James C
I can't point you directly to which barrel to use, but here's a list of aftermarket M4 Sherman barrels in 1/35 scale to hopefully narrow down your search. If it were me, I'd probably start with something from either RB or Aber.

SCM Search: "M4 Sherman" 1:35

James C
Just did a little more digging around and turned up this generic 75mm barrel by RB model, which is currently in-stock at Sprue Brothers.
It appears to be designed for the following Italeri kit, which your Revell kit is apparently a re-boxing of if the timeline history is correct...

75mm L/40 Gun Barrel for M4 Sherman (RB Model 35B03, 1:35)

M4 Sherman (Italeri 6389, 1:35)

TheMadModeller
James, thank you so very much for taking the time to look around here on Scalemates to help me fulfill the promise with my son. I should've been a little more clear in my initial post that I'd scoured the barrels listed here for an appropriate replacement. I've done a lot of work on Scalemates so I know my way around a little better than most, probably. 😉

What I was hoping to hear is whether anyone knew of any barrels that perhaps hadn't yet been listed. The 2004 and 2015 release of the Italeri kit bear the exact same gun from the 1977 release. The kit you provided is obviously a different release of some sort as the gun parts shown in the instructions are totally different though they are broken down into halves similarly.

One of these kits lists this Sherman variant as being the "M4A1(76)W Sherman." Looking this up on Duckduckgo, the search engine I use, I found a survivor with a barrel just like this one. Here are a couple of the pictures I found;

[img1]

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(Notice the driver? Why didn't we get to drive a Sherman on the beach in our childhood?!)

Note the thread protector at the end of the barrel and how the portion of the barrel close to the mantlet abruptly widens and maintains a constant width before it disappears into the protuberance on the mantlet. (Part of the recoil absorbing mechanism? I'm not that well versed on AFVs...) Almost all other photos seem to show a constant taper from the thread protector or muzzle break all the way to the mantlet.

Even the much newer Tasca kit of the M4A1(76)W Sherman kit doesn't have what either the Italeri or the Squirrel (in the photos) displays close to the mantlet. I'm so out of my element here... 🙁

Andrea Morris
Of use? hannants.co.uk/searc..product_type_id=3016

TheMadModeller
Thanks Andreas, this might have to be the one for him to use if he's adamant about using a turned metal barrel. The decals are in rough shape, they are precisely his mother's age after all, so new decals are likely in store for it anyway. 😉

Ben M
I've had good luck using this product, even on decals from the 1950's: microscale.com/Merch..ategory_Code=FINPROD

TheMadModeller
Thanks for the tip Ben but these look like they might've taken some water damage, we'll see though. I'll have him try sun bleaching them for a few weeks first and see how they look afterwards.

Additionally I said that maybe aftermarket decals would be better anyway is partly also due to the fact that the barrel suggested above doesn't exactly match the one from the kit. The kit parts look like a 76mm with a thread protector at it's business end. Therefore if he opts to go for one with a muzzle brake he'll need decals to match that vehicle. Unless of course they applied/removed muzzle brakes according to the situation? I honestly don't know, I didn't even know there was such a thing as a thread protector on Sherman barrels until this whole thing came about. Ask me the difference between B-17s, most Bf-109s, Spitfires or what have you and I'm pretty confident in my knowledge; AFVs are just that far removed from my area of study! 😄

Incidentally I've been relying on the suggested product for many years now. I had a very bitter experience at the end of elementary school when some Hungarian decals that came with a Testors Ju-86E shattered as soon as they hit the water. Those weren't even that old really given when I built it back then. Anyway, someone told me about this product when I was in my early twenties and ever since then I've been an avid user of many of Microscale's products. I have another of those Testors kits in my stash, with those same exact decals, this time I'll be prepared for it!

Kristal Klear is another of their amazing products. It's saved me so much time when dealing with small windows and allow you to detail the interior of model aircraft much easier than when dealing with parts that have large joining surfaces. Furthermore it's typically more clear than those sorts of parts anyway and so allows those details to be more readily apparent. I also learned that it works well as a glue for canopies. 😉