Dragon

1/35th Scale USMC M4A2 Late PTO 2 in 1

Kit Number: 6462

Reviewed by  Chris Mobley, IPMS# 42891

MSRP: $45.00 www.dragonmodelsusa.com This release from Dragon of a USMC M4A2 Late Sherman is a combination of newly tooled parts as well as some reboxed parts. The new parts include the turret, engine deck, photo-etch set (headlamp guards, sand shield mounting strips, front fenders and other small details), VVSS 1-piece vinyl track lengths, appliqué side armor and wood texture side planks. In total the kit contains 395 parts in typical Dragon grey styrene, 22 clear, two sets of Dragon Styrene one piece tracks, photo etch fret , steel tow cable and a decal sheet with markings for four vehicles. Build up starts with the normal step of assembling the suspension. There are two options for the suspension but for this version the angled return roller should be used. The instructions do not point it out but there are styrene bolts on sprue V for the track guides. The parts go together nicely to assemble a working suspension. Hull assembly is pretty straight forward. The only area that I found to take a bit of time and patience was trimming out the inside of part A53. I had a slight issue also with the transmission cover going on flush but a little extra glue took care of that. There was also a slight gap at the front of the sponsons but once the fenders are on they are hidden. The upper hull details are many and nice. The photo etch fenders are a nice touch. The fuel caps can assembled open or closed since there are underlying details molded on the hull. Even though the instructions called out to drill open holes in the hull to mount the tools, I opted to shave off the tabs from the tools so not to have any cases of locating holes being visible. They are easily figured on where to mount them from the instructions. The turret features the 2 n 1 options, that being a choice of two commander cupolas. It also has periscopes which you can face in any direction as well as open or closed. There was a small amount of fit issue with the gun assembly but just do a good bit of dry fitting and you'll figure out how to get it all working together.

The kit includes a choice of wood plank armor or appliqué panels. I was going to use the wood planks first but they did not quite have the same shape as the sides of the hulls and stuck up a bit more so I went with the appliqué. Wood planks were used more on the M4A3 versions than the M4A2 anyway. The two choices of tracks are T54E1, one with duckbills and one with out. They are nicely detailed and fit nicely. This kit built up nice and posed no real challenges to make it difficult for even novice modelers. It has plenty of opportunity for detailing and producing a unique model. Thanks to Dragon USA for the review sample.

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