Review - Trenchworx M4A4 Sherman

Today we have a slightly different kind of review.

Trenchworx generously donated not one, but two of their wonderful M4A4 Shermans to our project.

Trenchworx manufactured excellent resin/metal hybrid kits. As you can see, the details are all you could hope for, and as far as I can tell the fit between metal and resin is very good.

And even better, I don't have to paint them! Mr. Justin from Secret Weapon Miniatures agreed to work his magic on them for us, and he also recorded most of it on youtube. Enjoy!

With these two new additions we are now at:

64 Airborne
33 Army
25 Rangers
1 57mm ATG
1 75mm pack howitzer
2 M3 Halftracks
2 Jeeps
1 M5 Stuart
3 M4A4 Sherman
1 M4A3E2 Jumbo Sherman
1 M10 Wolverine
2 M8/M20 Armored Cars
1 Bolt Action 2nd Edition book

And don't forget, today is your last chance to be in the draw for the Minairons Miniatures Henschel truck give-away! Support us before midnight and you'll be automatically entered into the draw.

Review - Butlers' Printed Models Jeeps

Butlers' Printed Models offers an interesting service - 3D-printed vehicles in different scales and covering WW2, Cold War and Modern vehicles, including several models I haven't seen anywhere else.
Today we will look at their first contribution to our project, which is the humble jeep, or rather, two jeeps!

This is a first for me, I have never had the opportunity to examine a 3D-printed vehicle up close. I have seen plenty of pictures, and like to pretend I know a thing or two about the technology, but I never actually got my hands on the products.

Many people will say that 3D-prints are still too rough and lack the details to compete with resin and plastic kits, and, well, that is true. Nevertheless, these jeeps are making a mighty fine impression on me:

The undersides are quite rough, but that doesn't really matter, does it?

There are some easy improvements one can make, i.e. taking out the printed windows from the frames and replacing the steering wheel. I hope to find a driver for each, and I'll add some of the surplus storage from other kits.

The stepping on the hood is quite obvious, but it is extremely easy to fix.

It took me literally less than two minutes to file it down to this, and some sanding should easily finish the job.

The size of the vehicles looks spot on:

I'll do another 5 minutes of filing/sanding on each and than they are going into the painting pipeline. No doubt they will make great additions to the army!

Review - JTFM/Die Waffenkammer Jumbo Sherman

Today we are going to have a look at the first donation from JTFM/Die Waffenkammer: A Jumbo Sherman, or officially, the M4A3E2 Assault Tank. This is a late war variant with additional armor and the powerful 76mm main gun.
Although only 254 of these tanks were built, they became quite iconic for the late war armored forces in Europe. For example, "Cobra King" of First in Bastogne-fame was a Jumbo.

All JTFM/Die Waffenkammer models come in stable cardboard boxes and the parts are wrapped in foam. I own several of their vehicles for my British 8th Army and I never had any issues with damaged parts. The Jumbo has four main components, two tracks, hull and turret:

In addition to all the small bits like hatches the kit contains a vast amount of extras: two crew members, baggage, sand bags, track links and bogey wheels:

All of these pieces are of outstanding quality - in my humble opinion JTFM/Die Waffenkammer is a strong contestant for the best resin models on the market!

Assembly is easy - the hardest part is to decide which of the optional bits you want to on your model. I use two-component glue for resin models, and as far as i can tell it will never come apart again.

Here are some pictures of the finished model:

That brings our army up to:

64 Airborne
33 Army
25 Rangers
1 57mm ATG
1 75mm pack howitzer
2 M3 Halftracks
1 M5 Stuart
1 M4A4 Sherman
1 M4A3E2 Jumbo Sherman
1 M10 Wolverine
2 M8/M20 Armored Cars
1 Bolt Action 2nd Edition book

If you are really paying attention to our project you'll have noticed a new sponsor on the list - we will have a look at their contribution next.

And keep in mind that there is still time to enter our bonus give-away of the Henschel truck - see below for all details!

Review - Warlord Games Sherman V

I think I understand what military fame is; to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers.
- William Tecumseh Sherman

Today we will have a closer look at the first tank for our army, a mighty M4A4 Sherman tank. This kit was generously provided by Warlord Games!

As the designation would let you guess, the Sherman V is actually a British / Land Lease version. The M4A4 was armed with a 75 mm M3 L/40 gun and had the Chrysler A57 multibank 30-cylinder "cloverleaf" petrol engine in a longer rear hull with more widely spaced bogies. It therefore looks slightly different from "true American" Shermans, but a bit of artistic license should be allowed even in historical games.

The kit contains 3 sprues, with all the parts needed to build the vehicle. Additionally, you get some stowage and 2 crew members in British gear. About 80% of the over 7000 Sherman Vs were used by Commonwealth troops, so taht's a logical choice. Nevertheless, a miniature in American uniform could have been included to represent the Polish and Free French units who also used this model and wore US uniforms.

The quality is great, as expected from Warlord Games. The details are all sharp and gates are positioned smartly. The kit has separate two-part tracks which makes painting them much easier.

Assembly is straight forward and offers no surprises. The instructions are very clear, and it took only a couple of minutes to complete the task:

The kit offers several different options for closed or open hatches, track guards and hedge cutter.

As with all new Warlord Games models you get a unit card and some material for damage markers, too:

Here is a picture of the finished vehicle with a base coat of paint:

In summary, this is a great kit that is easy to assemble, with more options than usual. And it will look great once it's painted!

PS: Don't forget that we are having a bonus give-away at the moment!

Review - Minairons Miniatures Chevrolet 1.5 ton Truck & Give-Away!

Minairons Miniatures may not the first name that comes to mind when one thinks of WW2 Americans,they are much better known for their Spanish Civil War ranges in 28mm and 20mm.
Nevertheless, one of their products is a 1/56th scale Chevrolet 1.5 ton truck, and they were so generous to provide one of them for our project.

 

The set comes in a standard size box, with the instructions on the back.

As you can see, assembly is very straight-forward, and the kit contains only a handful of pieces.

Inside the box is a bubble wrap envelop that contains all the pieces:

The truck consists of 11 resin parts, and a couple of metal parts (mirrors, bumper, headlights).

There is zero flash on the parts, and you will have a hard time to spot the gates. Top notch casting! The resin is great, too, with the right balance of stability and elasticity. The details are impressive, as you can see below.

The few metal partsare packed separately. They are you regular white metal casts, and also manufactured to a very high standard. Some parts of them could be a bit thinner, but none of it caused any issues.

Assembly was a breeze. I used two-component glue, and the fit of the parts was excellent and I encountered no gaps worth adressing.

Here is a picture of the finished truck with a base coat of paint on, sitting next to a Warlord Games halftrack:

In summary, this is an awesome model and I can see a lot of uses - it would also look very good on the table in a civilian livery.

Minairons Miniatures also gave us one of there German Henschel trucks! That one doesn't really fit into a US force (although I wouldn't be surprise if the Hell on Wheels would have "liberated" a couple...), so we decided to use it as a bonus give-away!

Support Operation Good Cause before March 31st, and you are in the draw to win this model! All you have to do is to contribute some money, and you'll automatically be entered. And in the same way as with the main raffle, every $2 give you one lot.