M3 Lee Medium Tank (63521) 1:35

[Mike]

M3 Lee Medium Tank (63521)

1:35 I Love Kit via Creative Models Ltd

 

 

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 against their European neighbours.  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 the Dunkirk withdrawal.  The resulting Lee was a decent tank but suffered from a high silhouette and limited traverse of the sponson-mounted 75mm gun, although it was still widely used in Allied service despite these deficiencies.  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 2nd line equipment was deemed adequate to be fielded (for the most part) against the enemy, aided by the fact that the Japanese were generally far behind with their tank designs and tactics.  It underwent some substantial changes including cast, then welded and back again to riveted hulls, plus changes in the power pack and deletion of the side doors to add needed stiffness to the hull.  The riveted hulls suffered from rivets popping off inside and becoming projectiles when hit, which could be just as lethal as a penetrating round and was never fully eliminated.

 

 

The Kit

I Love Kit have created their own line of newly tooled kits of the M3 Grant/Lee, starting in 2021 and carrying on with various new boxings in the following years, plus this new boxing of a Lee at full height, evidenced by the cupola and machine gun turret on the main turret, in a similar format that the early Grant Mk.Is were based upon.  The kit arrives in a top-opening box with a painting of the vehicle on the front, and a cardboard divider in the lower tray to keep the hull parts and other sprues from rattling around during transit.  Inside the box are twelve sprues and three individual parts in sand-coloured styrene, eight brown sprues, a clear sprue, a small Photo-Etch (PE) brass fret, an instruction booklet printed in black and white, and a sheet of painting and decaling profiles printed in colour on glossy paper.  Detail is good for this exterior kit, although there is no rolled steel armour texture moulded into any of the plates, and a very fine sand-cast texture is present on the turret parts, which could be improved by using liquid cement and a rough brush to stipple the sand-cast texture a little deeper, and texture could also be added to the main armour panels if you feel the urge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the running gear for a change, making up the bogies from two wheels on a pair of swing-arms each, being careful to orient the Vertical Volute Spring Suspension (VVSS) parts correctly, using the scrap diagram to assist you.  Six bogies are made in total, with return-rollers in the top of the units, held in place by the front panel that also holds the swing-arms in position.  The rear bulkhead has a pair of access doors with PE hinges fitted into the hatch, adding exhausts and more towing eyes with shackles, plus idler wheel axles before it is mated to the rear of the lower hull part, mounting the glacis assembly to the other end, adding two bolted flanges to the centre, and inserting a pair of towing eyes with shackles in slots at the sides of the final drive housings.  The bogies are fixed three per side on raised plates moulded into the hull save for the drive axle that is separate, making the drive sprocket from two parts, and the idler wheels from four parts each so that the tracks can be installed.  The track links are made from four parts each that have a total of six sprue-gates to remove, with 77 links per side, and no ejector-pin marks to deal with, thankfully.  Once the tracks are in place, the fenders are detailed with PE shackles and light cages, adding the lights with clear lenses, and the round-down ends to the rear of each one, locating them on the sides of the hull on two lugs per side.

 

 

 

A machine gun turret is first, inserting a two-part gun with pivot into the turret drum, and locking it in place with a pair of pins, adding a two-part hatch to the top, two vision slots with hatches to the sides, and a pair of small parts on top of the mantlet, setting it aside for the turret.  The mantlet has the barrel inserted, pushing a .30cal machine gun through from the inside, clipping it inside the upper turret, then closing it in by gluing in the lower turret, which acts as the trunnions for the pivot point of the main gun.  The turret roof has a simple two-part mushroom vent, then the machine gun turret is dropped into the hole in the roof, fixing two aerial bases and a rolled PE part into the roof, and an armoured hatch with clear glazing on the right cheek of the turret.  The vertical step behind the turret has a viewport with clear slot inserted, fixing two C-shaped and T-shaped PE parts in a small recess on the opposite side, adding an aerial base to one side with separate spring base.  The upper deck is started by adding clear lights to the rear edges of the area along with exhaust mufflers, fitting them to the edges of the deck once it has been detailed with pioneer tools, a towing cable, PE mesh and brackets.  Two hull side panels have hatches with vision ports, handles and latches inserted, removing some details from the upper hull part as indicated, then installing the vertical step made earlier, a T-shaped stiffener to the roof, and adding the side panels over the blank sides of the upper hull, fitting filler caps, lugs and more hatches with clear slots, plus two stowage boxes to be fitted on the sloped sides of the engine deck, which is slotted into position and snugged up against the vertical step behind the turret ring, and topped with a pioneer tool after drilling out holes in the lids, sliding the engine deck into position last.  The turret can be twisted into position at this stage, but it is probably best to install the 75mm gun first.  A semi-cylindrical mantlet is clipped vertically into the surround, gluing a plate across the back to prevent it popping out again, slotting the barrel into the hole in the mantlet, and adding a small part to the top of the surround, which includes a pivot peg that is locked in position in the starboard hull without glue, the top peg held in place by the two-part roof section, which has a periscope added to one side of the pivot.  The completed upper hull is then glued into place on the lower, fitting the cover panel over the rear of the vehicle, completing the model.

 

 

Markings

There is only one decal options on the sheet, but as usual with Trumpeter/HobbyBoss/I Love Kit there is no information offered on the location, period or regiments of the decal options, but the vehicle codes should allow the intrepid modeller to find out the back-story if they feel the need.  From the box you can build the following:

 

 

 

The entirety of the sheet is printed in yellow, so while registration isn’t relevant, colour density and sharpness are perfectly adequate for most modellers, but if you’re a stickler, you could do worse than check your references before proceeding to paint.

 

 

Conclusion

A well detailed exterior kit of the M3 Grant that should satisfy many, although there are many other options on the market.  This early variant option should be easy enough to paint in a single predominant shade of green, and offers plenty of opportunity for some weathering or fading of the paint with age.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of