Cruiser Tank Crusader Mk.III

Manufacturer: Hasegawa (#31126)

Since this model wasrecently re-released by Revell, I thought it might be a good ideato post a Preview of it.

This is an old model,originating some time in the 1970's, I believe, but it was aremarkably well made kit for that time. Today, it seems to be abit behind in the times, but it still can be built into anexcellent model, as shown time and again in this site's Gallery,as well as on other modeling sites. But why Revell chose torelease this particular model is beyond me. They (or we) wouldhave been better off if they has instead released an earlierCruiser tank, perhaps like the A13 or A10.

The quality of themoldings is very high, with superb surface detail, no flash, andvery little in the way of sinkmarks. The driver's hatch, as wellas the turret hatch, is molded open, a crewman is included, andthe rivet detail is just crying for a decent weathering job. Butthere are also a couple of drawbacks to the kit: the insidesprocket is actually molded onto the hull, and the tracks,although fairly well detailed on the outer surfaces, are ratherplain on the inside, and made from the horrible black vinyl forwhich Hasegawa is notorious. The molded-on pioneer tools is alsoold fashioned. A major feature missing from this model is themetal side skirts used in the desert. Although the Revell websiteat one time showed a built model with these skirts, they are infact, not included.

The decals are very thick,and slightly faded, even though this is a new kit. Aside fromthat, they are well printed.

As far as dimensions areconcerned, according to published dimensions, the width isdead-on for 1/72nd, while the length is about 2mm too long.Whether or not that length discrepancy is only in the fenders, orsome other portion of the hull, I don't know without better scaleplans. The tracks are also a bit too wide.

Additional commentsfrom Jorit Wintjes : "Whereas Hasegawa's hullis indeed quite acceptable and dimensionally accurate, the turretis too low and the profile is suspect, resulting in avehicle that doesn't look like a Crusader. Actually, the Airfixturret (while supposed to be 1/76, which it isn't) is a farbetter option (but then you can build the Airfix Crusader, ofcourse, who scales out slightly smaller than 1/72 - it's howeverslightly too long)."

References:

• British and American Tanks of World War Two . Peter Chamberlain and Chris Ellis. Cassell & Co., Great Britain. 1969.
• Crusader Cruiser Tank 1939-45 . David Fletcher and Peter Sarson. Osprey Publishing Co., Oxford, United Kingdom. 1995.