I enjoy building Braille scale as a break from 1/35. Which means I don't have a 1/72 ruler and I generally build out of the box or with some simple tweaks for the more egregious errors.

So when I received a review sample from MRC of the Academy's latest ground vehicle set, I built it with my usual approach and made a few corrections here and there. The inclusion of three vehicles makes this a good weekend project--which of course you can stretch out to fit your research and detailing needs.

The Kit

Motorcycle

The motorcycle is not even promoted in the kit title, and the name of the two-wheeler's manufacturer is not mentioned, but it's clearly based on the Harley-Davidson WLA. It compares favorably in features to the real thing, less the handbrakes and cables. The only real downside in this molding is the lack of tread for the tires.

GPA Amphibian

The old Tamiya GPA amphibian is one of my ancient shelf queens. It's a bit of cruel irony to pull her out of exile to compare to this miniature version, particularly as the Academy rendition of the "seep" stacks up very well in comparison. The parts go together without much effort aside from removing some mold seams. A nice feature of the model is the pair of front headlights, which are molded on the undersides of thinly cast brush guards. On the rear of the vehicle, however, the taillights and guards are molded blobs atop the upper deck. The driver's area is missing the all levers and pedals, so I added some with brass wire and plastic card. Unlike the Tamiya kit, there are no accessories (bumpers, tarps, gaff, etc.) beyond a spare jerry can.

M3 Half Track

The focal point of the kit, of course, is the M3 half track. Curiously, this model carries forward several mistakes of the old Tamiya 1/35 M3A1 kit, i.e., features of the M3A2 prototype. The most prominent error is the extended stub of the pulpit shield over the right wall, which should be removed to depict the M3A1. The side wall cushion arrangements also reflect the later prototype. I didn't deal with those, but I did carve off the incorrectly tapered cushions over the gas tanks and added new pads from plastic card. I also installed the rods along the seats and added some detailing to the mounts for the machine guns and the braces that extend from the back of the seat wall to the vehicle wall.

Fortunately, Academy did not add the "ladders" (actually stowage brackets) to the exterior walls as Tamiya did with their half track. They also correctly rendered the side walls in two sections (via an engraved seam, rather than separate pieces). The interior sides of the walls contain some sizable ejector pin marks to fill, and the rear wall has several deep unused locator holes that require attention.

The machine gun skate rail could have been cast separately from the pulpit armor, which lacks bolt heads and tie downs. The more intrepid modeler can remedy this with a hobby knife and plastic card. I opted to give some attention to the mount itself with some bits of plastic. The tools are molded onto the vehicle.

The rear stowage racks are molded solid. I carved out the fill between the slats to open them up and thinned the slats to give them a better appearance. Bracing was made from plastic stock.

On the plus side, the detailing is pretty crisp. The machine guns are well done compared to others I've seen, and some careful drilling with the pin vise opened up some of the solid areas of the .30 mounts and the grips of the .50. The barrel ends need to be drilled out, which I accomplished with the .50 but the tips of the .30 guns are too small.

I liked the approach for the track assembly: the track and inner idler, drive, and suspension wheels are molded in one piece, and their exterior counterparts are glued into place. Its simple, works well representing this type of track, and Academy's made a good attempt at molding the distinctive lightening holes in the outer drive wheels.

Academy gives you the choice of a winch or roller, and open or closed grills. You can cover the windshield with the armor plate or have the plate raised above the windshield, but you must provide your own struts to hold it up. I opted to have my half track buttoned up, but still needed to fashion the struts with snips of brass wire and fixed them to the top of the hood. The bottom halves of the cab doors are molded closed, but the upper halves are separate pieces that can be glued closed or opened. (After I had the cab glued in place I realized there was no detailing on the interior sides to delineate the doors. If you are concerned about this, make sure you do your scribing before you start your building!) The rear door can be closed or left open.

A downside common to both the half track and seep is the lack of clear styrene for the windshield glass. I'll borrow some clear plastic I've saved from some product packaging to fill this need.

The models go together well and the instructions, including a correction sheet for the seep and half track, are clear. The decals, however, are another matter. In his review of the kit, Cookie Sewell points out problems with the decals: "Academy should realize by now that when you have an American unit the 'number-dash-letter' is just that -- e.g., 6-I for 6th Infantry (Battalion here) and 27-I for 27th Infantry (Battalion). They present them as '6-1' and '27-1,' which is wrong. Also, the 1st Armored Division did have the 6th Armored Infantry Battalion, which is correct; but the other on the decal sheet is credited to the 5th Armored Division, which is wrong, as it should be the 9th Armored Division. Markings as given in the directions are accurate as far as they go."

Conclusions

The biggest disappointment for me is what is MIA in this kit. The only accessories are a couple extra jerry cans with the standard solid handles. There are no ammo boxes to mount with the .30s. and no spares of either type. The half track really screams to be decked out with weapons, packs, tarps, sleeping bags, etc. But there's zilch. Not even mines for the mine rack. And no figures. That is particularly vexing since there are probably fewer sitting figures for vehicles in 1/72 scale than for 1/35. It's going to be a challenge to crew these AFVs for dioramas.

Perhaps Academy will conjure up a set of ammo boxes and gear as they did with their well-regarded 1/35 kit for both US and German AFVs. Fleshing out (literally) such a kit with various crew figures would be an especially smart marketing move that I'm sure the serious Braille scalers would appreciate.

I've only built one other half track in small scale, Revell's M16, which may be a legacy 1/76 Matchbox if I recall my sketchy knowledge of the scales correctly. Even out of the box, Academy's kit surpasses this counterpart.

I suspect this kit will easily satisfy wargamers and out-of-the-box builders, and provide a solid basis for more serious modelers willing to make some corrections and add further details.

Thanks to Bob Lewen at MRC for the review sample.

User Contributed Notes