IPMS/USA Reviews

From the author's website:

Although only 100 examples were produced, the 155mm Gun Motor Carriage M12 served with distinction as an infantry - support weapon and in particular as a bunker - buster during the U.S. assault on the Siegfried Line in the winter of 1944 - 45.

Spread through 144 pages, almost 200 photos, nearly evenly divided between photos of the sole surviving example and vintage development and combat photos, including numerous previously unpublished images, chronicle the history of this pioneering self - propelled gun and its companion M30 ammunition carrier.

What's Inside...

This volume in the series follows the typical format found in the Images of War collection and contains the same excellent level of quality in providing atypical images of this important ancestor of modern self - propelled artillery. The real meat of the book is in the photos and accompanying captions. There is just enough text to provide interest and a good overview of the evolution of the M12 without being overwhelming. The chapter breakdown is:

When I was younger my comics of choice were of the Military persuasion and one of my favorites was The Haunted Tank which initially featured an M3 Stuart blowing away Tigers with it's 37mm. I didn't realize the issue with that but I loved the stories and so started my love of the Stuart. As I got older I turned to more history books and read about the Honey used by the British in the desert and the US in Tunisia. When the new Tamiya kit showed up it just had to be built even though I haven't built a 35^th scale tank in, cough, 40ish years.

This is the second version of the Stuart that Tamiya has done and thankfully they have done a completely new tool for this kit which gives some lovely detail. There are 183 parts in green plastic, 4 clear parts, 2 rubber tracks and a string for the tow cable. Those poly caps are included to let the front sprockets turn and the main gun to elevate. There are 3 markings options in the kit. A US tank in Tunisia and 2 Russian tanks. An interesting option is two separate tanker helmets so you can depict either a US or Russian tanker, a nice touch.

MENG revised its very good 2013 Leopard kit with new parts to build a Canadian C2 Mexas with the option to fit a dozer blade.

I jumped at the opportunity to review this kit for three reasons, firstly it's a Canadian main battle tank, it's by MENG and last by far from least is that a fellow Canadian military specialist Anthony Sewards assisted on the kits research. He also highly recommends this kit for its accuracy which is real praise!

In the box is:

• 12 x light tan sprues
• 1 clear sprue
• 1 lower hull in light tan
• 1 turret in light tan
• 1 upper hull in light tan
• 1 small decal sheet
• 1 tow cable
• Polycap's - big and small
• 2 rubber band type tracks
• 2 photoetch sheets (small)
• 1 instruction booklet
• 1 color guide booklet (in color)

The kit consists of a lot of sprues which some parts not required for this version, the sprues are extremely well molded with great detail; the decals allow you to finish the tank in four different markings two with the Dozer blade.

The Vehicle

In December of 1941 the US Government put all manufacturing on a wartime footing. Many of the factories which had been producing civilian cars went over to producing Jeeps, pickups, cargo trucks, ammo carriers, tanks, guns, and other wartime necessities. There were still a few assembly lines which continued to produce a few cars, and most of these were sold to the Army or Navy for use as "staff cars". Because it wouldn't do for someone as important as an Admiral or General to ride around in a canvas topped jeep. It might seem that it was tough on civilians to not be able to get a new car, but with gas rationing they couldn't drive much of anywhere anyway.

The Kit

You get two resin staff cars in the kit. There is a photoetch fret, an instruction sheet, and a small decal sheet with license plates and white stars for two cars.

Assembly

There really isn't any assembly to this kit. I removed the pour block from the connectors at the bottom of the car, and then cut these connectors off of the bottom of the car.

Introduction

The second volume of Panther Project follows the Restoration process of the Engine and Turret process along with its connected systems, information on Zimmerit. Some very nice Hull walk around along with interior photos, there are 440 photographs that make up this book along with some nice technical drawings of components.

Contents

Before they dive in on the restoration there are several pages on the History of the Panther tank along with the usual introduction. The rest of the book is broken up by each year on restoration 2007 2009 2013 2017 and 2018 and at the back are some references and technical drawings for the restoration process. Each chapter is broken up by what job is being done and gives the page numbers for easy reference. I'll be posting a picture of the index page as there is a lot of work going into each section.