US Army M3 Anti Tank Gun

or: The Ongoing Search for a Decent US37-mm Anti tank Gun!

Manufacturer: Hasegawa Kit # 31101/MT1

by Stephen Brezinski

Introduction

For those who know me you’ll know Ihave a thing for small-scale artillery; such an important part ofhistory and known for creating more war casualties this pastcentury than any other weapon I believe.

This is actually a partial-kit review.This small-scale towed anti-tank gun is part of a combination kitconsisting of a decent 1/72 scale 4x4 ¼-ton Jeep, a smalltrailer two-wheeled and this gun. The Jeep scales out pretty muchthe same size as the newer Jeep release by Academy, though not asrefined. The trailer is good and the only offering of thistrailer in the scale I am aware of.

The gun, unfortunately, bears almost noresemblance in shape and detail to real thing though. Idon’t know what Hasegawa’s engineer was shooting for,but a US M3 gun it is not! As a wargaming piece it is moreacceptable in that it is easy to assemble and looks like a US37-mm gun. As a display model it’s a good start but needssome scratchbuilt detailing. Below is a US government photo ofthe 37-mm M3A1 version for reference of the breach area.

A Little History ForPerspective

According to Ian V. Hogg, in his bookAllied Artillery of World War Two, in the early 1930’s theUS Army had little in the way of anti-tank weaponry. In 1937 theUS acquired two German 37-mm Pak 36 AT guns and used these asinspiration to produce the M3: a new weapon with avertical-sliding block breech, split trail and a hydro-springrecoil system; and weighing only 912 lbs. (414 kg). Compare thisto 1757 lbs. for the British 40-mm 2-Pdr gun, 510 to 620 lbs. forthe Soviet 45-mm guns, and 950 lbs. for the German 37-mm Pak 36.It initially could penetrate 36-mm of armor @ 460 m (500 yd.),later increased to APC shot (against verticalarmor plate).

Though acceptable by 1939 standards, thegun was pretty much obsolescent in Europe by 1941. It remainedeffective against Japanese tanks throughout WW2. The M3, andlater M3A1 guns served much of WW2 but were eventually replacedby the 57-mm AT guns. The M3A1 gun could be found in selfpropelled mounts and was modified for use in the M3 medium, andM3 & M5 light tanks.

Above is a photo of a restored M3 or M3A137-mm AT gun on display at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland.(Photo by SGB)

The Kit & Detailing

In the above photo of the kit parts: atfar left is the gun trails and carriage assembled as per kitinstructions. At far right is the new scratchbuilt carriage,axles, and new breach attached to the Hasegawa barrel. In thecenter is the scratchbuilt shield made from clear styrene sheet(stiffer than regular Evergreen sheet of the same thickness) andthe larger wheels borrowed from Hasegawa’s trailer kit. Thewheels and tires are fair in detail and may be best replaced byAcademy’s Jeep wheels for enhanced accuracy. In the center,still attached to the sprue is Hasegawa’s gun, which isreasonably accurate from the muzzle on back to the hole.

An odd thing that Hasegawa did was todesign the skids, or supports that are on the inside of thewheels and treat them as fenders. This mistake necessitated thatthey make the wheels smaller than actual. These supports arevisible in the US Army photos above and below. The supportconsists of three legs and a round base that when lowered raisesthe wheels slightly off the ground and takes any weight andfiring shock off the tires. In the instructions below, thesesupports are listed as parts C7.

I won’t get into all the detailingand corrections performed on the model but I will say that at onepoint I stopped, otherwise all parts could have been substitutedand then it would no longer be a review of the Hasegawa kit. Anodd feature of the kit I chose to live with is that the trailshave a camber (curve) to them and they are wedge shaped incross-section, AND after assembly the wedge shape for one trailpoints down and the other points up. At a recent model show ajudge, mercifully unfamiliar with this model, assumed that Iinstalled one trail upside-down and faulted me on construction!

The kit instructions,above.

Above is a US governmentphoto of the petite 37-mm next to its very big brother 3-inch ATgun.

Markings & Paint

Markings came for the trailer and jeepthough none for the gun. In the period photos I have seen of thisdiminutive gun I have noted no markings such as unit designationsor kill rings, etc. The color was a standard olive drab though Ibet a brown camouflage pattern is possible. The inside of thebreach was typically bare metal. Tires should be dark gray torepresent scale-effect black.

Conclusion

Overall a poor model of the real thing butan okay start to scratchbuilding a more accurate gun.Hasegawa’s plastic took paint and glue well. Even thoughthousands were built (perhaps more than the German 37-mm Pak?) Ihave found little good reference material compared to those bookscovering German anti-tank guns.