A Very Brief History of the Tank

This is clearly one of the seminal tanks of the 19^th century with the total number of over 22,700 being constructed (both M3 and M5 versions) from 1941-1944 largely by four manufacturers (including Cadillac, American Car & Foundry Co. and Massey-Harris).

From an armor standpoint, the Stuarts were our several ‘starter’ tanks during the early 30’s. They were largely lacking in firepower and lightly armored. They also suffered regarding their ability to meet their opposition, the German tanks they often faced on the battlefield.

However, throughout their production and a great number of modifications and improvements, the M3 proved its worth on the battlefield.

Rather than ramble on further, here are some additional online references that I found most informative and interesting:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M3_Stuart
• https://www.nationalww2museum.org/visit/museum-campus/us-freedom-pavilion/vehicles-war/m3a1-stuart-tank
• https://tankmuseum.org/tank-nuts/tank-collection/m3a1-stuart
• https://tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/us/m3_stuart.php#google_vignette
• http://afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m3stuart.html

YouTube:

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0L1tOa1oPU
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZKd2Umir8w
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVTxL1FdhOA
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj7I0fOTcrc

Several other YouTube ‘build articles’ also specifically address the M3 tanks.

This Kit

This is an interesting kit in many respects. It is a ‘complex’ kit in its size, with 20 separate sprue trees, separate PE fret and a beautiful decal sheet.

At this point I also recommend that you preview the full kits instructions on the Scalemates web site: https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/3/7/0/1552370-40-instructions.pdf

However (there I go again with the dreaded ‘however’), this is what I’ve come to realize is a pattern with MiniArt kits. When another kit will use one piece, MiniArt’s approach the same part with anywhere from 4-6 smaller sub-pieces. This results in a far more complex building process than is necessary (in my opinion). My rough count is over 518 individual parts in this kit. The complexity goes even further when you’re matching or mating the pieces together—sometimes fitting as indicated, others not quite as close (which as you’ve heard works well in hand grenades, not so well in scale models…….).

This was the same issue when constructing the ‘full interior’ for the M3. I estimate the time for the interior alone accounted 35-40 hours; and when only partially assembled, unless you’re looking back to the interior, you might be able to see 10-15% of the interior. If you’re a glutton for punishment and leave the upper hull or engine area exposed (i.e; in a diorama) it may be useful. And, I had to perform some ‘hillbilly surgery’ to trim some of the engine plumbing to enable the engine bay even to fit properly. If given the option, I’ll opt for the basic kit (no interior) in the future.

Back to the build. I encountered a good deal more flash than I had expected and found that a considerable amount of trimming and sanding was required. Along the way, I used Tamiya’s Find Surface Primer (#87064) was useful to provide a good primer coat for the eventual olive drab finish.

Unlike the often reissued Tamiya’s rubber band tracks, the MiniArt kit provides for these in a more desirable link on link shape.Again, these types (called link and length tracks) of track sections are more easily painted and assembled eight sections as opposed to the Tamiya with just one section for the entire track on each side. Aside from the number of pieces, I’ve often experienced problems with painting the or gluing the Tamiya tracks. These track sections do require a considerable amount of cleanup (careful trimming and sanding the end pieces), though the resulting finished track sections look great.

Another very pleasant surprise is how these MiniArt sections are intended to be linked together. As you can see from my attached image, each link has identifying or locating holes used to mate or match the corresponding link ends. This very cleaver approach encourages the proper attachment of the proper link sections of track. Kudos to the MiniArt! Along with this note, I would like to mention another glue product that I find very useful:Revell’s Contacta Professional(#39604). I’ve been using this blue bottled glue for several years, why?I find the small metal dispensing tip great when I want to have more control over the amount of glue at the tip end and it dries reasonably fast though when working with track sections it still permits me to adjust the link sections to match the idler wheels and drive sprockets.

When approaching the pioneer tools, you have two options: one with the mounting brackets as part of the tools and one requiring your skills using the tiny PE brackets. You’ll also find there are a very large number of (in some cases, very very tiny) PE parts. I opted to use only those which I could see or were going to be seen in and around the M3 itself. But as the builder, there are options throughout this kit.

Fit is yet another issue, as the kits complexity again.There are the expected issues where the drawings leave several aspects of the build purely up to the builders’ imagination. And the over-engineering of this kit is extreme. An example is the main turret: MiniArt uses six side pieces and four top pieces to construct it! The gun ports require drilling out to insure a tight fit; again nothing a modeler can overcome--but why wasn't the small detail taken care of in the kit's engineering? Once again, I would recommend the non-full interior kit (#35401), though once again the same parts are called for this kit (using the instructions posted on Scalemates website). At this point I would opt for the Tamiya, AFV Club, Italeri or possibly the Academy kit.

Painting

I chose AK Real Color’s Black RC001 as my base color for the tank and frame as a primer, over which I painted the individual colors. The entire vehicle was then painted, using AK Real Color RC 023 (Olive Drab) and several areas using RC 024 (Faded Olive Drab). The interior and side panels were hand painted with AK Real Color Insignia White FS 17875 (RC222).

I also used several of the new Real Colors Markers for the first time and found them to be very useful to supplement the various base colors (including Signal Red #RCM003, Olive Drab #RCM021, Yellow #RCM004 and Flat White #RCM034). These RC Markers were great in touching up even the smallest details and appear to be a great added painting too. Though they are acrylic, they matched the other colors well and covered well.

My favored process includes:

1. I also hand brushed an application of SMS Etch Primer (# PLP04).I have learned this provides a ‘tooth’ coating allowing for the paint to adhere perfectly.
2. The clear glass section windows were installed using Elmer’s Washable Clear Glue, which dries clear and can be leveled or cleaned up using tap water.
3. I then over sprayed the model with Alclad’s Aqua Gloss Clear (ALC 600).
4. I completed my dry brushings, using my old standby Winsor & Newton’s Artist Oil color Naples Yellow Light, No. 426.
5. Followed by a final sprayed coat of VMS’s Varnish HD Matt Top Coat (# VMS.AX05M). This is a Polish product and as an acrylic modeling varnish, which produces a great matt finish.

Decals

There are a sizable number of decal options provided in the MiniArt kit, all printed in Italy by one of the premier printers, Cartograf. As mentioned, this small sheet contains the marking decals for at least seven M3 tanks including three in distinctive Russian markings.

As I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to use those used by then Major General Patton, ‘Old Blood and Guts’, which are ‘loud’ in fact distinctive and flamboyant as you can imagine.

These decals are wonderful, they lay down beautifully, covering underlying paint and the registration is perfect.

Overall Evaluation

I strongly recommend this kit of the MiniArt M3 tank.This kit builds into a beautiful representation model of the M3. While I have reservations about the kit and some of instructions, if you’re interested in a very complete kit, including a full interior, this kit will probably meet or exceed you needs and expectations.

I purchased this kit at our recent IPMS/USA National Convention 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin.