Sherman 105mm Turret
Kit #: 72C25 Preview by Doug Chaltry

<<Scan by Al Magnus>>
One of several 105mm turrets that we now have available to us in resin, this set was one of the first marketed long ago, and now apparently re-released. It's a very nice set with only a couple of minor errors. It can be used for either an M4 (105), or an M4A3 (105)W.

The turret is very nicely detailed, with a cast texture to the armor that may be only slightly overdone, but some careful sanding can alter that if one wishes. The commander's hatch is thankfully molded open, but the oval loader's hatch is unfortunately molded closed, and is incorrectly sitting on top of the turret armor, when it should be flush with the turret armor when closed. The machinegun is presented as wrapped in a protective shroud, which is an interesting piece, one I've not seen in any other set.

The gun and rotor shield is another nice piece. The rotor shield measures perfectly to about 12.6mm wide, which is correct for a shield that has the bolted rim attached to it, as this one does. The shield looks hand-made, and while perhaps not quite as perfect as the MR Models piece, looks quite nice itself, with a decent cast texture and even some casting numbers molded on its surface, which is unique to this set. The gun barrel is molded nice and straight, but it is about 2mm too long, which will be easy enough to shorten up a bit.

The applique armor plates are a nice touch for the set, but as it turns out, unnecessary. It is correct that the late model hull used on the M4 (105) was not a wet-stowage hull, and therefore needs added side armor. However, that particular tank was unique in that it had the side armor added to the inside of the hull, not the outside. So these pieces, which look to be correctly shaped, and easily be used for another project.

I'm honestly not quite sure what all the small pieces are in the upper right of the scan. The turret hatch is obvious, and there appears to be an antenna stub, which is cool, but I really don't know what the other items are supposed to represent.

All in all, this is a very nice set.

Thanks to Alain Levesque of Leva Productions for this review sample.

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Article Last Updated: 29 January 2010