Finally! The Tasca Sherman Jumbo!

Okay, I'm finally getting caught up on things yet once again.  I still haven't bought a new camera.  That'll have to be sometime in February.  In the meantime, I've used my wife's Sony Cybershot to shoot the following pics of the new Tasca 1/35 M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo. 

Just a quick note:  this is not a review of the kit nor do I intend on reviewing it.  I provided Tasca with over 1600 photos of the M4A3E2 located at the MVTF along with measurements of certain components.  As a thank you, they provided me with several Jumbo kits and have included my name at the bottom of the last page of the kit instructions.



When you open the box, you are greeted with 19 sprues of parts, a small PE fret, instructions, decals, some poly caps and a small felt pad.  Many of the sprues are familiar to those who have purchased Tasca Shermans in the past.  They'll further add to your spares box. 







                                                         



Three of this sprue are included.  You get three different types of road wheels.





Duckbills are molded onto the T48 tracks.





Some close ups of the major E2 parts:



The turret lacks casting numbers.  Each turret had an individual number cast onto each side of the turret.  You'll need to add these when building your kit.



The extra glacis and side plates are add on panels.



The differential housing cover has been thickened compared to those on the M4A3(76)/M4A3E8 kits.





The profile of the thickened mantlet looks pretty good.

Overall, 493 olive drab colored plastic parts, 16 clear plastic parts, 14 PE parts and 24 poly caps are included.  Three different types of road wheels and three main gun tubes are included.  Lots of other extras such as periscopes, applique armor plates, British style fire extinguishers and other goodies are also included.

I'm very happy that a modern, injection moulded kit of the Jumbo has finally been released.  It'll be interesting to see what Tasca has up their sleeve for the next round of Shermans.

My next post will feature new additions to the reference library.







New Sherman M4A3E2 Jumbo from Tasca!!

Finally, Tasca has announced the Sherman kit that many have been waiting for, a M4A3E2 Assault Tank aka "Sherman Jumbo"!!  For years, modellers have been stuck with either reworking the old Tamiya kit or using one of several resin conversion sets.  This new kit from Tasca will finally provide the modeller with what will undoubtably be an accurate kit for much less than the cost of the resin stuff. 

I don't have any pics of the actual kit yet but as soon as I get some, I will post them.  No release date has been listed but I bet it'll be ready for Christmas.  The following link will take you to the Tasca page describing their new Jumbo:  M4A3E2 Jumbo

The Military Vehicle Technology Foundation's M4A3E2 Assault Tank "Sherman Jumbo".