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M3 Lee Late - Exterior Kit (35214) - 1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models


Julien

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M3 Lee Late - Exterior Kit (35214)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models

 

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In the years before WWII America realised that they were lagging behind in respect of armour, a fact that became especially clear when Germany came out from under the Versailles treaty to show off and then use their new tanks and Blitzkrieg tactics.  The M3 Lee was conceived in 1940 as a medium tank carrying a powerful 75mm gun, partly for manning by their own crews, but also because Britain had requested a large number of tanks to make good their losses from Dunkirk.  The Lee was a decent tank but suffered from a high silhouette and limited traverse of the sponson-mounted 75mm gun, but was still widely used.  In British service it was known as the Lee if it was fitted with the original American turret, or the Grant when using the lower-profiled British specification turrets. The Lee was used primarily in Africa and the Pacific theatres where the 2nd line equipment seemed to be fielded (for the most part) by the enemy, and against the Japanese who were far behind with their tank designs and tactics.  Another major user was the USSR under lend lease, the Soviets did not like the tank and its nickname was "a coffin for 6", not surprising in a way as at the time they were facing panthers and Tigers with it. The tank underwent some substantial changes including cast, welded and back to riveted hulls plus changes in the power pack and loss of the side doors to stiffen the hull.  The riveted hulls suffered from rivets popping off and becoming projectiles when hit, which could be just as lethal as a penetrating round and was never fully eliminated. The Late version deleted the side doors and left only one pistol port, it also had different wheels and drive sprockets. 

 

The Kit

MiniArt began 2019 with a new tooling of the M3 Lee and are expanded their range by adding new parts as they go along.  The full interior kit of the Early Lee was reviewed here. This boxing now comes without an interior.  The box is standard MiniArt fare with an attractive picture from their usual artist, and inside are a huge number of sprues of varying sizes with 60 sprues in grey styrene, a single sprue in clear, a fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, decal sheet and the instruction booklet with painting guide at the front and rear completing the package.

 

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Construction begins with the vehicle floor onto which the transmission and final drive assemblies are fixed. The rolled lower glacis part is also added, and the final drive bell housings that are incorporated into the sidewalls mate with these to complete the shape of that area. The side plates are added and then the top sponsors. To the rear the engine compartment is built up, the doors are fitted along with the exhausts. At the front additional plates over the drive shafts are added. The big 75mm gun and substantial casemate are built up next for fitting into the hull front and the curved splinter shield that allows 14o of traverse to either side to counter any errors in position from the driver or enemy movement.  The breech is surrounded by a shield.  The various hatches can be posed open or closed, however as there is no interior best close them up!   The bow machine gun is actually a twin mount with two .30 cal M1919s firing through a hatch near the port sponson.  The rest of the hull is then built up in much the same manner as the real thing, but with glue and the rivets only there for show.  Two large bins for the rear are then built up. When we reach the engine deck there are two large panels, the smaller of them having PE grilles and more filler caps, with both of them covered in small PE tie-down lugs.  At the read the exhausts are added with their protective plates and the rear mudguards are added.  The completed deck is then covered with pioneer tools and their PE tie-downs, plus the towing cables that you need to source yourself to go with the plastic eyes at each end.  A scrap diagram shows their location and how to fix the PE straps to the tie-downs and eyes, with a length of 145mm suggested.

 

 

 

The lower hull is finished off with a pair of short plates over the drive wheels and a host of additional equipment filling up the interior with more shell storage, tanks and auxiliary generator.  The big 75mm gun and substantial casemate are built up next for fitting into the hull front and the curved splinter shield that allows 14o of traverse to either side to counter any errors in position from the driver or enemy movement.  The breech is surrounded by a shield. Before it can be installed the super-structure must be built up to accommodate it, including the sidewalls, the curved surround and the angled front panels of the glacis.  The various hatches can be posed open or closed, and an instrument panel is fitted to the inside of the glacis.  The rest of the hull is then built up in much the same manner as the real thing, but with glue and the rivets only there for show.  Fuel caps are added along the way, and when we reach the engine deck there are two large panels, the smaller of them having PE grilles and more filler caps, with both of them covered in small PE tie-down lugs.  The rear of the deck overhangs the hull and armour plates protect the tops of the exhausts from stray rounds where PE brackets are used to hang the aft lights.  The completed deck is then covered with pioneer tools and their PE tie-downs, plus the towing cables that you need to source yourself to go with the plastic eyes at each end.  A scrap diagram shows their location and how to fix the PE straps to the tie-downs and eyes, with a length of 145mm suggested.

 

At this stage the majority of the hull is built, but it is likely to fill with rain until the roof is fitted..  The stiffening plates to the lower glacis are also glued to the hull and then the roof is made up from a large main part that is stiffened with a number of ribs, and an extra section is attached to the side with a small periscope in the middle.  The three square access doors for the crew can all be posed open or closed with latches and small viewing hatches within that can also be posed open.  After fitting the armoured cover to the main gun's periscope and a few grab handles, you get to build up the running gear.  Aren't you lucky?

 

The Lee's suspension is very similar to the Sherman's with two fat wheels on a bogie with a return roller at the top, and there are three of these assemblies per side.  The wheels with their moulded-in tyres are attached to the bogies via swing-arms that pivot inside the cast bogie with an additional arm linked to the compressible rubber towers.  Before the front of the bogie is fitted the return roller is installed so it is trapped between its two bearings.  Repeat that six times and then make up the idler wheels, which have PE edges and separate hub caps.  The bogies are attached to the sides of the hull on their mounting plates, and two stiffeners are added to the top of each one, while the idler wheels are attached to their axles on the adjustable tensioners.  At the front the drive sprockets are made up from two parts with an internal collar allowing them to remain mobile if you're sparing with the glue.  A short break has you fitting the driver's hatch and optional clear window with a PE wiper blade, plus a couple of towing eyes with shackles under the glacis and some truly tiny parts in plastic and PE between them.

 

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Tracks.  Love 'em or loathe 'em, they're a necessary part of most tanks and you have to do them eventually.  There are 79 track links per side, and each link is made up from four parts.  The pads are split to accommodate the links between them, and this is a little fiddly.  Mike built a test section up fro the previous reveiw.  That said, each link is good looking with fine detail at the ends, and they are flexing nicely as per the real thing.  It'll take some time to complete them, but they will be excellent as long as you're careful with preparation and the glue.

 

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The rest of the pioneer tools are bracketed to the hull along with the front headlights and their PE protective cages, the former having PE tie-downs and brackets holding them down.  You will need to find some thin wire to link the headlamps to the gland that takes the cable inside the hull.

 

Now you can start the turret, most of which is held within the upper part, and that has some very nice casting texture moulded into it that should look great under a few coats of paint.  The frames for the small hatches are first to be added, then the hatches themselves are fitted in the open or closed position with small stays holding them at the correct angle for the former.  The breech is started by joining the two main parts together, adding the surround, the coax machine gun, then setting it aside while the mantlet and elevation mechanisms are made up.  The barrel fits to the mantlet and the turret ring is added. Next up the US machine gun turret is added to the top of the main one. The small turret is built up with the gun and it mantlet being added, the lower ring is added as the main two part hatch. This is then fitted to the main turret, and the main turret then added to the hull. 

 

 

Markings

There are a generous eight options provided for the modeller on the decal sheet, all but one of them in green, one being overpainted with a coat of white distemper winter camouflage, and one with some kind of brown. Considering this is an armour kit the sheet is relatively large due to the number of options including captured tanks.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

  • US Army, 752 Tank Battalion, Perham Down, UK 1942.
  • US Army, 1st Armoured Division, Northern Ireland 1942.
  • Unidentified Soviet Unit, Rzhev District, Winter 1942-43.
  • Red Army, 91st Separate Tank Regiment, Karelian Front, Summer 1943.
  • Red Army, 193rd Independent Tank Regiment, Central Front, Battle of Kursk, July 1943. 
  • Red Army, Presumably 193rd Separate Tank Regiment, Central Front, Battle of Kursk, July 1943.
  • Unidentified German Army Unit, Eastern Front 1943-44.
  • Red Army, 244th Independent Tank Regiment, 4th Ukrainian Front. Crimea, April 1944. 

 

 

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Decals are by DecoGraph, and have good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

This is a wonderfully detailed kit of the Lee as it was supplied to the US, Canadian and Red Army, plus a couple the Germans pinched.  The detail incorporated in styrene is phenomenal and the addition of the PE parts gives the modeller all the shackles for their pioneer tools, which are usually included in aftermarket PE sets.  A really impressive piece of plastic engineering that's going to be echoed with the Grants and further Lees very soon.

 

 Extremely highly recommended.

 

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