New Sherman from Meng in the Pipeline
Oh boy... after last year's Panther frenzy, it looks like Meng is going Allied. They just announced their upcoming M4A3(76)w - a Sherman with the 76mm gun in T23 turret that is. Looking at the 3D renderings and reading Meng's description, it is going to feature
- an early T23 turret with the split loader's hatch,
- an early pattern hull which glacis plate differed slightly from later production runs,
- T48 rubber pad tracks with extended end connectors ("duck bills"),
- mid-production VVSS suspension with straight return roller arms and raised rollers,
- pressed spoke road wheels and idlers,
- PE parts for brush guards,
- metal cable.
- The first batch will also include a metal barrel.
Not much can be said about the surface texture of the cast elements at this point, but as Meng states, "(t)his kit features fairly complete equipment cast numbers and realistic surface details". So there you go.
There is no release date yet, but we'll keep you updated as soon as we get new information. And in case you couldn't tell, the Shermanoholic in me is having a blast.
Gotta get one. Meng kits are pretty well detailed
I'm right there in line with Matt... This is going to be another "must have" kit for me too. It will look very good sitting next to several of the new tool Tamiya Easy 8's I currently have on the work bench.
Boris, @raikisan
Thanks for sharing this with us. If you happen to hear anything about the release date, please send me a PM. If I happen to hear about the release date I will do the same for you.
Will do!
How are the Meng kits? I still glare at my RFM Panther, waaaayyyyyyy over engineered. Maeng doesn't make a Panther G though do they? I feel many companies could learn from Tamiya how to build a well detailed easy to assemble kit.
Rob, I guess Tamiya and Meng are following slightly different philosophies when it comes to their engineering. Tamiya armor kits are known for their shake-and-bake quality, combined with an amount of detail that satisfies many modelers, especially if you want to get to the painting and weathering stages rather quickly. They do, however, still take shortcuts, with things like solid grab handles, marginal detail on tools etc., and no "interior kits" to speak of.
Meng and RFM on the other hand will probably provide you with all of the above, mixed with single-link tracks consisting of four or more parts per track link. I would not call them over-engineered, as in most cases the high parts count really is needed to get to this level of detail. The question is: Do you want this level of detail? If so, the 1,000+ parts in the kit are the price to pay 😀