Grant M3 version diferences

[phat trev]

Looking at upgrading my hasegawa 1/72 Grant M3 to represent a later version. Can anyone confirm a good article or link that shows the visual diferences between the British Army Mark I, II, III, IV etc and perhaps even variations dependant in theatre of operation.  I am not much of an AFV builder so learning the art with this and a few other types. Cheers. 

[Troy Smith]

I can't, but I'll @Das Abteilung, who maybe able to give you a simple answer, or direct you in right direction.  

 

42 minutes ago, phat trev said:

Looking at upgrading my hasegawa 1/72 Grant M3 to represent a later version.

You may want also to specify what you are looking at making,  as  some variations maybe easier to accommodate than others. 

HTH

[phat trev]

Thanks @Troy Smith. More a case of what versions might be available to convert the model too perhaps then, I don't have a specific one in mind. I suppose the main pref' is that I want to keep it armed with its turrets - hope that sort of helps 🙂

[Kingsman]

"Later Grant" is a mis-description.  There  were only 2 Grants, Grant I and Grant II.  Grant Is were by far the majority (1,222) and were petrol radial engined while Grant IIs (464) were diesel engined.  The rear decks, upper and lower rear hulls were different but otherwise they were identical.  Some older books are incorrect, for example by suggesting that the Grant II was an M3A5 Lee.  We did not discriminate between welded and riveted hull types as the US did with their M3s: we only had 93 welded hulls anyway.

 

Apart from the diesel variation, forced by the DoD-mandated cessation of petrol M3 production at Baldwin before they had completed their Grant order, Grants were all the same.  US M3s went through several variations but Grants were consistent.  For example all Grants had the side doors, and they never had the longer M3 75mm gun or M6 37mm guns.

 

We did receive some US-specification M3 Lees, but these were not called Grants.

 

So a "late" Grant - as in the final production group - would be the diesel Grant II.

[phat trev]

Thanks @Das Abteilung  great to read your comments. Found some online books on the type from zlibrary too so I am acquiring a wealth of info now. I seem to find myself building a Matilda, M3 and a King Tiger now and learning so much more about each as I do. Cheers

[Kingsman]

The Sherman Minutia site has a good page on the Grant, but does not yet cover the Lee.

http://the.shadock.free.fr/sherman_minutia/manufacturer/m3grant/m3grant.html. 

 

However, be careful with the final production table for Baldwin.  Where it says M3A2, M3A3 and M3A5 it means Grants based on those hulls - not M3 Lees.  This notation has long been a source of confusion.  The 10 M3A2-based welded Grants were still classed as Grant I and the 83 M3A3-based welded and 381 M5A5-based riveted Grants were all classed as Grant II.  We weren't concerned about the construction differences, just the engine differences.

 

The seminal work on M3s is the recent David Doyle book on the subject.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Das Abteilung
correction