Without getting into a lot of depth concerning the tank, I'll stick with information more to the subject of this kit, the Sherman 'Tulip'. Along with the T-34, the Sherman was the best medium tank developed during WWII. Actually, the T-34 was probably superior, but few were exported to the Allies, while the Sherman was not only used by US forces, but given to the British and the Soviets as well.

The British soon realized that the original gun didn't have the effectiveness that was sought. Actually, the Western Allies needed a heavy tank, but the decision was made in the US not to spend the time developing one until the late months of the war when the first few Pershing tanks entered the fray. Meanwhile hundreds of Shermans and thousands of tankers were destroyed by German anti-tank guns and heavy tanks.

Anyway, the British soon replaced the US 75mm gun with a potent 76mm anti-tank gun. The Soviets did the same on some by putting in the 76mm gun from the T-34/76. Main reason for the Soviets was fear of lack of US ammunition. For the Brits, they just wanted a more powerful main gun. Several other mods were done to the Sherman by the British. Amongst the more unusual was the Sherman 'Tulip. This was basically a British Sherman V with the standard 75mm gun and the addition of two 3-inch (60lb) RP-3 rockets on rails fitted to the turret. it was used late in the war by the  1st Coldstream Guards in the  Rhine campaign during 1945.

My recently completed SdKfz 251/7 half track has given me an insight into Dragon small scale armor and I have been very impressed. Dragon has a lot of detail in their kits and because of the subjects it picks is able to do multiple boxings and variants on a base kit. A wise way to do business and great for the enthusiast.

So it is with this latest Sherman variant. It is basically a 75m M4A4 with an additional sprue that contains the parts for the rockets. An inspection of the sprues shows them to be practically flawless. They are packaged separately so there is no sprue rub or parts missing from trees. As you would imagine, there are a considerable number of parts that are not used on this variant as the Sherman went through a number of detail changes through its life-span. There is a rather large photo-etch sprue with this one that covers the usual grilles and various detail parts on the tank such as light guards, hatch detail and the such. Some of these are replacements for molded on detail so it is really up to the builder as to whether he thinks it is worth the additional effort to incorporate these pieces. Dragon's excellent DS tracks are part of this package as well. Now that I know not to overdo the cement, perhaps I won't have the disaster of my initial experience with them!

Instructions are very well done and include Gunze color references. There are also well done detail drawings to be sure you get things in the right place. Any optional parts are clearly marked. As the Coldstream Guards were the only unit to use this vehicle, the markings options are for three tanks from that unit in 1945.

Overall, this is an exceptional kit of this vehicle in 1/72 scale, a scale many are finding to be a lot more fun to build than the often very complex larger scales. I know I like them as they don't overwhelm the display case! I think you'll find this to be very nice build and make into a superb replica.

August 2007