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The M10 was a popular vehicle in British service and was widely used in Italy and North West Europe. It was used in its original US role as a tank destroyer and for general fire support of infantry units. Regrettably it was also sued as a tank with predictable results due to its thin armour and the lack of overhead protection for the top of the turret. The popularity was greatly increased when the 17 Pounder gun replaced the 3 in gun in many vehicles producing the M10 C.

The history of the vehicle is well known so I don't intend to retell it here. Rather I though people might find interesting some information I gleaned while researching Firefly at the PRO.

One point to note is that in the popular imagination these vehicles care referred to as Wolverine for the basic M10 and Achilles for the M10C . These do not seem to have been official names and may not even have been contemporary.

1. M10 C Conversions:

M10 C and Valentine 17 Pounder. A quick tot up produces to Feb 45 445 of the latter
and 969 of the M10 conversions, plus 693 DD’s. On that I have also found
proof that local conversions were carried out by 30 Corps units themselves
in another file. No figures though apart from 12 to 75 Anti Tank Regiment of
11th Armd Div during the build up to D Day (report dated June 1944) the
total in the official conversions will not be the whole story. 12 per
regiment seeming to be the plan of issue.

The file said "converted some M10's themselves…in tank troop workshops".

File Supply 4/7 states that 1585 were ordered for M10 conversions and by end
1944 in another file we have 810 completed.

M10 17 Pdr conversions mainly from Prem 3/425. None are listed as being made
before May 44 and the figures stop at February 1945 at least in the files I
have found so far.

2. M10 C in Italy:

The first record I found for any was some in place by August 1944
with more coming in convoys in September:

30 were there by 13th September and 40 were due by the end of the month. In
November there were some 152 in theatre.

Note no mention of Achilles as a name, all M10C or M10 17pr or similar -
names used noted in the text.

Refs: Avia 11/30, Prem 3/425, Prem 3/246/10.

From file WO 204/7448:

Deliveries to Italy dated 11th April 45 "Appx A to AFHQ/8318/Q(AE)" :

"SP 17 PDR M10 and SP 17 PDR Valentine" Issues to 5th Army = 8, issues to
8th Army = 50. Arrived in theatre, but not held by armies (up to and
including 31.3.45) 62. Regrettably the SP's are not separated out as the
other vehicles are.

Same file, but Appendix to 1705/28/G(SD2) dated 9th October 1944:

17 pdr M10" 5 delivered to ARG, 9 moving to ARG by sea, 6 moving to ARG by
rail, total 20. There were also 10 arriving in convoy KMS 61. 40 had been
"released by TROOPERS July to October". What Troopers is I don't know, some sort of supply organisation or HQ branch perhaps.

Same file and reference, but dated 4th September 44:

"SP 17 pdr M10". Shipped to 31st July: 4 - 3rd Jul, 4 - 2nd Aug, 16 by 13th
Sept Estimated Time of Arrival, 16 12th Oct ETA. Total 40.

Same file and reference, but 21st September 44:

"SP 17 pr M 10" 5 at present with ARG. 15 being serviced, 4 of these will
be available end Sep. The balance of 10 due in October will be included in
the servicing programme for Oct. Note All SP 17 pr M 10 earmarked for Eighth
Army.

3. Odds and ends:

1. Canadian file 13/Equip State/1/4 equipment State of CMHQ and CR units as
   at 31 Dec 44. Available on the web from CAN.
   
   17-pr M10 SP establishment nil, held 18, all surplus.
   
   19 3 in M10's were also held and considered surplus against an establishment
   of 16 vehicles.
   
   2. Similar figure for Canadian units in First Cdn Army on the same date.
   
   17-pr M10 SP (Sherman) establishment 60, held 33, 27 deficient.
   
   Also note that 23 standard 3in M10's were also held and considered surplus.
   There might be some unit material for 1945 in the WO 219/3350 series, but I
   never collected that when I was collecting Firefly and Churchill material,
   but I can have a look when I go back to PRO later in the year. But as the
   files were US G2 files then they should be in the US archives and hopefully
   more complete than the 1945 versions only in the UK.
   
   4. M10 C unit statistics 21^st Army Group 1945:

The AFV Club M10 has been out for some time with two issues. The first represents a mid production vehicle with the second type turret counter weights. The second issue has the revised turret with the late style "duck bill" counter weights. Several articles have been written including Steve Zaloga’s Military Modelling article in Vol. 30/No 4. Since then some less favourable reviews have been produced.

I was lucky enough to received a detailed assessment by noted model maker Phil Greenwood, comparing the kit to the new Academy M10 17 Pdr (and since then an M10 has also been issued). Despite the problems with the AFV Club kit, I was still keen to make them as I had two in stock and Steve Zaloaga’s build looked fantastic. Thus I proceeded to build one kit using some workarounds, which improved the kit visually, if not totally solving all of the problems. In the end it looks more like an M10 than before. That said the unmodified kit still looks good to me and I guess many people will build it from the box and be satisfied with it as it is and there is nothing wrong with that at all, despite what the micrometer brigade might say.

Phil told me that the model’s turret is wrong and having poor hull crew hatches. Other problems are the hull rear and in a later review Steve Zaloga makes note of problems with the over large road wheels. The model also lacks interior detail compared to the Academy kit. The Academy kit definitely has the better hull and turret and more of an interior. The choice of wheel options is also nice as well.

The first step on the AFV Club kit is as always; find a vehicle to model. I wanted at first to make a British commonwealth vehicle. British use of the M10 was widespread, but gradually, if not completely the British fitted its M10's with the far more effective 17 Pdr gun as the M10C or M10 17 Pdr, sometimes called Achilles in post war publications. This name and the M10 nick name of Wolverine are not official and do not appear in war time documents. Thus I was unable to find a photo of an M10 with exactly the features of the kit, not one with any Sherman track type I had to hand. In the end I opted for a US example taken from Steve Zaloga’s US Tank Destroyers book (Tanks Illustrated No 19), page 38. This shows and M10 of the right type and with the same tracks and sprockets as in the kit covered in rubble from a damaged house. It also had the interesting feature of a large ammo container for the .50 HMG (taken from a Tamiya M16 half track kit).

An early open idler wheel came from a Dragon spare, which fits very nicely. A German helmet was found to place on the headlight brush guard, with chin straps added from thin metal sheet. It would appear that angle iron racks were fitted to the hull sides in place of the grouser bar stowage, so these were added from plastic strip, but on the other side I added the grouser bar stowage (suitably thinned) using artistic licence, as I could not see that side in the photo. The front track guards were removed and replaced with thin metal sheet parts as this vehicle has had these torn off. This is very useful as the AFV Club parts are over long and hard to modify without a complete rebuild.

Using Phil’s advice I replaced the differential with a modified Dragon one, but with care and a bit of reshaping the kit one could be used, as it does not look too bad once in place. Don’t forget the step on the differential. I think that I should have used the earlier pattern differential from the Dragon M4A1 kit. I am not sure if M10’s featured the range of single piece differentials (at least three) that other Shermans had. Thus either might be correct. If you don’t have the spare, then you can reshape the kit part, or cover it in stowage if your example is so equipped. The later style is definitely right for the M36 though. Anyway all the Dragon parts are very heavily textured and this needs reducing, with a wash of filler and a brisk sanding to level the surface out, as other wise it looks like a lava field, than cast metal!

The interior was built as per the kit, but with a few additions based on the stowage diagrams available in a number of books, reference to Mr Zaloga’s article will also prove very useful. I did the same to the turret using Mr Zaloga’s advice. More ammunition came from another kit, which I intended to use as an M36 hull (more in another article, once I get round to making it).

I did not bother replacing the rear plate as its not very noticeable, but you can if you want to add that extra bit of accuracy.

One key visual problem are the hull hatches. These are way too square and really need rebuilding. The Academy ones are better, but not perfect. You would also have to rebuild the holes, so it’s a bit of a job. I just left them open and sanded them a bit to improve the shape. Also watch out so you get the right hinges for each side, other wise they are a pig to fit.

The headlights are typical of current kits and can be really improved with MV lenses, despite the cost in the UK of £1.98 for a pair of code L111 (source F&F Models – see the link on the Firefly updates page). Simply grind the centres out with a ball drill router bit and super glue in the lenses. If only kit makers would mould these parts, periscopes and cupolas in clear plastic a lot of work could be saved, at little extra cost for the makers.

Drill out the centre of the rear pick axe head and detail the machine gun. In this case that meant adding the Tamiya ammo box from the M16 kit, although you also get the box in a separate figure set Tamiya also issued.

The 3in ammo is not readily available and I used the parts from Academys tank supplies set. Since completion I got the AFV Club 76mm rounds set in brass, that Mr Zaloga recommends. If I did this model again I would use them, despite the ammunition not being exactly the same, as no one seems to make proper 3in ammunition.

The tracks look OK, but I found they tear easily and the joint is weak. If I build it again I will use an after market set.

The VVS is good and I did not find it necessary to repalce the springs, but if you do so, Mr Zaloga’s article contains detailed instructions. The road wheels look a little big, but once in place the VVS looks ok. Its also available as an accessory set and represents the unpacked VVS, with the standard skid. It could be modified to the earlier semi circular skid, or to the later packed VVS, but this style seems OK for the M10’s I looked at. Late M36’s had the upswept style and packed VVS appears on some later M10’s, notably the British M10C conversions, based on the admittedly few photos that have been published.

My model also needed some artillery type ranging poles from plastic rod, stripped in red and white, some 76mm ammo boxes were placed on the rear deck, to represent, what I assume were 3in boxes on the real vehicle. These came from the Academy accessory set. Some spare track for the glacis was made up from Dragon individual links.

The vehicle I was modelling did not appear to have any markings visible, but for a bit of interest I put on a engine deck and glacis star, as they may have been covered by stowage, rubble and dust in the photo. The kit decals were used bedded down with a lot of Johnson’s Klear varnish. Once this was done a coat of mat varnish was added, using a Klear and Tamiya Flat Base mix. Once complete the model was added to a base and rubble from dyed cat litter, with pastel dust added. As a final touch some slivers of wood from balsa and lolly sticks were added to represent wood debris.

This is the key problem, the turret is far too wide. I think its salvageable to improve the visual look of the turret, which does not match any plans I have to hand of the vehicle. What I did was to cut the mantlet into three parts taking two 2mm slices out either side of the central hole for the 3in gun. I then butt jointed the parts together and carefully disguised the seams, first by careful filling and sanding, then by adding texture to the mantlet (as with the other cast parts, i.e. the differential and the counter weights). I used a mix of liquid cement and plastic scrap, but I have also found that thinned fine surface water based household filler works just as well. The interior then needs reducing in width to match the new mantlet. I did this by thinning as much as I could the structure that is hidden by the turret sides and the matlet and the plastic is thick enough to allow this to happen. In the end the shape is not perfect, but looks a lot better than the original kit part, matching the new Academy kit within a tolerable limit.

As noted by Mr Zaloga the gun is too short and with a bit of super glue you can fix the wonderful aluminium barrel in place, after cutting off the little locating bit. You can have a bit of freedom here as the gun might be in recoil or something!

The Academy kit – and now an M10 as well are probably better, but with a bit of thought the AFV Club kit is perfectly acceptable in either issue. They also seem to have issued the kit as a prime mover variant, without the turret.

One point to note is that I had two kits with identical boxes. One had the common ribbed pressed road wheels, but the other has the late smooth dish road wheels. Very useful for the spares box (especially for the M36 I will use it to make, unless Academy beat me too it), but with no explanation in the kit as to why this should be, unless you get these in the later kit and for some reason my second boxing came with these rather than the original set. Can you tell me why Mr AFV Club?

Phil Dyer M10 (early) plans in Bellona Print No 9.

Military Modelling May 1994 – M10 17 Pdr article by David Parker on the Cromwell M10C, with D P Dyer plans in 1/35th

Military Modelling June 1994, Bill Evans reviewed the AA M10 and M10C resin kits

Military Modelling Vol. 30, No 4, April-May 2000, S J Zaloga AFV Club kit review

Sherman, Hunnicutt, Presidio – the standard work.

Fine Scale Modeller May 1995, Cookie Sewell article on M10 and M36, using earlier Tamiya and Italeri parts with scale templates. There is also a 1/35^th US Army WW2 side view drawing.

Wydawnictwo Militaria M10, M36, Achilles by W J Gawrych 2000

US Tank Destroyers in Action N 36, Jim Mesko, Squadron Signal

US Tank Destroyers, Tanks Illustrated No 19 Steve Zaloga A&AP

Tank Magazine Vol. 13, No 1. M10 17 Pdr and M36 plans and photos.

British and American Tanks of WW2, Chamberlain & Ellis, 1969 and 2000

After the Battle No 25, good photos of a preserved M10C, which was regrettably converted to M10 standards, but without changing the mantlet. The vehicle appeared in the Sean Connery film Cuba and stills from the film are included

There is also an article by Steve Zaloga on the Italeri M36, but these are outside the scope of this article. There is also a Concord Publications book by Steve on US TD’s, but I don’t have one to comment further.

Tamiya made an M36 back in the dim and distant past. It was more like 1/32^nd. It was released with a proper M10 turret in 1/35^th some years later, but both kits are just collectibles only now. The FSM article noted above is the best reference on these.

Italeri as discussed above make and M36B1, ie M36 turret on the M4A3 wet VVS tank hull. Note that this is the only US TD with a bow machine gun.

In 1/76^th there are various metal and resin kits. The only one I have built is MMS’s wonderful M10 kit. This uses MMS’s std Sherman hull and running gear and is really good, matching plans and published dimensions to a tee. I believe that they also do and M10 17 Pdr and an M36. Here is a photo of the M10 model:

Nitto released a rather odd M36 with a bow gun, but its not a bad source of parts, baring the 1/87^th VVS. I built one years ago as an M36B1 using a Fujimi M4A3 and Esci Sherman parts.

In wargames scales I have only ever seen Skytrex’s 1/300 one and that is competent and looks the part within the limitations of the scale (more than can be said for their M4A1 Firefly!).

I hope that you find this useful. I intend to follow this up with a build of the Academy M10C kit, when I get time. They are also to release an M10 and AFV Club have released the M10 kit, sans turret as an M10 gun tower, ideal for use with the large six and eight inch gun kits now on sale.

Table of M10 17 Pdr conversions and some unit date of M10’s and M10 17 Pdr.

Mark (Bill) Hayward

January 2002.