Beute Panzer JagdSherman - Ardennes, December 1944

RAFF-35 · October 18, 2025, 09:56:46 AM

The basic idea of this stemmed from a meme about JagdShermans not being real. So I decided to make one. The issue is that non turreted tank destroyers don't fit in the American fighting doctrine.... Although all the JagdSherman models I could find online were in US Army service.
Having thought about it a bit, here is the most plausible scenario I could think of.
In the frantic buildup to the Ardennenoffensive, the Wehrmacht planners faced a severe shortage of armoured vehicles and anti-tank guns. Desperate to field as much firepower as possible, they turned to an unusual solution. Captured Allied tanks, or Beutepanzer, pressed back into German service.
While these captured machines offered much-needed hulls and mobility, their guns were typically inferior to German standards and ill-suited for the offensive tactics being planned. To make them effective against the increasingly formidable Allied armour, German engineers began refitting these tanks with their own high-velocity weapons. Most notably the 75mm Pak 42 L/70, salvaged from wrecked Panthers and Jagdpanzers.
However, this powerful gun was far too large to fit inside the turrets of Allied tanks such as the American M4 Sherman. The solution was drastic but practical: Remove the turret altogether and convert the tank into a Jagdpanzer-style tank destroyer. These conversions were carried out not in major factories, but in frontline workshops and repair depots.
Each workshop adapted the conversions to whatever materials, parts, and captured vehicles they had on hand. Some workshops produced only a handful of such vehicles, while others managed to complete as many as twenty. As a result, no two conversions were exactly alike.
Among the various Allied tanks converted, the M4A3 Sherman proved the most common base vehicle. When these makeshift German tank destroyers appeared during and after the Battle of the Bulge, Allied troops quickly gave them a fitting nickname: the "JagdSherman."

RAFF-35 · October 18, 2025, 10:01:13 AM

Here's where the build is up to thus far....

kerick · October 18, 2025, 08:12:33 PM

Isn't that middle pictured one available as a resin conversion?
An intriguing idea!

RAFF-35 · October 18, 2025, 11:52:54 PM

Quote from: kerick on October 18, 2025, 08:12:33 PMIsn't that middle pictured one available as a resin conversion?
An intriguing idea!

I wasn't aware of it being available as a conversion kit, otherwise I might have bought it rather than chopping up an E-25

NARSES2 · October 19, 2025, 12:49:40 AM

Looking forward to this

zenrat · October 19, 2025, 05:49:19 AM

Old Wombat · October 19, 2025, 06:20:05 AM

I do like this one ...

... but the "Punisher" stencil is rather out of place/time.

And this one isn't too bad, either ...

RAFF-35 · October 19, 2025, 12:57:50 PM

Quote from: Old Wombat on October 19, 2025, 06:20:05 AMI do like this one...

... but the "Punisher" stencil is rather out of place/time.

I noticed that too. But then I guess one could argue that the artwork was drawn in WW2 and then Stan Lee saw a picture of it later on and copied it?

RAFF-35 · October 19, 2025, 01:01:38 PM

Got a fair amount of time to do some modelling today, so here's a progress report....

Weaver · October 19, 2025, 02:19:50 PM

Nice!

I can think of another plausible scenario for Jagdshermans: post-war third world. Some country gets hold of a load of part-dismantled Shermans at scrap value. The hulls are delivered, but the turrets and their guns are seized by authorities and impounded (make up your own murky post-war arms-dealing reason). Needing combat vehicles and being desperate, the country obtains guns from somewhere else (France? Russia?) and sets about converting the hulls in their national railway depot...

My personal idea for a Jagdsherman (for which I have the kits) is a 17pdr gun fitted to an M7 Priest hull, but I see it as open-topped.

jcf · October 19, 2025, 06:09:53 PM

Quote from: Weaver on October 19, 2025, 02:19:50 PMNice!

I can think of another plausible scenario for Jagdshermans: post-war third world. Some country gets hold of a load of part-dismantled Shermans at scrap value. The hulls are delivered, but the turrets and their guns are seized by authorities and impounded (make up your own murky post-war arms-dealing reason). Needing combat vehicles and being desperate, the country obtains guns from somewhere else (France? Russia?) and sets about converting the hulls in their national railway depot...

My personal idea for a Jagdsherman (for which I have the kits) is a 17pdr gun fitted to an M7 Priest hull, but I see it as open-topped.

Hopefully those Sherman junkers would all have the same type of engine.
Otherwise things could get messy.

Weaver · October 19, 2025, 07:47:26 PM

Quote from: jcf on October 19, 2025, 06:09:53 PM
Quote from: Weaver on October 19, 2025, 02:19:50 PMNice!

I can think of another plausible scenario for Jagdshermans: post-war third world. Some country gets hold of a load of part-dismantled Shermans at scrap value. The hulls are delivered, but the turrets and their guns are seized by authorities and impounded (make up your own murky post-war arms-dealing reason). Needing combat vehicles and being desperate, the country obtains guns from somewhere else (France? Russia?) and sets about converting the hulls in their national railway depot...

My personal idea for a Jagdsherman (for which I have the kits) is a 17pdr gun fitted to an M7 Priest hull, but I see it as open-topped.
Hopefully those Sherman junkers would all have the same type of engine.
Otherwise things could get messy.

All just adds to the fun...

I want to see all how the "generic" superstructure mod adapts to cast and welded hulls, and early and late glacis plate angles on the latter.

kerick · October 19, 2025, 08:19:53 PM

This one by claymore looks a lot like your first pic. Claymore's was quite a while ago so maybe it got filtered through the internet.

https://beyondthesprues.com/Forum/index.php?topic=6695.msg114861#msg114861

Wardukw · October 19, 2025, 08:32:56 PM

I've been wanting to build a Sherman assault or tank hunter for yrs ,,one thing or another would change my mind or put it on the back burner ,,like didn't have the right gun ..or a Sherman to play with ,so on and so forth .
Now Raff is doing it and i'm liking this alot

I'll be watching for certain

I know from past ideas of this vehicle that the guns where all ovr the place ,,from 75mm,,76mm to 90mm and 105mm guns ,,one model i saw ,,which i think might have been the reason i wanted to build my own had a L7 105mm gun in it ,,now that looked pretty damn cool ,,now of course i have an abundance of 105mm guns and no Sherman's in a state i can hack and slash em

kerick · October 20, 2025, 12:18:48 PM

I found it!!!
I knew I had seen that third pic before. I just couldn't for the life of me remember the manufacturer. Finally on Scalemates I found the maker. I knew it had the word helm in it. Turns out it was a company called Stahlhelm Models. I don't know if it exists anymore. Their version of the Sherman assault gun was intriguing.
Here's the Reddit link;

https://www.reddit.com/r/TankPorn/comments/h0p3yu/stahlhelm_models_assault_sherman/

I think I would discard the shield on the .50 cal as I've never seen that until the ACAV mod on the M113 in Vietnam. Otherwise it's pretty cool. 😎

Can't wait to see your take on an assault gun Sherman!