Review by Terry Ashley

The book starts with an introduction giving a brief history of the M3/M5 series and rundown of the available kits and the materials used during the kits construction.

There are three main sections followed by smaller sections to give a good overall coverage of the M3/M5 in kit form.

Section one:
Intermediate Build - AFV Club M3A3:
This article covers the minor additions to the AFV Club kit which will build into a very nice model out of the box. The detailed text is complimented with images during construction showing the additions as well as the painting techniques used with photos at each stage of the painting. There are numerous photos of the finished kit on it's own and on a small diorama base with various backdrops.

Section two:
Advanced Build - Tamiya M3 and Academy M3A1:
This build uses the best parts from both the Tamiya and Academy kits to produce a late M3A1. The detailed text is again highlighted with many photos of the model under construction as well as during the painting process and of the finished model. The final section shows the model on a small diorama base with the addition of a tank crewman and a couple of infantry figures.

Section three:
Master Build - Tamiya M5A1:
This section highlights the building of the kit with the addition of a scratchbuilt rear section to correct the flaws in the Tamiya kit. This involves lengthening the hull as well as building the new rear end and these changes are clearly shown in the photos and text. There is a nice graphic showing the differences in the kit outline and of the rear vehicle to show the differences needing to be fixed.
The construction photos also show the others details added to the kit as well as the building of the base and figures. Finally there are numerous photos of the finished kit showing to good advantage the paint finish and vehicle storage added.

Other Projects:
M3 Desert Honey, Philippines M3, M3A1 in Tunisia, M5 in Tunisia, M3A3 PaK Stuart, M8 HMC.
This section has smaller articles on building the kits mentioned but each still has photos during construction as well as of the finished model to give good coverage of the models.

Finally there is a brief section on additional references available as well as a page with paint chips for the various shades of olive drag and some of the British paint colours.

Overall an excellent manual on modelling the M3/M5 series that will be very helpful for anyone want to build any of the kits featured.

Page Created 26 October 2003