Barcode: 0 89195 87388 0
Packaging: 48 Pieces per carton
Box Size: 6.4" x 10.2" x 1.9"
Features:
- Newly tooled glacis plate
- 75mm M8 gun newly produced
- Delicate LVT-(A)4 model produced in miniature
- Turret molded w/full detail
- Gun can be elevated at different angles
- Hull top is well detailed
- Fully detailed deck
- Delicate rear hull w/tow cable included
- Sprocket wheels w/breathtaking detail
- Detailed one-piece hull sides molded w/intricate wheels
- One-piece silde-molded lower hull w/weld seams
- One-piece DS tracks included
Dragon earlier released a 1/72 scale recreation of an American LVT(A)-1, and
it has proved a very popular model. Now Dragon has provided an armored companion
for this first Landing Vehicle Tracked (LVT). The new 1/72 model is the LVT(A)-4.
With US Marine Corps (USMC) forces continuing their bloody island hopping campaign
across the Pacific during WWII, there was a need for an amphibious vehicle mounting
a heavier gun than the 37mm gun hitherto mounted on the LVT(A)-1. Introduced
in March 1944 as a modification of the aforementioned vehicle, the LVT(A)-4
featured a complete turret and M2 or M3 75mm howitzer taken directly from the
M8 Gun Motor Carriage (GMC).
Because of the heavier weight of the new turret, the machine gun positions
had to be deleted, although one .50-cal machine gun remained on a ring mount
above the rear of the turret. A total of 100 75mm rounds were carried within
the amphibious vehicle. A total of 1,890 LVT(A)-4 vehicles were manufactured,
with its first combat use being at Saipan in June 1944. The heavier weapon proved
a lot more effective in attacking Japanese fortifications during amphibious
assaults.
Dragon’s new model of this amphibious fire support vehicle is just as immaculate
as the previous LVT(A)-1. The new turret is beautifully rendered, and the open-topped
unit with its mounted 75mm gun is filled with detail. The suspension system
is molded intricately and fits onto the single-piece lower hull to greatly ease
what could be an otherwise troublesome assembly step. Now with this new vehicle,
modelers have even more choice regarding which US Pacific diorama or beach invasion
scene to build.
