Hi guys,

I am an out of the box builder and like the recent Tamiya kits' simple and straight-forward builds. I am wrapping up a Dragon Panzer III E and am so fed up with the over-engineering and the microscopic parts. A complete pain in the rear. Give me something simple!

Question: can the more recent Tamiya Stuart (35360) be built reasonably accurately as a British "Honey" out of the box? I am not concerned if there are very minor differences. Pretty much just paint job and decals. If yes, I haven't found 1/35 "Honey" decals. Any suggestions?

Thanks! I don't post often, but I really appreciate this site.

My understanding would be no because the turret is wrong, kit is curved vs squared version needed. Given your requirements, the Academy/Airfix Honey kit would fit your needs very well.
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/academy-13270-m3-stuart-honey--224596

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-a1358-m3-stuart-honey--1190144

HTH

Thanks Ryan. I'll look into it. Hopefully a decent kit without a thousand pieces.

I think the Airfix kit a re-box of the Academy Honey kit. You might be better off to use the Tamiya kit hull and running gear and the Airfix/Academy turret? Tracks are another matter. The true Stuart buffs among us may have better advice.

Regardless have fun with building your next masterpiece!

Good hunting!

Hi Craig,

You haven't stated what time period or campaign you want to represent. The British used the M3 right up until the end of WWII. Recce Troops within armoured regts used either M5s or M3s, so a late war Stuart in NW Europe or Italy is perfectly acceptable.

If you want to do a desert Stuart in North Africa, that's also possible. Initial deliveries had an angular turret but later versions had the rounded turret. The British actually define some of their Stuarts as 'Hybrids. They were delivered with the original production hulls but were fitted with the turret from the M3A1 (which had a turret baskets fitted - earlier versions did not).

The camouflage options for a late M3 in British service are more limited (no Caunter scheme by that point) so you are limited to a light stone colour and maybe some simpler disruptive schemes.

The M3 was also widely used by British and Indian Army units in Burma through 1944-45.

Regards,
John

Hi, Craig and Everyone Else!

If I may just add my "2-cents worth"...

Not to deliberately go against what Ryan mentioned regarding the Turret, but the British also used the "late" M3 Stuart/"Honey" (TAMIYA 35360) with the "Horseshoe" Turret once this tank became available, in the African Theatre with only a few modifications. The turret which Ryan mentioned was of the earlier 7-sided welded design, which was soon replaced in production by the homogeneous rolled-armor "Horseshoe-design" Turret as supplied in the TAMIYA kit. Of course, the earlier 7-sided Turret Stuarts which Ryan mentioned were the U.S. Light Tanks which were made famous in the North African Desert-fighting by the British, came at a time when they were needed most. Their reliability, easy handling and ease of maintenance is what the British Tankers liked most about the M3-design, and that is how the Stuart came by her affectionate nickname, "Honey"...

Great Britain was happy to make good use of whatever could be received from the United States under our "Lend-Lease" agreements during World War Two. Please don't anyone misconstrue what I'm saying. "Lend-Lease" worked both ways-

In return for military hardware and older "Four-Piper" US Navy Destroyers and other ships in order to combat the very real German U-Boat threat, the U.S. was getting valuable intelligence from the British and invaluable advanced technologies in the ways of radar, cavity-magnetrons, sonar and radio-directional-finding/homing assets as well as the use of the Royal Navy's bases in the Caribbean, Nova Scotia and other geographical areas of strategic importance. The British also made available RAF Air Bases in England for our Army Air Forces' Fighters and Bombers, which would soon be pounding the snot out of Germany alongside the RAF...

OK, back to Tanks...

The modifications to the "late" M3 Tanks in question were few, and they included Sand Shields of several different types of configurations, and Smoke Dischargers of standard British-design. Many times, the Sponson Machine Guns were deleted and their apertures in the fronts of the Sponsons were "blanked-off". Sometimes, an extra Storage Bin was mounted atop the Right Front Fender, just ahead of the Right-side Sponson. In general, the US M1919A1 .30 calibre Machine Gun was retained in the Tank Commander's position. The Machine Guns were retained in the Bow position, and in the coaxial position relative to the Main Gun, as supplied by U.S. sources...

My reference material for this comment was the excellent book,

"Pictorial History Of TANKS OF THE WORLD 1915-45", by Peter Chamberlain & Chris Ellis, the photo in question being found in the U.S.A. section of the book, page 197, entry number 183...

This may be a great opportunity for you to do a little bit of "kit-bashing" by using BOTH the ACADEMY/AIRFIX "Honey" kit and the newer-issue TAMIYA M3 kit (number 35360), even though you've mentioned that you're an "out of the box" guy. I respect that, but for the additional price of the ACADEMY Stuart, you wouldn't spend as much moolah as you would in buying after-market goodies.

Hope this helps. GOOD LUCK, and HAVE FUN!

PS- Craig, don't say that stuff about the DRAGON Pz.III kit's "over-engineering and microscopic parts" too loud, or the "Panzer-Mafia" on this site will come gunning for ya!!!

Many thanks for all the kind responses. Indeed, I was hoping to do the caunter scheme as it is a bit more interesting than OD. I'll think through my approach and take all this great info in to make a decision. Thanks everyone!

PS- Craig, don't say that stuff about the DRAGON Pz.III kit's "over-engineering and microscopic parts" too loud, or the "Panzer-Mafia" on this site will come gunning for ya!!!

There is a Stuart kit specifically designed for those of you that don't like lots of detail Dennis:




Dennis is correct that the horseshoe turret was present on Stuarts in the Western Desert, but at a time the Caunter scheme had been stopped as per this picture:

"The commander of a Stuart tank scans the ground ahead through field glasses before giving the order to advance, Cyrenaica, November 1942."



The latest Tamiya M3 'Late' is a very late versions sans the cupola on the turret, which is the most notable feature. Roughly speaking, Very Early is the first batch with the multi-faceted and riveted turret, Early is the multi-faceted welded turret, Mid is the Horseshoe turret with cupola. The late is verging on being the M3A1.

Your choice of Kit will limit your options, even out of the box.

Just some other info.

British tanks were diesel engines and the British requested turret baskets for the two turret occupants to sit on, a modification later adopted by the US. Button up your model and no-one will know.