M4 Sherman Mid-Production

Trumpeter, 1/72 Scale

Reviewed by Glen Porter

Summary

FirstLook

The first thing you will notice about this kit when you see it in a shop is the totally uninspiring photo of a built model on the box top. Aren't there any good modellers working for Trumpeter, or were they just in too much of a hurry to release it? Whoever built it hasn't even bothered to remove the seams from the road wheels. Look at the tracks floating above the return rollers, the visible decal film and that paint job!

I have heard this kit referred to as a dog. I wouldn't go that far - it has some good points. The main problem is the angle of the front plate. Now I'm not sure if the much quoted correct angle is from the horizontal or the vertical but this one is way too close to the horizontal and it stands out. It also moves the turret to the rear and this stands out too. This fault alone will stop me from building this kit and many from buying it.


 

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The other faults are less serious and in most cases fixable. The moulded-on tools could be removed and replaced along with the lifting eyes on the hull and turret. The transmission housing flanges, devoid of any detail, could also be removed and replaced by left-over parts from an Extratech kit. Then there are the annoying things like the ring for the Commander's hatch not being a separate part which would allow you to place the MG anywhere around the hatch as seen in many photos and the extra side-armour being also moulded on. The otherwise excellent bogies are marred by oversized return rollers which are about 50% bigger than they should be.

Okay, that's the bad news out of the way. Now let's have a look at what good bits are in the box.

Firstly, the kit includes two of the best injection moulded machine guns (.50 and .30 cals) that I have seen in this scale, but again not quite perfect with their moulded on mounts. The turret is not too bad apart from the moulded on lifting eyes and hatch ring. The tracks, although rubber bands, are well moulded and according to the instructions can be glued with plastic glue. That will have to be tested to know for sure.

On first viewing the bogies I got very excited and then I noticed the over-sized rollers. Bother! However, apart from those rollers the bogies are quite good and will make nice replacements for the Extratech items. I am just not sure if it will be necessary to replace those rollers or not. Not only are the bogies well moulded but you get two sets - one set moulded as a complete item with spoked wheels and another set with the bogies moulded in two pieces and two sets of separate wheels in both spoked and cast.

The return rollers also come in spoked and cast and there are two types of drive sprockets.

Quite a few of the smaller parts such as air-filter cans, bow MG, tow coupling and head lights are superior to those in the Extratech kits and could surely be use to enhance those models.

Both Uni Model and Mirage have announced plans for various Shermans in this scale but if what we're hearing of the new Dragon kits is correct, it wouldn't surprise me if they both cancelled those plans. As for this kit by Trumpeter, it looks like they've rushed it to get it onto the market before Dragon, but they blew it big time.

The point I am making is if like me you've ended up with several Extratech Shermans, it will still be worth while buying one of these kits just for the parts.

Recommended as a source of parts only.

Purchased with reviewers' funds