| M4A3 "Jumbo" | Ca.Ma. (#72/005) |
| Article by Doug Chaltry; last updated 27 November 2024 | |
 <<click for larger image>> |
|
| Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale |
| M4A3 "Jumbo" | Ca.Ma. (#72/005) |
| Article by Doug Chaltry; last updated 27 November 2024 | |
<<click for larger image>> |
|
| Although Ca.Ma kits are
long out of production, I think that this was one of the
first "Jumbo" kits that we had made available
to us. Particularly as a full kit, rather than a
conversion. Either way, although it was likely a welcome
kit at the time, it does not fare well compared to some
of the more recent attempts at converting to this most
interesting version of the Sherman. As can be seen in the
scan, the kit was made by converting and copying the old
ESCI M4A3 Sherman kit, which means that there will be
some work involved to make this into a competition
quality piece. The hull looks to be a direct copy of the
ESCI hull, which means it is just a little bit short (by
a few millimeters), and the details on it are not really
all that great. The pioneer tools are molded onto the
hull, and are poor representations of the real items, and
best replaced. The fuel filler caps and ventilators are
primative, and the weld lines along the hull side plates
are represented with very deep grooves, which will need
to be filled. The wheel suspension units are not too bad, but the wheels themselves are quite poor, having one too many spokes on the road wheels, and one too few teeth on the sprocket wheel. The tracks are copies of the ESCI tracks, and look look like very shallow T-48 rubber chevron tracks. The add-on armor that makes this a Jumbo is pretty well done, though they did not include a new final drive housing that had the thickened armor. The worst part of the kit is the turret. Once again, they got the shape of the walls incorrect, with the widest part of the turret roof much too far forward, when it should be back further, in line with the crew hatches. Some miscellaneous details are included, such as machineguns and some crew packs, but again, they are copies of plastic parts, and are not that good. Can it be made into a half-way decent Jumbo? Yes it can, with a little bit of effort. But only half-way decent. |
| Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale |