Around the world, the M24 was a workhorse from the end of World War II through the Vietnam War. This AFV Club release is a Korean War version. The kit has posable hatches, a metal barrel with a recoil feature, and vinyl one-piece tracks with metal pins. Markings are supplied for four vehicles.
The build starts with the torsion bars and suspension pieces. I found that the swing arms (parts B4 and B3) need to be switched or the arms move in the wrong direction. I checked the ride height with a ruler to keep the swing arms in line. For the track tensioner, I did not glue Part B9 in place until I had all the running gear finished. I placed the completed tracks over the running gear, then glued B9 for the right amount of tension.
Building the upper hull presented no fit problems. I did have trouble with the hull gun assembly not calling out the part numbers; it just shows the assembly going into the hull. I made the subassembly up from parts E1, E2, E3, and C43, and installed it after painting.
I glued the fenders in place and added the photoetched-metal supports after the glue dried. I painted the tools olive drab, which was customary. Omit Step 19, building the folding storage shelf: You will need to add Part I8. The instructions incorrectly refer to it as N1.
The main armament has an added spring so the cannon can recoil. I found this feature complicates the build with no added benefit. There is a complete breech assembly. For the turret roof, you must choose which version to build and make the changes. I chose the tiger-faced tank. So, the .50-caliber machine gun is mounted forward of the commander’s hatch.
To do the paint scheme, I photocopied the decals, then cut the ones with the red pinstripe and used those as a template on masking tape. (I left off the headlights and machine gun to make the masking easier.) I painted the yellow first, then tire black using the templates I had made from the decals. I tackled the turret in the same fashion, painting the yellow first, masking, then painting the turret olive drab. I painted the rest of the model with Gunze Sangyo olive drab, yellow, and tire black.
I cut most of the clear film away from the decals to help them settle down. I also used Mr. Mark Softer to get them to conform to the surfaces more easily. Finally, I weathered the model with Tamiya pastels and a dark brown wash.
My reference book, Tanks Illustrated No. 14: Tank War Korea, by Simon Dunstan (Arms & Armour, ISBN 978-0-85368-682-8), provided pictures of the tiger-face tank.
It took me 40 hours to finish this model. Given the issues with parts identification, I can only recommend it to those with enough armor-building experience to work independent of the instructions.
Note: A version of this review appeared in the November 2014 FineScale Modeler.
