Kagero Publishing TopDrawings #92 Medium Tank M3 Lee / Grant (9788366148796) Kagero Publishing via Casemate UK

[Julien]

TopDrawings #92 Medium Tank M3 Lee / Grant (9788366148796)

Kagero Publishing via Casemate UK

 

 

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 Grant eschewed the mini-turret on the commander's cupola that resulted in a reduction in height and a minor simplification of construction and maintenance for very little loss in flexibility, due to the coaxially mounted Browning machine gun in the turret.  It 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.

 

 

The book ideals with the the M3A1, M3A2, M3A4 and M3A5. It is written in English on the left of the page with Polish on the right, which translates to top and bottom for the captions to the various drawings within.  The book itself is bound in a card cover and has 28 pages,.  Throughout the book, there are numerous smaller diagrams that show equipment layout; as well as the sometime small differences between Marks, here is also one A3 double sided sheet of profiles and top views.

 

 

 

Conclusion

These books are essential for the modeller that enjoys comparing their models against scale plans, and wants them to be as accurate as possible, with the separate scale plans quite useful.

 

Currently (at time of writing) on offer at a discounted price from Casemate UK

 

Review sample courtesy of