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Saturday, February 7, 2009

1:72 scale United States Tanks

Another area of my toy collection is 1:72 scale tanks. I especially like the designs of WWII tanks. My tanks are from Dragon Armor, Forces of Valor & Easy Model (Trumpet) Ground Armor.
For my US tanks (in this review) , I only have tanks from Forces of Valor and Easy Model.

Forces of Valor’s tanks have the most diecast metal content and are heavy when carried. Forces of Valor's tanks usually come with 1:72 scale figures which are a great addition.
Dragon armor has a mix of diecast metal and plastic however it is very light when carried. Generally speaking, the metal content for Dragon has been decreasing, with some tank models appearing to be almost 100% plastic.
Easy Model does not have any diecast metal and is basically made of hard plastic.
In terms of painting, I feel that Dragon does a very good job.
Forces of Valor do tend to go overboard with their weathering and Easy Model's paint ops is very simple & safe, nothing complicated.
Having no diecast metal, Easy Model's tanks are the cheapest. Dragon is expensive especially with little or no diecast metal.
The 1:72 tanks (ready made) market is flooded with Germans WW2 tanks. I wonder why there is not much British, Japanese or other countries' tanks.

I will continue to review more 1:72 scale tanks from Russia, Germany and Britain.

U.S. M3A1 Half-Track - Normandy, 1944 by Forces of Valor
The Half-Track was an armoured vehicle used by the United States and its allies during World War II and the Cold War.
The vehicle could be used as a Personnel Carrier (as in this review), mounted with self-propelled guns or anti-aircraft guns.



Troops unloading from the half-track
















USMC M113ACAV - Da Nang by Easy Model
The M113 is a fully tracked armored personnel carrier.
M113 was the most widely used armored vehicle of the US Army in the Vietnam War, earning the nickname 'Green Dragon' among the Viet Cong, and ACAV (armored cavalry assault vehicle) by the allied forces. It was used to break through heavy thickets in the midst of the jungle to attack and overrun enemy positions.
The basic M113 armored personnel carrier can itself be fitted with a number of weapon systems like the .50 caliber M2 machine gun (the most common), 40mm Mk 19 automatic grenade launcher, M40 106mm recoilless rifles and numerous anti-tank weapons.



.50 caliber M2 machine gun










M26 Pershing Heavy Tank - Tank company E, 67th Armored Rgt., 2nd Armored Div by Easy Model
The Heavy Tank M26 Pershing was an American heavy tank used during World War II and the Korean War. It was named after General John Pershing, who led the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.















U.S. M4A1 Sherman - Normandy by Forces of Valor
The M4 Sherman, formally Medium Tank, M4, was the primary tank used by the United States during World War II.
The M4A1 Sherman was no match for the German's Tiger and Pather tanks but made it up by their sheer numbers, hence making it one of the most produced battle tank in WWII.
Many variants were designed and manufactured to increase their effectiveness against German Panzer divisions.
This Sherman comes with mine sweeping equipment.

















M4A3E8 Sherman 64th Tank Batt. by Easy Model
Another version of the Sherman, also known as the "Easy Eight".
This version had a bigger 76mm gun and new horizontal suspension, Horizontal Volute Spring Suspension (or HVSS) to cater for the increase in weight from the bigger gun. One of its advantages was that when the horizontal volute springs were placed in compression by either the front or rear bogie wheel arm, the load was transmitted to the opposite arm thus keeping tension on the track.















US tanks on the roll




6 comments:

Dennis aka Katsuden said...

A great review of the U.S armored vehicles with good knowledge. Familiar tanks seen in movies like 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Band of Brothers' and 'Windtalker'.

Jcee said...

I don't know why, but I just have a thing for Shermans, they just look so cool!

Little Plastic Man said...

Thanks Dennis!
Jcee - Yeah! The Shermans are cool but my fave tank from WW2 is the russian's T-34! Will review them soon!

Paul Schultz said...

Interesting look at WWII through these models! The photos pay tribute to how much care and attention went into the creation of the models (appearance and accuracy)--well-done! WWII buffs might want to check out my new novel, The Fuhrer Virus. It is a (fictional) spy/conspiracy/adventure story, available at www.eloquentbooks.com/TheFuhrerVirus.html or www.amazonbooksUK.

Thanks!

Paul Schultz

Anonymous said...

Can tell you like WW2 German stuff, will you watch Defiance and Valkyrie??

Little Plastic Man said...

Hi Paul, thanks for dropping by. I will check out your book. Thanks
Desmond - I would love to watch the 2 movies if only I had more time...LOL

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