Best M4 Sherman, M26 Pershing & M3 Stuart ?

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rob Gronovius .... One often overlooked Sherman kit is the DML M4A3 HVSS POA-CWS-H5 Sherman kit. This is the 105mm howitzer with the flamethrower. Very nice kit. AFV Club has the top Stuart, but the M3A3 is a non-US variant (if that matters to you).

Yeah! That M4A3 HVSS POA-CWS-H5 is REALLY cool. Yup, only 250 or so of the M3A3's were kept in the US for use as training tanks.. then sold surplus.

Ron

I have all of the Pershing kits and the Tamiya kit is tops.

One often overlooked Sherman kit is the DML M4A3 HVSS POA-CWS-H5 Sherman kit. This is the 105mm howitzer with the flamethrower. Very nice kit.

AFV Club has the top Stuart, but the M3A3 is a non-US variant (if that matters to you).

Tamiya's early Sherman and Pershing are both great kits. If you wanted a little variation you could try the DML Firefly. AFV M3 all the way.

I just built the M3A1 from Academy, it was a nice build. I also have the Academy "Honey" waiting, and it looks like a nice kit. Can't speak for the others though.

I have the M26 Pershing. I have not built it yet, but the detail is very very good. Tamyias new tooling at work.
mark956

I built the Pershing recently and i really like the way it turned out and i am glad Tamiya has not seen fit to ruin there kits with those stupid individual track links! But the other kits are good also but you can only build so many Shermans

AFV's Hellcat is a bit more accurate than Accademy's. If I recall correctly, the Academy kit has the wrong contour around the rear of the hull.. Also AFV gives you a turned main gun.
Also AFV M3A3 Stuart is a very nice kit. The suspension beats anything else out there hands down. For some odd reason, they forgot the hull hatch latch pins... holes in the hatches, but no parts... easy to make from styrene rod or such. The turret is also the right inside diameter (none of the others are). Academy's Stuart interiors are okay, but pretty inaccurate... better than nothing, right? The Tamiya M3 is way off scale on the turret, but the M5A1 isn't bad for an old tool mold... again, I'd go with AFV's M3A3 (I have three of them myself!)
I've only made Dragons T-26 and liked it. A lot of folks really like the new Tamiya kit, so I'd say go with that M26!
M-4's? Personally, I'd go with Tamiya's early M4. It has those darned open sponson 'floors', but is a nice looking kit... easy to build too, with a good looking main gun breech assembly.

That's all I have to say about that.

Ron

Hi Ajthomas,

I just picked up Tamiya's 1/35 pershing... very nice model. Tamiya's molds are exemplary... only qualm I have is that the track in one piece rubber and not individual links like Tamiya's Tigers, King Tigers and Panthers :-(

But overall a very very nice model.

-Greg

Also the M18 Hellcat...... are there different kits of this available ?