M36B1 Conversion
Tank Workshop Set #TWS0001
Review by Terry Ashley
The set consists of 137 parts in light grey resin which provides the complete M4A3 upper hull and rear plate and associated hull details along with a detailed interior for the hull fighting compartment.
The quality of the resin casting is very good overall without any real blemishes evident and just the usual casting blocks and some resin film to be removed before assembly but care will be needed in cleaning up some of the smaller parts to ensure they are not damaged.
Some of the casting blocks are quite substantial and a bit of effort will be needed in removing these and you should give the parts a good wash in warm detergent water to clean off the remaining mould release agent before continuing as this is quite prevalent on some parts.
The kit lower hull tub requires some modifications to take the narrower M4A3 hull with 4mm to be cut from both sides and 1mm from both back and front and care is needed to ensure the correct amount of plastic is removed as this will determine the fit of the resin upper hull to the plastic lower hull tub and regular test fitting while trimming would be the best option.
The main upper hull is basically a resin reproduction of the Dragon M4A3 upper hull from kits 6183, 6255 and 6255 with additions such as the raised weld seams and the engine deck cast in place but with separate engine bay doors that feature grill work and louvers on both sides.
Some other details have also been added with the bolt holes added along the hull side skirt attachment strip and the turret ring modified to accept the AFV Club M36 turret as well as the separate fuel filler caps and periscope mountings for the separate crew hatches.
There is a bit of cleanup needed on the hull with excess resin along both sides and the front which will need careful removal as well as the resin film from inside the hull openings for the hatches, engine bay doors and turret ring. You should also take care as the hull sides are cast quite thin and adding plastic card re-enforcing on the inside may be of benefit.
The front of the hull has the transmission bolted strip included but it was almost impossible to remove the excess casting resin form this without damaging the bolt detail and removing the strip altogether and using the kit bolt strip may be easier.
The new rear lower hull panel again has the correct layout plus additional exhaust pipes and upper exhaust deflectors with all other parts used from the kit with the fit of the resin panel to the kit lower hull being very good.
At the front are new solid plate drive sprockets that will require a fair
bit of cleanup to keep the contours of the teeth intact and are designed to
take the kit central hub.
On the inside there are a couple of AFV Club kit interior parts still used
such as the front transmission bulkhead and the gearbox but the remainder are
replaced with the more detailed resin items.
You get the fighting compartment floor and the rear compartment bulkhead plus the floor panels for the driver’s and co-driver’s compartment along with sponson supports that include the sponson stored equipment such as the batteries, ammo tube racks and other items.
Smaller details include the crew sets with adjustable seat mounting posts plus the driver’s steering levers with clutch and gas pedals, the gear level linkages for the transmission and the driver’s instrument panel with engraved dials as well as two M3 Grease Guns and there storage racks.
The instructions are in the form of a series of plan view drawings showing the assembly sequences along with text notes supplemented with some photos of the assembled parts but you will have to study these carefully to determine where some parts go but the photos help with this.
Resin parts
But a nicely detailed M36B1 will result for a very different appearance to the AFV Club kit for those wanting a challenge.
Recommended.
| M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers 1942-53 New Vanguard No 57 Osprey Publishing  |
US Tank Detroyers Walk Around Squadron Signal Publications #5703 ISBN 0-89747-456-2  |
M10/M36 Wydawnictwo Militaria No.115 ISBN 83-7219-080-1  |
| Allied & Axis 12 Ampersand Publishing Soft cover, 96 pages  |
US Tank Detroyers in action Squadron Signal Publications No.2036 ISBN 0-89747-385-X  |
US Technical Manual M36B1, M36B2 CD Easy 1 Productions  |
| US Tank Destroyers of WWII photo CD Enygma Graphics  |
SHERMAN A History of the American Medium Tank R.P.Hunnicutt. Presidio Books ISBN 0-89141-080-5  |
Modeler's Guide to the Sherman MMIR Special. Ampersand Publishing Company, Inc  |
Thanks to Jay from Tank Workshop for the review set.
Please to help the reviews continue, thank you