Hey USMC, I picked up the tracks from HobbyLink Japan. They fit anything on a Type 97 chassis so they work for a lot of Japanese hardware. I've used them once before and really liked them, they snap together and are supposed to be workable but they don't hold that well so they'll break apart on you if you don't cement them. On the other hand you can snap them together, fit them to the model, and then hit them with a little liquid plastic cement and boom you're done! Much easier than trying to fit tracks with half cured cement to the road wheels and wiggle them into shape. I wish everyone made snap tracks like this!  I'm not sure if I'll use them here or not but they are a nice option.

The Gunze paint set I picked up from Sprue Brothers.  I wasn't quite as happy with them. The colour matching looks spot on but the paint is a lacquer instead of the acrylic or enamel I'm used to. You have to thin them with Mr. Thinner to airbrush and if you don't get them thinned correctly they'll do this weird silly string sorta thing where the paint forms a spider web like strand as it shoots out of the airbrush. I guess any lacquer thinner should work though. After fooling around with them for a little bit I didn't have anymore problems with them  but still wish they made them in acrylic paint. 

SP: Ohhhhhhhhh, that's one cool looking M3! Nice change of pace from the usual North Africa ones. Now I want to build one of those! 

Gamera, I would enjoy seeing a WIP thread on the Chi Nu.

BTW, Commonwealth forces also used a significant number of M3 Mediums in Burma. They used a version of the "Lee" peculiar the the area with the commanders machine gun cupola removed and replaced by a simple split hatch, and a pair of smoke mortars fitted to the turret side. They also usually had the longer barrel M3 75mm gun instead of the older shorter barrel M2 gun w/counterweight.

@Gamera, tell me about those Vision tracks and the paint set(s), I've been trying to hunt down both

Hope I'm not hijacking your tread USMC6094 but I think it's mostly played out. Just wondering if anyone would be interested in a WiP on the Finemolds Type 3 Chi-Nu I started awhile back and pulled back out and primed the other day?

Wow, neat! I never saw one of these before!

USMC6094

heres the late model I was referring to, or atleast a link to it

www.ecomodelismo.com/ija-type-3-medium-tank-chi-nu--Ref-TAMI-25107.html

Ah, ok the Type 3! I didn't know Tamiya had reboxed it with the figures. I have the Finemolds kits of the regular and long-barrel version. 

Basically it was the turret from the Type 4 with it's 75mm gun mounted to the tried and true hull of an improved Type 97. 

Steve: They built about 250-300 of them which all were kept in Japan for the invasion so none ever saw combat. The long-barrel version is a paper panzer based on the idea of fitting a longer 75mm. 

SP: Thanks, I've seen enough photos of US Army and Marine Corps Shermans in the Pacific and British ones in Burma I should have known. 

Gamera

It might be a 57mm, I'd have to look it up.

It is probably the 47mm gun. The 57mm gun used by the Japanese was a short barrel low velocity gun used on the original Type 97 Chi Ha. The upgunned Shinhoto Chi Ha used a long barrel high velocity 47mm gun in a new turret. It was the first tank gun that the IJA had that gave  them the ability to kill, and not merely knock out a Sherman with a mobility or armament kill.

Contrary to popular belief, many areas in the PTO and CBI were quite suitable for employment of armor. Especially according to US doctrine in the infantry support role. US forces used multiple Tank Battalions in support of the campaigns in the South, South West, and Central Pacific. There were no armored divisions in theater. But there were enough Tank Battalions employed to create a few. The fighting on Luzon and Okinawa saw probably the largest mass uses of armor by the US. Also the Commonwealth forces in the CBI theater utilized large amounts of armor, to help stop and then drive back the Japanese in that theater.  But as stated previously, IJA armor played a poor third hand position in priority after aircraft and ships for development and manufacture.

Huh! That looks pretty cool! Do you know how many were made?

heres the late model I was referring to, or atleast a link to it

www.ecomodelismo.com/ija-type-3-medium-tank-chi-nu--Ref-TAMI-25107.html

It might be a 57mm, I'd have to look it up.

Cool on the Type 97, I've got a bunch of Finemolds Japanese armour but oddly don't have the later model up-gunned Type 97. Tamiya made one too but I think it's out of production now.

USMC6094

I ordered another Fine Molds/Tamiya Type 97 with an up armored and gunned turret, it was the last production model of the Type 97 before the war ended.

Oh boy, I can't wait to see that one!

shes a pretty good sized bruiser. I was just thinking of placing the hull next to a Sherman to see their relative sizes compared.

From what I've read, the hull mounted gun is a 57mm, not a 37, I could be wrong though...........

The engine, was a Japanese copy of a BMW tank power plant.

At the moment I'm looking for someone locally that can translate the direction booklets history section.

On a side note I ordered another Fine Molds/Tamiya Type 97 with an up armored and gunned turret, it was the last production model of the Type 97 before the war ended.

I'll post about it once it arrives.

Very true, although they did have some success with them in China early in the war when the Chinese had few AT guns and fewer tanks.  Though don't mention the Battle of Khalkhin Gol (Russian name) or Nomonhan (Japanese name) where Japanese troops in China pushed into Soviet occupied Mongolia. General Georgy Zhukov who had been exiled to the east by Stalin showed up with about 450 BT-5 series light tanks and stomped the Japanese who had no tanks and only a handful of AT guns into the ground.

The standard Japanese medium as Steve pointed out was the Type 97 which was about an even match for an American M3/M5 Stuart light tank. The Japanese Type 95 light tank had such thin armour it could be turned into Swiss cheese by a .50cal machine gun.

I think today we think of Japan as an economic and industrial superpower but in the '30-'40s they were an agrarian nation with a weak industrial base. That they spent mostly on ships and planes with tanks getting the short end of the stick.

The terrain Japan fought in was not suited the the tank like Europe is. Most of the Japanese armor were small, light infantry support vehicles. For a while, the largest tank they had were the Type 97 Chi Ha (medium tank). They also had a few self propelled Type 1's, which were build on the Chi Ha chassis. I wasn't aware that they had anything much bigger. That Panzer 4 variant is very interesting, I'd like to get my hands on one.

When I was younger, I thought Japanese armor was ridiculous. Now understanding the philosophy, they have a certain logic about them.

Thanks for the info.

Japan never struck me as "tank" country.

Very cool! I figured I was the only one on this forum to have one of these in the stash!

Yeah, the Japanese only built one prototype. The hull and turret were mostly complete but no weapon were mounted when found. Information is sketchy but it seems to have been designed to mount a Japanese 88mm antiaircraft gun as the main weapon, which other than bore was a different weapon the German gun and apparently was much less formidable. The tank mounted a separate 37mm gun in the hull front where most tanks would mount a machine gun.

Not sure how effective the tank would have been, it was the size of a Panther and probably would have shared many of the German tanks problems with weight and lack of dependability. They also had a Type 4 prototype about the size of a Sherman or T-34 that probably would have been more effective.

Mississippivol: Yeah it would have outgunned a Sherman at least. Though by the time Operation Downfall (the invasion of Japan) started in 1946 the Western Allies would have had fairly large numbers of M-26 Pershings and Comets with the Soviets invading in the north with IS-2s. Though by '46-47 the Soviets would probably have IS-3s in service and the US would have pushed ahead with scratched projects like the T-29 and T-30 heavy tanks.  

GM: Finemolds split off from Tamiya years back, I believe Tamiya does box some of their products but they are separate companies.

USMC6094: Would love to see you build the thing. As I said picked up one last year as a birthday present to myself. Funny, I've seen outrageous prices for the kit everywhere but Hobbylink Japan.

Tamiya did that kit didn't they? Or is Finemolds also Tamiya?

It is basically a Japanese version of the German Panzer 4.  Germany began assisting Japan with their equipment since they were allies.

Looks like it would've given Shermans a fit...

O right, thanks. I always think of WW2 Japanese tanks as really small.

was a prototype at the end of the war, only one was made to my knowledge

Not seen one of those before. Is that a post war vehicle.

now if only I could get to it and the others I have accumulating........lol