Kit: No. 13206
Scale: 1/35
Manufacturer: Academy, from Model Rectifier Corp. (MRC), 732-225-2100, www.modelrectifier.com
Price: $42
Comments: Injection-molded, 411 parts (2 vinyl), decals
Pros: Good fit, fine detail, good interior, one-piece bored guns
Cons: Shape inaccuracies, tricky assembly of upper hull, ejector-pin marks, sink holes in track
Academy has finally released its long-awaited M3 Lee. The kit represents the first-production, riveted-hull M3 with the early exhaust, guns without counter weights, and hull top and turret without ventilators.
Academy’s parts are molded in dark green styrene with two vinyl tracks, and 91 of the suspension parts on two sprues from Academy’s earlier M4 series go unused. A nearly complete interior is included, which can be seen if the large hatches are left open. One of the highlights is the one-piece, hollow-bore gun tubes.
The overall fit of most of the parts is good. However, numerous ejector-pin marks must be addressed if you’ll be showing off the interior.
Careful planning is needed to figure out the best way to paint this model. I prepainted the suspension parts to make sure they were completely covered. A locator pin on the bottom of the floor plate (C1) fits into a large oval hole on the lower hull. This will need to be filled. The rest of the hull goes together with no trouble. There’s extensive detail on the lower hull, especially the front transmission cover and final drive covers. The vinyl tracks are stiff and have dimples on the outside of about every fourth rubber block.
The upper hull comprises multiple panels. The only alignment tabs are on parts F7 and F6. If any one of these components is misaligned, you will find out quickly in step 13. I found this out the hard way and had to do a bit of filing to get everything lined up. The front angle of part F6 is too steep, and the two large tool boxes on the back of the rear deck are of the type found on Commonwealth tanks, not U.S. tanks.
I painted the interior in numerous subassemblies to make sure everything was covered. You have your choice of a long- or short-barreled 75mm gun. The location of the main gun breech parts, D13 and D16, is vague in the instruction sheet. Squadron’s M3 Lee/Grant in Action has a good picture of the gun to guide placement of these parts. Only the driver’s port and the side doors have any interior detail, a consideration if you want to leave any of the view ports open. If the driver’s view port is to be left open, you’ll have to make a support to hold it up.
The turret has a prominent, rectangular bulge under the commander’s cupola that runs from top to bottom; it should be reduced in size to match photos of production tanks. The vision blocks on the turret and commander’s cupola have no interior detail.
I painted the exterior Tamiya olive drab acrylic and oversprayed a mixture of olive drab and yellow-green. Two decal options are given for U.S. tanks in Tunisia, and they went on without trouble.
It took me almost 30 hours to finish my Lee, with some extra time to fill the ejector-pin marks on the interior parts. Squadron/Signal’s book and R.P. Hunnicutt’s Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank will come in handy for correcting minor hull and turret inaccuracies. In the end, Academy’s M3 is light years ahead of previously available Lee kits.
– Mike Scharff