DRAGON MODELS [ MORE REVIEWS ] [ WEBSITE ] [ NEW STORIES ]

In-Box Review
135
Sexton II SPG
Sexton II 25pdr SP Tracked
  • move

by: Kevin Brant [ SGTRAM ]

History

The British Army was supplied with the US built M7 Priest to replace the 25pdr mounted Bishop, but the 105mm gun created a logistic issue, as the standard artillery piece was the 25Pdr Field Gun. The Sexton was developed on a request to the Canadian Army to develop a self-propelled gun based on the Ram tank chassis, already being built in Canada, using the 25 pdr. After testing the prototype, the British Army was satisfied with the vehicle, ordering 300 Sextons. But after building and delivering the first 125, the design was changed to use the Grizzly chassis (Canadian built M4A1 chassis), these were designated the Sexton II. A total of 2026 Sexton II's were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works, serving both British and Canadian mobile artillery units, as well as other Commonwealth allies. The Sexton II continued to serve well into the late 1950's with Canada and England, as well as some other countries.

As a side note, the name Sexton, being a religious custodian, was used to somewhat mimic the Priest, which got its name from the MG cupola being like a pulpit in a church.

the kit

Enter the Dragon 1/35 Sexton II 25pdr SPG, a greatly desired kit for British and Canadian armor fans. Upon receiving the box, I was a little surprised at how large this box was, and opening the box, well... it is packed. The box contained 12 sprues of light grey molded plastic, including the one piece lower hull. There was also a small fret of PE, two lengths of DS track, a small sheet of decals, and the instructions.

Looking at the sprues, they are very well molded, great detail, and no flash to be found, but there are a few mold lines that will need to be sanded. There are no ejector marks that stand out that will be seen once the kit is built, they all seem to be hidden on inside parts. The detail is very well molded, and there are some very fine parts that will need some care when removing from the sprue.

As with the Sexton II being assembled from parts from different sources, the kit from Dragon is the same, many of the sprues are from previous Dragon releases, most notable the M4A1, M7, and 25pdr kits. The construction of the Sexton uses the front glacis from the M4A1, and a closer inspection shows what looks to be a couple mold lines running across the casting effect. This could be easily fixed by redoing the cast effect using your favorite method such as putty.

As some of the sprues do come from other kits, there will be quite a few extra parts to add to your spares box. There are sprues marked specifically for the Sexton, mostly the sides, gun mount, and some interior detail. The kits does provide parts for a full interior, including the driver’s area and transmission, there is no engine.

The gun itself will be built from new parts for the Sexton, mainly the barrel and breech, with detail parts from the Dragon 25pdr kit. The barrel is one piece itself with the breech and flash suppressor being a two part side to side assembly. Overall it looks like it will build a reasonable facsimile of the Sexton mounted 25pdr.

The bogies for the Sexton come from other kits, the sprues being labeled VVSS Bogie and M4, more than likely common to Dragon Sherman kits. Unfortunately these bogies on either sprue are incorrect for the Sexton. The Sexton, being built at the Montreal Locomotive Works, would have had the Canadian built reinforced bogies, the same as the Ram and Grizzly. While the kit does contain the correct looking road wheels and rear idlers wheels, the instructions have you mounting the spoked idler wheels, which are incorrect for the Sexton. The kit does contain a pair of the more correct looking solid idler wheels.

The Sexton II kit contains two lengths of the vinyl Dragon DS tracks, while the tracks look nice, being T54E1 tracks they are incorrect for the Sexton. The Sexton II being built on the Grizzy chassis would have rode on Canadian Dry Pin(CDP) tracks. But I did find a few images of a Sexton II using T51 rubber padded tracks, but I believe these would have been post-war, as the Sexton II was used well into the 1950’s.

The PE fret in the kit is small with only a few parts, mainly the vent cover for the rear deck, ties for storage boxes, and a screen to cover the radio compartment. The screen for the radio cover, I don’t believe, is from World War 2 Sexton’s, but from a post war vehicle, as I can’t find any images of the screen on the vehicle, other than a museum displayed Sexton.

The decals are sharp with great color, and all look to be well in register. The decals cover 5 vehicles, all British, and unfortunately no Canadian vehicles.

Sexton Vehicle Markings included:
• 147 (Essex Yeomanry) Field Regiment RHA, Normandy 1944
• 4th Royal Horse Artillery, 4th Armoured Brigade, Weert 1944
• Unidentified Unit, NW Europe 1944
• 13th Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery (HAC), NW Europe 1944
• Unidentified Unit, NW Europe 1945

Instructions:
The instructions are printed on a large folded sheet, and contain 18 steps to assemble the Sexton. I won’t go into the details of each step, but to say it follows typical AFV assembly flow, starting with the lower hull, bogies, moving to the upper hull and interior. As with most Dragon kit instructions, carefully study the instructions steps, dry fit often, and check your references.

The instructions include paint callout using Aqueous, Mr. Color and Model Master paints. While I personally don’t agree with the color choices represented for the vehicle, modelers should check references for the vehicle they are building. Most images I have found show the Sexton in solid Olive Drab or the Olive Drab/Black camouflage pattern.

conclusion

The Dragon Sexton II kits looks to be a very nice and well detailed kit, unfortunately there are several inaccuracies. As a kit, it will be build a somewhat facsimile of the Sexton, but there are some glaring errors in the parts, mainly the track and bogies. Being able to replace these with aftermarket parts will allow the builder to build a more accurate Sexton II, and produce a great looking model of the overdue Sexton II.


****Edit: Since writing the review I have discovered that the Dragon Sexton II kit does match at least one existing vehicle with the kit provided track and bogies. Upon further research I have discovered that there may be a few vehicles in different configurations. While I have only found one reference of the Sexton using the M4 bogies, I did find a handful of vehicles on the T54E1 track. While being a excellent kit in standards of molding and details, Dragon missed the mark on producing the correct standard version of the Sexton II.****

SUMMARY
Highs: Great moldings, good detail, and much desired kit.
Lows: Inaccurate tracks and bogies, questionable paint color suggestions.
Verdict: A nice kit, again much overdue for Commonwealth AFV fans, unfortunately Dragon missed the boat on some of the details. A good starting point for a great looking Sexton II.
Percentage Rating
75%
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: 6760
  Suggested Retail: $52.95 US
  Related Link: DragonUSA Item Page
  PUBLISHED: Feb 04, 2013
  NATIONALITY: Canada
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 88.35%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 86.16%

Our Thanks to Dragon USA!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

View This Item  |  View Vendor Homepage  |  More Reviews  

About Kevin Brant (SgtRam)
FROM: ONTARIO, CANADA

I am an IT Consultant and father, with a passion for plastic models. I mostly prefer 1/35 Armor and 1/48 Aircraft. My main interests are anything Canadian, as well as WW2 German and British Armor and Aircraft. I have been building models since I was a young kid, got away from it for awhile, but r...

Copyright ©2021 text by Kevin Brant [ SGTRAM ]. All rights reserved.



Comments

Yeah, except the other way around If that's the case then DML missed out and should have branded this under CH, charged $20 more and only included the Hannibal III decals. For a first release DML should have opted for a more mainstream version and left the uncommon ones for other releases. And does anyone know if this is correct?
FEB 05, 2013 - 02:57 PM
And does anyone know if this is correct? [/quote] I can't really say for sure, there is a new barrel in the kit, I sent the intruction copy to Darren (CMOT) as he knows alot more then me on the specifics of the 25pdr. So maybe he can comment. Kevin
FEB 05, 2013 - 03:03 PM
Kev I will measure various aspects of the 25pdr barrel with the muzzle brake including the brach and provide you with the data, you will then be in a position to answer this question.
FEB 05, 2013 - 04:11 PM
In respect to using a Formations VVSS Suspension the owner o the company, John Rybak, has just posted on that subject on ML: http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1360116132/Formations+Sexton+Suspension The company Website can be seen: http://www.formationsmodels.com
FEB 05, 2013 - 07:42 PM
Darren Thanks, that will work. Kevin
FEB 06, 2013 - 12:09 AM
Remember how I wrote that I have no problem with correcting my mistakes? Well, I just realized that I made one and I owe Kevin an apology! Take closer look at Hannibal III photo... It's Sexton I, not Sexton II !!! The same for the production line photo - this one is obviously also a late production Sexton I. This means that I don't have any proof now that any Sexton II was ever built or used in combat with non-reinforced bogies! What is worse, it actually means that Hannibal III marking option is actually the least accurate for this kit, not the most... I still believe that Kevin's article deserved a correction (which Kevin already included) because T54E1 track certainly were used in many early Sexton IIs and were not really inaccurate, but it is likely that Kevin was correct about the bogies...
FEB 06, 2013 - 03:41 AM
Just a bump to put the topic on the "recent posts" list again, as I believe my discovery (described above) deserves more visibility.
FEB 06, 2013 - 07:11 PM
I can give a few rough measurements. The gun in question is outside the Yeronga RSL club. It is fitted with both the muzzle brake and counterweight. It appears to have had a life postwar but the barrel appears unaltered. From the rear face of the breech ring to the front face of the gun securing strap, 1420mm. From the front face of the gun securing strap to the rear face of the muzzle brake, 888mm. Length of the muzzle brake, 408mm. Total 2716mm plus or minus a bit. In 1/35 77.6mm. Irritatingly my digital callipers tell me the Bronco braked barrel is 79.5mm, which is too long, although the standard barrel is right at about 70.4mm. The manual says 97.473" or in our case 70.74mm, but that probably includes non removable parts of the striker system which I didn't measure. I think the problem is the way the muzzle brake attaches to the barrel, at first glance it might appear that the rear face of the brake only just covers the threaded section of the barrel. A drawing in the manual suggests that it actually engulfs quite a bit more than that and that the crown of the muzzle sits only a little way behind the rear gas port of the brake. I'd be interested to see what you come up with, and whether I've made a mistake somewhere.
FEB 08, 2013 - 07:20 PM
It is difficult to get a measurement unbuilt, but I will see what I can come up with.
FEB 10, 2013 - 05:02 AM
   
ADVERTISEMENT


Photos
Click image to enlarge
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
ADVERTISEMENT