1:35 M3 LEE (academy)

Photo-etched parts for the American M3 Lee medium tank

This metal set replaces the parts of the vehicle where plastic necessarily comes out thicker than real sheet. On this tank that mainly means the fenders, the cooling grilles, the tool brackets and the small covers on the sides of the hull. Working with photo-etch is slower than fitting parts out of the box, but the result is a crisp edge and a matching thickness of material.

A tank with two guns and a tall silhouette

The M3 came about as a stopgap. American industry needed to build a vehicle with a 75 mm gun quickly, but it could not yet make a turret for such a weapon. The gun therefore ended up in a side sponson of the hull with limited traverse, and only a 37 mm gun was left in the rotating turret. Above it sat a machine-gun cupola as well, so the vehicle was unusually tall. The British knew its variant with a different turret under the name Grant and deployed it at Gazala in 1942, where it first matched the German types. Soviet crews, to whom the machine came through overseas deliveries, nicknamed it the grave for seven brothers because of its tall silhouette.

Where photo-etch changes the look most

It is worth devoting most of the work to the fenders and the grilles, because they are at the level of the observer's eye. Degrease the metal parts and use a primer that resists rubbing. Make a bend along the groove in one stroke.

Who the set is for

• For builders of American and British equipment of the years 1941 to 1943
• For modelers who want crisp fender edges
• For African and eastern scenes with supplied equipment
• For more experienced builders with the basic tools for photo-etch