Rubicon Models US armour reviews

In these reviews, I'm doing something slightly different, and rolling several reviews into one, as I built all the kits at the same time, and most of the comments are the same of each of them, though I'll cover each individually too. In the interests of integrity, Rubicon have been kind enough to provide me with review samples of each of the kits below, however these particular vehicles were part of a work commission.

Rubicon Models have quite an extensive line of mid to late war US armour in their catalogue now (I do keep harassing them to make an M4A1 too...), and whilst I've already looked at their M5 Stuart and M4A3 Shermans, this time I've been building the M3 halftrack, M8 Scott, M10 and M36 tank destroyers, and the  M20 armoured car. 

All of these kits come with Rubicons standard packaging of a letterbox type packaging with each sprue individually bagged to prevent loss of parts, as well as an extensive decal sheet, and well laid out instruction booklet. Each kit contains multiple variants, so it's worth taking a few minutes before cutting things to identify which variant you will build, and what parts you will be using.

All of the vehicles were painted the same way, using a black primer as a base, and then airbrushing Vallejo Brown Violet over most of the vehicle, leaving some black visible in the recesses. around the edges and raised areas I then airbrushed Vallejo Green Grey, before weathing them using some Burnt Umber oil paint used as a wash around the details and recesses. 

 

M3A1 Half Track

The M3A1 kit actually gives the option of assembling the vehicle as either an M3, or an M3A1, with a choice of winch or bumper at the front, deployed or stored stowage racks, open or closed radiator grill, and open or closed armoured wind shield, as well as pose able machine guns and a choice of interior radio fits, and also comes with 2 crew figures. 

 

Decals are also note worthy, as they contain some nice Free French markings,  as well as a good jumble of codes and stars too, so will be useful for future projects too.

I found the kit to be a fairly quick build, with some very nice detail and good fit to the parts. The only part of the kit that failed to impress me were the crew figures, although fortunately these are barely visible.

I still opted to use the driver and omit the other passenger. Some inevitable comparison will be asked with the Warlord Games plastic M3A1, and there's very little between the two, though Warlords is probably a marginally simpler to assemble kit, and comes with less decals and no choice of variants. I'll be adding Rubicons kit to my own DAK force as an M3 variant at some point in the none too distant future. 

M8 Scott

Another nice kit, the M8 Scott allows you to build either an M5A1 Stuart, or M8 Scott. 

There's little cross over here either, but with a bit of care and creativity you could build both and swap parts as each variant is required if that's your thing.

Between the Stuart and the Scott, I prefer the look of the finished M8, the spare track parts on the turret have slightly more impact and definition than on the Stuart parts, and the finished vehicle just has more impact. Turret interior is pretty good too for the M8, although it's lacking in crew and you'll have to convert some up if you want to fill their void. 

Assembly is straight forwards,  and rounded off by another well stocked transfer sheet with a good selction of markings, with options for several nationalities covered, including the USA, Britain and France. 

M10 Tank destroyer

This one comes with some fairly notable options, namely the choice of building an M10, an M10A, an M36 and finally an Achilles tank destroyer. 

Parts for these are all fairly specific,especially due to the way the turret rings are constructed, although you could potentially work out a way to make them interchangeable with a bit of work, the kits not really designed that way.

Interior detail for the M10 vehicles is good, though no interior is provided for the M36 turret apart from a gun breach.

Oddly, whilst ammunition racks are provided in for the hull, there is no floor, which is a fairly visible part of the fighting compartment. Sadly, no crew or stowage are provided, though once again the decal sheet is superb. 

M20 Scout Car

The final kit I'm looking at today, the M20 kit also includes parts to build the M8 armoured car as well. This was a bit of a surprise kit as it has some really superb detail.

 

It's not an easy kit to switch between versions however, so be mindful of that if you're intending making it as both. assembly is a breeze though and the finish model is superb to my eye. 

Of the 4 of these, I think my favourite is probably the M20/M8, although I really like the M3 kit too. the Scott is good value for money, though I have to admit to being disappointed in the M10, as I felt it a little lacking, though I'd struggle to put my finger on what precisely. 

 

Rubicon Models can be obtained through Plastic Soldier Company in the UK, and from their US distributor for those in America, and as ever you can see more examples of my work or contact me regarding commissions at Volley Fire Painting Service.

Plastic Soldier Company 1/72 Sherman and Stuart Review

Today I'm looking at something new for me, although the kits have been around for quite a while, some 1/72 scale US armour from Plastic Soldier Company (PSC), namely their M4A1, M4A1 76mm, and M5 Stuart sets.

I've been tempted with some 1/72 (20mm) stuff for a while now as the sheer nostalgia associated with the models from building the likes of Airfix and Revell kits in my youth was a pretty strong pull, and after speaking with Piers Brand on episode 3 of The Brit the Yank and the Hobby Podcast I decided to pick up a few bits at Salute. Naturally a few bits turned into a mountain, but anyway, at least it's quick to paint...

Apologies for no sprue shots of each kit, I got these built and done too quickly to get pics, though there are plenty around, and even on the PSC website.   Each of these sets contains 3 vehicles, and I enhanced them all with some scratch built stowage and some antennae made from 5 amp fuse wire. All the kits come with instructions, but no transfers, and (obviously), are plastic.

M4A1 Sherman

This set features the M4A1 Sherman, and with the fantastic looking cast hull is my favourite Sherman variant. Each tank is cleanly moulded on one sprue, with a tank commander in Commonwealth uniform, and optional parts including a .50 machine gun, a run of spare tracks, a spare wheel a jerry can and sand skirts.

 

 Assembly couldn't be simpler and took about 15-20 minutes for each vehicle. Fit is great, and the only thing I'd say to be mindful of is a few sink marks, mainly on the mantlet and just below the travel lock, I missed a few but it's not desperately noticeable.

 Both this set and the M4A1 76mm mention on the box that they come with parts to make both the 75 and 76mm gun turrets, however I think this must be a carry over from the 15mm boxing of the set and this is not the case. 

M4A1 76mm Sherman

Unsurprisingly this set is very similar to the above, again containing 3 tanks, with the same stowage options, but coming with the later turret type containing the 76mm gun and this time including a commander wearing a US style tankers helmet.

 

All the comments relating to the M4A1 carry over here, and again was a very nice, simple kit to build.

M5 Stuart. 

This set features far more options than the M4A1s, and with each tank contained on one sprue comes with parts to allow you to build early, mid and late production variants. 

You get a lot of spares, notably a full set of tracks and upper hull. Also contained is a choice of Commonwealth or American tank commander figures, so you certainly get a lot of bang for you buck with these little tanks. 

Assembly was even quicker than with the Sherman's once I'd decided on variants and laid out the parts required, and again assembly was a breeze. 

Painting

I primed each tank with some cheap grey automotive primer and then airbrushed them with Olive Drab Base from the Mig Ammo range. On top of this I sprayed a mix of Olive Drab Base and Vallejo Pale Sand, to pick out the edges of armour panels and raised areas. I didn't go to far with this as I knew I'd be weathering these pretty heavily, and I didn't want the tanks to have too high a contrast either. I picked out tracks, tyres and tools and then set the models to one side. At this stage I also added some transfers from my spares box, and added a disruptive pattern to the 76mm armed Shermans using Vallejo Black Grey.

I've had the paint react badly to the next stage of using enamel washes if it's not left to fully cure. Once a couple of days had passed I first up painted AK interactive dust and dirt deposits over the entire model, letting it pool in the recesses and leaving it to become touch dry for an hour or 2. 

The beauty of enamel washes is you have plenty of time to work on them so I came back with a large brush dampened in white spirit and worked back some of the dust and dirt so it had a streak, irregular finish, and then painted a load of Wilder European Terrain Pigment onto the lower areas of the model. 

After using some pigment fixer and leaving the tanks to cure for another day or so I finished them off with a wash of Mig Ammo Dark Brown Wash for Green vehicles into the recesses, applied some streaking with Mig Dark streaking grime, and added a few chips of paint with sponge. 

With that the stowage and commander figures were painted, and that was my US armour done. 

I'm thoroughly impressed with these kits, and am now decided whether to expand them to a full company's worth of Shermans, or to branch out and perhaps do some British armour, as the PSC Churchill and M4A4 sets look especially enticing. With an average price of about 15 a box, these are excellent value, and I recommend them to anyone looking for some 20mm Shermans or Stuarts. 

As ever you can see more of my work at Volley Fire Painting Service, and you can browse Plastic Soldier Company's to see what treasures they have to entice you.