Sherman II at El Alamein: The Kit
There are many ways to model a Sherman II at El Alamein in 1942. The two leading kits are from Tasca and Dragon. I’ve read very good things about both kits, but while it seems that everybody loves Tasca, I found the Dragon kit for about a third of the price which made my decision very easy.
The Dragon kit comes with more than 330 parts molded in light gray and clear styrene on 11 sprues. A photo etch fret is included as is wire for the tow cable and two tan lengths of track. The kit includes two-color instructions along and decals for nine tanks deployed at El Alamein in 1942.
Let’s start by taking a look at each sprue. As with many Dragon kits, this one is based on another Sherman variant and additional sprues have been added to allow you to model this particular Sherman. As a result, there are many, may extra parts for the spares box. To make it easy to see which parts are used, I’ve shaded the unused parts in the pictures below red. You can click on any of the images to get a larger view (albeit not huge).
In that vein, here is the A sprue:
As you can see, very little is used. In fact, some of the parts shown will be replaced by PE pieces. In the end, I’ll use the tools and various caps. Generally, the molding is nice with little flash. In fact, A sprue requires some clean-up but the rest of the kit looks pretty flash-free.
While the kit uses very few parts from A sprue, B sprue is another matter and almost all of its parts will be used.. This sprue contains many of the turret’s parts including several variations of the rotor shield, the commander’s hatch, and half of the 75mm barrel. If you look at the top left hand corner of the picture you can see the sprue is warped. The good news is that none of the parts are affected.
The C sprue contains may parts for the rear of the tank. If you had an engine, it appears that you could leave the rear doors open to show your work. But, one is not supplied and thus, not used. Also, not the other half of the 75mm barrel is provided here.
Two D sprues are provided. Each contains the road wheels and suspension. Remember, the Shermans at El Alamein were some of the first in production. As a result, they used the M3-style VVSS suspension and early welded wheels. These appear to be accurately portrayed in this kit.
The rear deck is made up of multiple parts and they are provided on F sprue. In this shot, you can see the number of little plastic nubs (I’m not sure what the right term is for them) that will need to be cleaned up. Each of the vents (parts 1 and 2 on the left) and the panels have them. I saw this on the M1A1 kit that I built, too. Good thing I’m not trying to build quickly!
G sprue contains the small hatches with the direct vision aperture as well as miscellaneous hand grabs and accessories.
Sprue H contains the Sherman II’s transmission cover and other parts that will attach to the front of the lower hull.
Speaking of the lower hull, it is provided on its own and referred to in the instructions as part K.
The drive sprockets are provided on V sprue. You get two of these sprues.
The clear sprue must be used on many, many Dragon kits. Few pieces are used.
The photo etch fret is a monster. I’ve got lots of bending and folding in front of me! I’ve read several posts online where modelers discuss the best way of mounting the fenders.
The tracks are made of two tan belts. I am not sure I’m crazy about them but I’m also not sure they are worth replacing.
Finally, we have the decals. They look nice but I’ll reserve judgment. I was excited about the aftermarket decals I bought for my USS Marsh project and ended up being quite disappointed.
Generally, the kit looks good. The directions seems straightforward. I’m looking forward to diving into the build. I plan to provide a more-or-less step-by-step log of this build. And, my next post will start construction with the suspension and the lower hull.