The industrial might of the USA guaranteed production of thousands of M4 Sherman tanks, with many being given to Allies under the Lend-Lease Act. Great Britain was one major recipient of Shermans (17,184 vehicles in total), and Dragon’s latest release depicts one such vehicle. Kit No. 6231 is a Sherman Mk. III Mid Production vehicle, the British nomenclature referring to an M4A2. The British operated more than 5000 of these diesel-powered Sherman III tanks with 75mm guns during WWII. Many of these Shermans participated in Operation Husky, the large-scale Allied amphibious invasion of Sicily that commenced on July 9, 1943. This operation involved 160,000 Allied soldiers fighting against 300,000 Italians and 40,000 Germans.  Combat lasted around six weeks, and once the large island had been captured, it offered a useful stepping stone for the invasion of Italy itself.

Building on the success of Dragon’s earlier Sherman Mk.III, this latest kit has received a great number of newly tooled parts befitting its status as a Mid Production variant. Indeed, such a variant has never been produced as a 1/35 scale kit before, so this release should be particularly welcome. The highly accurate kit benefits from multimedia materials to replicate particular details, for example photo-etched parts and new DS tracks. Naturally, high-quality Cartograf decals provide markings for a range of British tanks that served in Sicily. This tank is a very useful addition to the M4 kit family, and is bound to have Shermanaholics salivating with pleasure!