|
As mentioned in the Introduction, there have been only five plastic kits of the Sherman tank made available to 1/72nd scale model builders:
All five of these kits have issues with accuracy and scale, and only one is really a fairly good, highly detailed model. Comparison Scans A valuable part of these "overview" articles is the comparison between available kits. But since two of the kits are mostly the same (the ESCI kits), plus I've already built one (the HäT kit), I am only going to compare the hulls and turrets. Other details of the kits can be found in their individual kit previews. The Hulls:
So, what's the first thing that jumps out at you when you look at this scan? That monster kit on the left? What were they thinking?! Actually, the width of the Hasegawa hull is not too bad; only about a millimeter too wide, which is quite acceptable. But the length is ridiculous. Although it's not readily apparent in this scan, the Revell hull is substantially smaller than the others. It can actually fit inside the ESCI hull. The attached fenders make it seem bigger in this view. The HäT hull was pasted into this scan, because I wrote this article after I built the kit. The size may be off by a pixel or two, but it looks about right. It is just a hair larger than the ESCI hulls, by maybe a millimeter in both length and width. As you can see, it is the only early version Sherman in the selection. If you feel like sacrificing an ESCI M4A3, you could cut off its rear hull including the engine deck, and graft it onto the HäT front hull to make an early M4A3. Or you can scratchbuild it, if you're talented enough. Same for the M4A2. Some things of note: the Hasegawa and HäT pieces have closed hatches. I don't really care about the Hasegawa hull, since it's not really useable anyway, but it would have been really nice if the HäT hatches were open. The ESCI M4A1 has an open engine deck, which is because it is the only kit that comes with an engine. There are a couple of pioneer tools molded onto all of the hulls except the HäT hull. Separate tools are included for the ESCI kits, but none come with the HäT or Revell kits. Lift rings are molded only onto the ESCI hulls, but none of the others. That's not too big of a deal, since the ESCI ones are molded solid, and need to be cut off and replaced with scratch built loops. Now The Turrets: The Sherman turret underwent many changes throughout its career, which I won't go into any great depth here. I will point out a couple of the obvious changes, the most important being the difference between the 75mm and 76mm armed turrets. Of the five available plastic kits, three are of 75mm tanks (the two ESCI and HäT), and two have 76mm guns (the Revell and Hasegawa). The side-by-side comparison of the 75mm turrets is a composite scan, because I've already built my HäT kit. Again, the sizes may be off by a pixel or two, but these two turrets are basically the same size. The two ESCI turrets are the same, and represent the later version with the oval hatch for the loader. The HäT turret is an earlier version without the loader's hatch. The ESCi turret is the cleaner of the two, with better molding, and the option of open hatches. But the gun is rougher than the HäT gun, with which I am very impressed. The HäT turret is hollow on the bottom, which is not visible on the completed kit. Both of these turrets have the M34A1 gun mantlet, which has the armored "wings" extending out to the side. For the early M4 (HäT kit), it would have been nice to have the earlier M34 mantlet, which is very similar, but without the armor wings. I guess it would be a simple matter to carve the kit piece into the proper shape for that style of mantlet. As you can see, the ESCI turret is much more crisp and cleanly molded than the HäT turret, and also has open hatches.
The two plastic 76mm turrets are not perfect. The Revell turret is too small and is pinched in just a little bit too much behind the gun mantlet. The Hasegawa turret is just a hair too big (but it's not too far off), and the turret sides don't slope enough right behind the gun mantlet. The scan below shows the two turrets, plus the 76mm turret from Al.By, which is a fabulous piece of resin.
You can see the size difference of the Revell turret, as well as the shape discrepancy in the forward corners of both plastic turrets. Both the plastic turrets have the split circular loader's hatch, while Al.By's is the later oval hatch. |
