Stuart, Little

Historical Background

In 1935, the Rock Island Arsenal developed the T2E1 Light Tank for the infantry branch of the US Army. Accepted for service as the M2, the first 10 units were armed with a .50-cal heavy machine gun in a small turret while subsequent units were of a twin-turret configuration, with the second turret armed with a .30-cal machine gun. Following the Spanish Civil War, the US Army decided that it needed gun-armed, rather than machine gun-armed tanks. In December 1938, an M2A3 was pulled out of the production line and modified with heavier weapons and armour. As the M2A4, it was equipped with an M5 37mm gun, 25mm of armour and a 7-cylinder radial petrol engine. 365 M2A4s were produced from May to March 1940 plus another 10 in April 1941. War which had erupted in Europe in September 1939 showed that the M2 design had become obsolete and the need for the Army to improve the design. With armour increased by another 12.7mm, but still armed with a 37mm gun and five (one AA, one co-axial, one the bow and one each on the hull sponsons) .30-cal machine guns, the M3 entered production in March 1941. Later units were armed with longer M6 37mm gun and the sponson machine guns removed.

The M3 was powered by the Continental W-670-9A radial engine which also powered various US Army training planes. The engine was mounted at the rear, with the shaft running through the fighting compartment to the transmission at the front. The radial engine also caused the shaft to be placed high off the hull bottom, reducing room in the fighting compartment. To relieve the demand for aero angines, while offering better ergonomics, a new version powered by twin Cadillac V-8 auto engines with twin Hydra-Matic automatic transmission was developed. The new model also had a redesigned hull with a sloped glacis plate. Armour was roughly the same with M3, despite the fact that German tank ammunition was getting better. Despite criticism that the M3 (named Stuart by the British after American Civil War general JEB Stuart) was underarmed, the new version was still equipped with the 37mm gun - practically useless against panzers but still effective against Japanese tanks. The engine was relatively quiet and the transmission has fluid shifting, making it stealthy enough in the reconnaissance role. It was also quiet fast with speeds up to 36mph. It was designated Light Tank M5 (originally M4 but was redesignated M5 to avoid confusion with the Sherman tank)

The M5 first saw combat during the Operation Torch in November 1942. It gradually became the standard US Army light tank, supplanting the M3. Because of its limited firepower, the M5 (and the M3) was only used in the scout and reconnaissance role, specifically in the European and the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations. In the Pacific, it made its combat debut in that theatre during the invasion of Roi-Namur in 1944. There, the 37mm gun was still effective against Japanese armour, including the Type 97 Chi-Ha medium tanks. The Stuarts were eventually succeeded by the M24 Chaffee in late 1944. A total of 6,810 M5s were built.

The Kit

Until fairly recently, the only mainstream (read: plastic) 1/35 M5 Light Tank kit in the market was the venerable Tamiya kit. In 2003, AFV Club came up with a newly-tooled kit of the M3A3 Stuart and finally, in 2010, came out with the Early Production version of the M5A1. The kit consists of 290 parts in olive drab styrene, 72 parts in black styrene (individual track links from AFV Club's own track set), a small PE fret, turned aluminium 37mm gun barrel, a length of twine, a few vinyl poly caps and of course the decal and instruction sheets. Apart from the running gear, main armament and some small details, the M5 kit did not use the M3A3 moulding as, after all, the M3 and M5 have different dimension. The kit is finely moulded with sharp details although I think some of them are too fine (what a complaint!) and require care when removing them from the sprue. There are also bolt heads moulded on the sprue runner which can be used to enhance the detail of this kit and are very useful for other projects that require them (and being me, I totally forgot about them and were binned with the rest of the sprue tree!). The vinyl tracks have good detail and unlike the Tamiya kit, the end connectors are at the correct positions.

The decals provide markings for six vehicles:

1. 'Carol' / C-34, 3rd Battalion, 33rd Armored Regt, 3rd Armored Division, Normandy 1944

2. 'Loup',  Free French 1st Squadron, 2nd Regiment, Chasseurs d'Afrique, 1st Armored Division,  Rhine crossing April 1945

3. Republic Of China Army, 1950s

4. 'Margaret', 4th Marine Tank Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Saipan July 1944

5. British Army, 23rd Hussars, 29th Armoured Brigade, 11th Armoured Division

6. 34th Tank Battalion, 5th Armored Division

Construction

Unlike most tank kits from the Far East with one-piece lower hull tub, the M5A1 has separate panels. It made for greater details although one would have to exercise a little bit of care to ensure correct alignment of the walls. Once they are in place, the bulkhead separating the fighting compartment from the engine is put into place. While serving its purpose, the bulkhead also allows final alignment and stronger construction of the lower hull. Bolt heads moulded on the K sprue were then sliced off, put on the tip of a sharp modeling knife and were placed onto the final drive housing. Nothing out of the ordinary except that the bolt heads are real tiny and would be forever lost if dropped. I then went back to the actual first step in the instructions: the suspension and wheels, AFV Club provides two types of road wheels - solid or open spoke. The solid wheels are of two types, with four for each type. While it was not unusual for a Stuart to have a  mix of road wheels, it is unusual for them to be evenly divided. In any case, I decided to use the open spoke wheels. The drive sprocket also came in two types: open fancy type and solid. The instructions however only directed the modeller to use the solid type. The same goes with the idler wheels. The running gear was completed but left off the hull in the meantime and I continued with the engine access doors, tow hook and eyes and the rear sponson.

Moving on to the upper hull, I first glued part F1, which formed the bulk of the upper hull's shell onto the lower hull. Parts for the hull machine gun assembly were mated together and slid into place on the glacis plate (Part I2). The hull roof was then glued into place and was followed by the glacis plate. The side sponson covers at the rear, front fenders and engine deck cover were then cemented to the hull. The intake openings were covered with fine PE mesh but unfortunately, the screens allow the empty interior to be seen from the outside. And like the final drive housings, tiny bolt heads (20 of them) are to be scraped off the sprue and placed around the grilles. The hatch covers for the driver and co-driver's positions were assembled and then cemented in the closed position. Afterwards, various smaller parts such as fuel filler caps, towing eyes, ventilator covers, headlights and horn were cemented onto the model. The light brush guards were also added but they were delicate and needed patience to remove them from the sprues.

The turret assembly was next and was started by assembling the gun. The process was straightforward but rather fiddly due to the small size of many of the parts. The mating surface between the co-axial machine gun and the gunner's sight to the main gun were also quite small and needed to be lined up correctly so that the parts can be inserted into the mantlet without trouble. The shell of the turret was then assembled. Again, assembly is rather tricky if done according to the instructions as there are no locating pins. To add a bit of strength early in the assembly, the rear panel was cemented onto one half of the shell (I glued it onto the right half) and then cementing them onto the left half. The radio set was cemented to the back of the turret, followed by the gun assembly. The periscopes were assembled and fitted to the front turret roof panel and the roof was then cemented onto the turret. The rear roof panel did not fit well and I have to trim it down a bit. Finally the hatch doors, aerial base and the AA machine gun mounting were fitted.

Painting and Decaling

Generally for WW2 US tanks, you can paint them any colour as long as it was Olive Drab. I used Tamiya XF-62 Olive Drab for this build. The tyres were painted Gunze H77 Tyre Black. The pioneer tools were originally painted the usual colours - steel for the metal parts and Buff/Red Brown for the handles. However I found out that the pioneer tools for US vehicles were actually painted olive drab, so they were repainted. But visual interest's sake, I only painted the 'wood' parts OD and left the 'metal' parts in steel. For markings, I chose the first option, 'Carol'. The decals were fairly thick but apply beautifully. However, after the decals has well and truly settled (and the cement long hardened), I managed to buy a copy of Military Modelling magazine featuring an article by Steve Zaloga about the M5. And there it is, a photo of 'Carol', fitted with the solid wheels! Oh well, another exercise in 'creative license' again!

Finishing

Maybe I did it out of sequence but I decided to add sandbags on the front plate of the tank. While I do have Tamiya's Sand Bag set, they cannot be used on vehicles, plus they are way oversized. So I used the tried-and-trusted (by others) method of using two-part putty. This was actually the first time I crafted anything using them and for this build, I used Tamiya's Epoxy Putty. I used a cut reed from a traditional-style broom to act as the stopper for the sandbags as I have run out of styrene sheet. The 'sandbags' are piled on the front plate. I was quite pleased with my first attempt but needless to say, there are still room for improvement. The sandbags were then painted XF-57 Buff.

The tracks were painted XF-69 NATO Black and the 'metal' parts were washed with AK Interactive Track Wash. The tracks were then glued and fitted onto the model. The grousers were painted XF-64 Red Brown, given the Track Wash treatment and were then hanged on their racks. There aren't enough of them to fill the racks though. The pioneer tools, machine gun and the towing cable were then permanently fixed onto the model. Stowage was then added courtesy of Tamiya Allied Vehicle Accessory Set and Academy Tanks Supplies Set II. The lower hull and tracks were then weathered using a mixture of Mig Productions European Dust and Rubble Dust pigments.

Conclusion

Another great kit from AFV Club. However, construction is a bit fiddly and require a bit more attention, especially for the turret. The addition of interior parts, although not comprehensive allow modellers to show the interior, perhaps with a figure to hide things a bit. The marking options also show a good selection of markings, from Europe to the Far East. A good successor to Tamiya's venerable M5A1.