really was.

Preparation and painting

Before the build, wash the castings in lukewarm water with detergent and let them dry, otherwise residue of release agent from the mold prevents the paint from adhering. Remove the burrs with a sharp scalpel and fill the seams at the shoulders with putty. For the faces and hands, oils glazed over a matte acrylic base work well, and for the uniforms a dry brush that pulls out the folds of the cloth.

Where the set fits

It comes into its own in a diorama of the western European or Italian theater and as a way of enlivening a display model on its own. The figures are supplied unpainted and without a base.