Dragon 1/72 Sherman III

The British received far more M4 medium tanks, approximately 17,000 (roughly 34% of all M4s produced), than any other Allied nation. The British practice of naming American tanks after American Civil War generals was continued, giving it the name General Sherman after Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, usually shortened to Sherman. The US later adopted the name and the practice of naming tanks after generals. In British usage, Sherman I=M4, Sherman II=M4A1 and so on. Additional letters denoted other features; A for 76 mm M1/M1A2 L/55 gun, B for the 105 mm M4 L/22.5 howitzer, C for the OQF 17 Pounder gun, and Y for the wider tracked HVSS type suspension.

Here are the different variants of the Sherman III, the subject of this kit.

·  Sherman III - M4A2 with 75 mm M3 L/40 gun

• Sherman IIIA - M4A2(76)W, Sherman III with 76 mm M1A2 L/55 gun (unlikely to have been used by UK troops)
  • Sherman IIIAY - M4A2(76)W HVSS, Sherman IIIA with HVSS (not used operationally by UK troops)

No secret that Dragon wants to be your armor model company. However, they have a lot of competition. It does keep them on their toes and provides the modeler with ever improving kit quality. This kit is no exception. It may seem that $15 is a lot for a 1/72 armor kit, but then, you get a lot for your $15. The biggest benefits include a small quality photo etch brass fret and a set of single piece tracks that you can easily paint and glue, something I know a lot of you will appreciate.

Packaging is typical of Dragon kits with no more than two frets per polybag and in this case, each are bagged separately. It is also typical of modern kits that they be designed for multiple variants so some sprues will have parts you don't need. This one is again, no exception, as large sections of the 'B' sprue are redundant to this version. Not much in the way of optional bits on this particular tank. Basicallyonly different mantlets, and since there is no indication of which bits go with the decal options, you are on your own in this regard or you can copy what is on the box art as all three markings options are from the same unit in the same place. I should also mention that some of the photo etch bits are optional as you can just as well use the plastic molded bits if you wish.

The small instruction sheet is sufficient to build the kit with six nicely drawn construction sequences and color references using the Gunze line. I heard the other day that Gunze may be in some sort of trouble as the local hobby shop is having problems getting colors and will no longer be carrying the line. However, being a tank, the colors are not going to be very esoteric. Markings are for three OD with sand oversprayed tanks operating with the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry in Syria during 1943. The paint schemes are similar but not carbon copies of each other so there is room for experimentation. If these were painted in the field, then I would have to assume that the road wheels on those painted in sand would not have been masked off so allow for overspray. Decals are well printed, though I'm not sure how opaque the yellow will be until I use them.

Looks like a fine kit in this scale and since Dragon does a lot of Shermans, you should have no trouble finding other variants if this one doesn't strike your fancy. Nice thing about 1/72 tanks is that they will fit on thin shelves.....

January 2008

I spent actual coin of the realm on this one for you. Mainly because I want to build it for the current group build.