As I previously mentioned in a more general post, I’m fascinated by cheesecake pin-up art on WWII vehicles, particularly armed fighting vehicles. (Please see: http://ww2in172.com/?p=534.) The M4 Sherman being one of my favorite tanks, I searched extensively for pin-ups strictly on such tanks. After poring through numerous websites and books — I have two dozen books specifically on the Sherman — I could locate only eight WWII Sherman tanks with pin-ups. Here they are, with information on the moniker the crew used for the tank, the type of Sherman hull, the unit and location where the tank served, the source of this data, and information on available 1/72 scale decals. To date, none of these tanks has been produced by any of the manufacturers of 1/72 prebuilt models.

I would be grateful for corrections or additional information on these or other tanks — Sherman or otherwise — with pin-up art. Please don’t hesitate to post a comment.

1. “Trooper”

• Hull: M4 Composite
• Unit: 175th Tank Battalion, Philippines 1945
• Source: Sherman in Action (Squadron 2016), by Bruce Culver, p.31; Profile at p.26.
• Notes: The Sherman just behind “Trooper” also appears to have pin-up art but it’s not included on the list because of uncertainty.
• 1/72 Decals:
  • Included in Peddinghaus EP785, US Fahrzeug Beschriffungen;
  • Included in Out of the Blue EP785, US Army Vehicle Numbers & Slogans (appears to have same content as Peddinghaus under different name) (photo of decal from Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale website);
  • Included in UM 370, Medium Tank M4 kit.

2. “Annabelle”

• Hull: M4A1 with T-34 Calliope Rocket Launcher
• Unit: 48th Tank Battalion, France 1945
• Source: The M4 Sherman at War: The European Theater 1942-1945 (I), by Steven Zaloga, p.60; Profile at p.38.
• 1/72 Decals:
  • Included in Aleran Miniatures US-3, US Sherman Markings (NW Europe 44-45) (1/76 scale);
  • Included in UM 376, Rocket Launcher M4A3 with T-34 Calliope kit. (Note that UM censured the pin-up, giving the redhead a matching red bathing suit, though the pin-up on the actual vehicle clearly had none.)

3. “Lightning”

• Hull: M4A1 Wading Tank
• Unit: 767th Tank Battalion, Kwajalein Atoll 1944
• Source: Armored Thunderbolt: The U.S. Army Sherman in WWII, by Steven Zaloga, p.303; Profile from Wojna na Pacyfiku Daleki Wschod 1938-1945, by Janusz Ledwoch, p.24.
• Notes: “Lightning” has a pin-up on the barrel itself. The Sherman to the right of “Lightning” also appears to have pin-up art just behind the star on the hull side but it’s not included on the list because of uncertainty. Note that the pin-up is missing from the barrel on the profile, which may be correct. Absent a photo of the port side of the actual vehicle, it is impossible to ascertain the profile’s accuracy.
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

4. “Black Orchid”

• Hull: Possibly M4A2
• Unit: Unidentified unit, Pacific Theater
• Source: They Called it the Sherman: The M4 Tank, by Scot Laney and Gary Mortenson, p.44.
• Notes: Japanese flag kill marks indicate Pacific Theatre, which implies USMC, which itself implies an M4A2 hull. Still, this is only conjecture.
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

5. “Fight or Frolic”

• Hull: M4A4 Sherman 
• Unit: 1st Provisional Tank Group, Burma 1944
• Source: http://www.cbi-theater.com/1ptg/1ptg.html
• Notes: “Fight or Frolic” had different pin-ups on each side of the hull as shown in the two photos below. In addition to the pin-ups, the tank carries the triangular insignia of the Armored Corps on the turret port side and a skull on the turret starboard side.
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

6. “Brownie”

• Hull: M4, M4A2, or M4A4
• Unit: Unidentified, but photo was purportedly taken in Italy.
• Source: Found on some obscure corner of the Internet, never to be found again.
• Notes: Hull type unknown but welded hull rules out M4A1; early glacis angle of hull rules out M4A3.
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

7. Unreadable Name

• Hull: M4
• Unit: 6th Armored Division, Europe
• Source: The M4 Sherman at War: The European Theater 1942-1945 (I), by Steven Zaloga, p.27.
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

8. Unreadable Name

• Hull: M4A? with M1 Dozer Blade
• Unit: Unidentified
• Source: Internet
• 1/72 Decals: None available, to my knowledge.

Please forgive the poor photo quality of the decal sheets. Those of you who have worked with decals appreciate the challenges of differentiating white decals from a light background in photography.

It should be readily apparent to the reader that decals are only available where an artist has produced a color profile of a tank. Artists are the sine qua non of our hobby, as without their “translation” of black and white photographs into color representations most modelers and hobbyists would have little idea about the colors, camouflage schemes, or markings of the actual tanks.

If you have corrections — particularly on the type of Sherman hull of “Black Orchid,” “Brownie,” or the dozer — or additional information on any of these tanks; or if you know of additional Shermans or other tanks with pin-ups, please contact me. I would also be grateful for information on the source of the original internet photos so I may provide proper attribution. Once again, thank you for your indulgence and I hope you enjoyed the peep show.   🙂