M3 Grant

I have always been attracted by the distinctive high profile of the M3 Grant. This kit is the Tamiya version which is currently deleted from the Tamiya range in the UK, although it would be great if they were to release an improved version in the future. I bought this kit at the 1997 UK IPMS show at Castle Donnington (at the bargain price of œ8.00 (UK)). I wanted to try out an unusual disruptive camouflage pattern that I had seen on a Grant at the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset a few years before. The M3 depicted here is a British M3 Grant Mk 1 of the 10th Armoured Division, which saw service in the North African desert campaign during World War Two. This example has been put together virtually straight out of the box using the decals supplied, which are the same as the markings on the Grant at Bovington. I added stowage rails along the sides made of plasticard, and hand made bed rolls and tarpaulins from tissue paper, as well as a rolled up camouflage net made from a bandage. I also used a few of the petrol cans and ammo boxes from the useful Academy Minicraft Tank Accessory II set. The kit is a typical early Tamiya, with some of the surface detail being a little chunky by modern standards, but it went together with little difficulty, and most of the short comings in the moulding could be disguised with careful positioning of stowage. I airbrushed the base colour and then hand painted the camouflage using Humbrol enamels. A translucent layer of cream enamel was then airbrushed to fade down the base colours a little. The weathering was finished with a bit of brown road dirt airbrushed around the lower half and wheels, and a dry brushing session to highlight the details and edges using khaki drill colour. The diorama base was constructed using a piece of medium density fibreboard (MDF) covered with cellulose filler to give an uneven surface, and leave track impressions. The display base was only intended to provide a contextual reference for the M3, and so I did not spend a lot of time detailing the diorama. I used an Italieri signpost and a Tamiya oil drum half buried in the sand to compose a visual frame for the model. The terrain was covered in fine sand fixed with diluted white glue, and then the whole thing was painted, again using enamel paint, before the M3 was fixed on to it.