M2
Half-Track Armored Car with 37mm Gun |
Dragon, 1/35 scale |
|
by Steven J. Zaloga |
Dragon's 1/35 scale
M2 Half Track
is available online from Mission Models for $37.99
Description
The new Dragon M2 half-track came as quite a surprise at
Euromilitaire this year. I was sent a test shot a few days before
the show along with the sprue for the following M3 half-track
armored personnel carrier. I had started to convert a Tamiya M3A2
half-track to a M2 re-armed by the 41st Armored Infantry Regiment,
2nd Armored Division over a year ago, but gave up the project out of
sheer frustration working with the awful old Tamiya suspension. So I
resurrected the project on receipt of the Dragon kit.
The Dragon kit is superb, and finally gives Allied fans a kit of the
quality that has been the Dragon standard for German AFVs for the
past year or so. It is a generation ahead of the old Tamiya kit in
all respects. In my opinion, the worst feature of the old Tamiya kit
was the rear suspension due to its simplification and the horrid
tracks. Dragon nails this with a clever track design consisting of a
two-piece component split down the center-line. This results in a
nice rigid track with proper guide-teeth which also allows Dragon to
provide a very delicate suspension that would otherwise be crushed
by a vinyl track. The idler and drive sprocket are superb examples
of what can be done with current slide mold technology and the outer
rims have the proper holes around the edge. The only short-cut on
the suspension is the idler spring which has been molded solid.
The underframe is extremely intricate with lots of detail that
unfortunately will never be seen unless modeling an overturned
vehicle. The kit comes with a full engine as well as a detailed
radiator. The wheels are molded in hard plastic and feature a
flattened surface on the bottom, a much better option than the dodgy
vinyl tires found in some kits.
The kits' superstructure includes a sprue with a forward cab which
will be the common element of future versions such as the M3. The
aft superstructure is on a separate sprue. In the first M2/M2A1 kit,
the sprue includes a complete M2 and M2A1 superstructure. The M2 has
the full skate ring, while the M2A1 dispenses with the skate ring
and has the forward pulpit machine gun. What is especially nice
about the kit is the ample supply of .30 and .50 cal machine guns
along with appropriate pintle mounts. The .50 cal machine gun is all
new and IMHO, the best .50 cal in plastic to date (though I haven't
seen the new Tasca example). The one shortcut on the exterior is the
molding of the mines into the mine rack. Many units in the ETO
issued instructions against stowing mines in this fashion, and
tended to use the racks for other items. Fortunately, this is easy
to build from sheet plastic.
Overall, the fit was generally good with the usual small glitches
here and there. I ignored the kit instruction and glued the forward
cab to the aft superstructure before attaching them to the chassis
in order to ensure a good fit between the front and rear on this
very visible joint. As a result, I had some minor problems getting
the superstructure to mate properly with the chassis. But this was
nothing that couldn't be solved by a good whack with my Dremel
Mini-Mite against the offending surface on the chassis frame!
As I mentioned, I converted my M2 to one of the upgrades built by
the 2nd Armored Division in England in 1943-44 prior to D-Day. They
took the 37mm gun mount off the obsolete M6 37mm GMC tank destroyer,
and remounted it in the M2 bay after removing the stowage bins. One
modeling option would be to simply use the Peerless/Testors/Zvezda/Italeri
Dodge M6 37mm GMC parts, but I decided against this option as the
parts are old and clunky. I used the Trakz 37mm gun with minor
modifications and a new shield and gun mount from plastic.
In summary, the Dragon half-track is a superb new kit which has a
wealth of conversion and markings options.
More please!!
You can also read
Cookie Sewell's impressions of this kit in Missing-Lynx's Reviews
section
Model, Images and Text
by Steven J. Zaloga
Page Created 04 November, 2006 Page Last Updated
04 November, 2006
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