Barcode: 0 89195 87330 9
Case Pack: 48 Pieces per carton
Box Size: 6.4" x 10.2" x 1.9"
The M4 Sherman was the workhorse of the U.S. Army tank fleet during WWII, even
though it was the British who were the first to use the Sherman tank in combat.
The USA had employed the earlier M4 and M4A1 variants in North Africa and the
Mediterranean before the M4A3 began to take over as the dominant tank in the
U.S. Army. The M4A3 was powered by a 500hp Ford GAA V8 gasoline engine, and
this Sherman version was the preferred one in American service. Such an M4A3
is depicted in Dragon’s new 1/72 scale plastic kit in the form of item No.7330.
However, this is no normal M4A3, for it carries some interesting and practical
accoutrement. Dragon’s model M4A3 is fitted out with a deep-wading kit, a piece
of equipment that allowed tanks to drive directly from landing craft through
the surf and onto a beach during an amphibious assault. The miniature wading
trunks fitted onto the rear engine deck (one for the air intake and one for
the exhaust) are made from photo-etched metal.
This media is the ideal material to recreate the characteristic sheet metal
trunking of the original wading kits. Indeed, this deep-wading kit is a newly
tooled item specifically designed for the M4A3 kit. The rest of the tank - from
the highly detailed running gear to the top of the slide-molded cast turret
- is also finely crafted, building on Dragon’s enormous experience in producing
model Sherman tanks. Another item that distinguishes this tank is the fitting
of a 105mm gun instead of the more usual 75mm or 76mm antitank gun. The 105mm
main armament lent itself to use in the close-support role. A total of 500 such
tanks were manufactured by Detroit Arsenal between April and August 1944. This
1/72 scale kit is ideal for modelers wishing to reproduce a beach-landing scene,
perhaps from the historic events of D-Day where tanks plowed through the surf
and onto the churned-up sand of Normandy beaches during the most momentous amphibious
assault the world has ever witnessed.
