I have no experience with the M32 series recovery vehicle but I have had an urge to build one for a while. I finally bought a kit off of Ebay (an old Italeri version, I can't remember the kit number...). I would appreciate any tips or input on making sure I put this together correctly.
I can't remember who wrote the article but I just finished putting together a M60A1 w/KMT-4 mineroller and the advice on putting together the front end proved extremely valuable. I'd like to make sure that there are no quirks with putting this kit together before I start.
Thanks in advance for the help, you guys are a wonderful source of information. I've learned to start here before I ever touch my clippers!

First off, welcome to Armorama!

Good news and bad news about the Italeri M32 kit.

Good news is there are lots of good parts in that box and it's relatively complete. Bad news is that it has an incorrect hull.

The kit comes with a late, large-hatch M4A1 style hull. It should have an earlier, small-hatch cast hull (ala the rare DML M4A1 kit, or the Formations resin M4A1). It can also be built on a hull from a Tamiya M4.

The interior is a bit simplified and incomplete, but it's not too difficult to spruce up a bit. Kinda depends on your own wishes.

AFV Interiors has a nice webpage on the M32 series: http://afvinteriors.hobbyvista.com/m32/m32a.html

SSGBRUCE:
AS Hollowpoint stated the real Quirks w/ the kit. There is a complete Build article in
Ampersands Publishing Book Engineer Vehicles that breaks down the whole kit and shows the corrections needed. You have 2 good sources for the correct hull and there are tons of detail sets available. If you havn't seen Formation models stuff its a WOW factor of
a supplier. GREAT STUFF. If you use the Tamiya hull you can swap parts from both kits, and still end up with two complete armor pieces. Good Luck and Happy Hunting. Todd

There are two other possabilities:

1. The model supposedly represents a very real post-WWII M32. You could model it as post-war vehicle.

2. you could build it as-is and thumb your nose at the bolt counters! (no offense to said sherm-a-holic bolt counters) It is a nice model to build in its own right, and even though there is not a supposed "real" picture of this particular variant, it does not mean it did not exist.

enjoy!

I wouldn't be so sure. While I have seen photos of Israeli M32s based on the late M4A1 hull, they have also had HVSS suspensions and lots of other mods.

What I believe is the real story behind this model is that Italeri had the hull and suspension from its M4A1 and with the addition of one sprue -- containing all the M32 parts -- created another kit (a common practice in the model-making industry that can sometimes create rather dubious models).




Hmmmm. In my book, that's the difference between "assemblers" and "modelers." Assemblers are happy to build stuff out of the box and put it on the shelf. Some of us like to make them historically correct. While I have no problem with OOTB assemblers, I personally derive a lot more pleasure from learning more about the actual vehicles and trying to make my models reflect that knowledge.




Like the people from Missouri, I say "Show Me."

My grandpa was a maintainence sarge in the ETO during WWII. Many times I show him posts about whether this existed or that existed. He said they all existed. Most of the research reflects factory authorized models. If a particular purpose-vehicle was needed and unavailable then the US Army would simply build it in the field.

Specifically to the M32, which I built OTB, he remember fitting the ARV rig to a large hatch in for repairs. They were forced to build this rig because they lost their original M32 trying to recover other vehicles earlier and could not afford to wait and let disabled vehicles languish in the field while they had the Germans on the run. They simply dismantled the M32 rig and re-rigged in onto the first suitable Shermie. However, he did say they removed the main gun and kept the original turret. All cables lines went through the opening in the mantlet. Also the storage boxes on the rear deck were not added as the emergency was for the crane and winch.

Although he has no pic available (who would have thought how valuable such a pic would be today??) it is an unsubstantiated claim that large hatched semi-M32 did exist.

I have to admit, I'm somewhere between the "build it straight out of the box" and "build it to match the reference photo" kinda guy. I like to build my models to whatever specs my little pea brain comes up with as I'm building. I recently built a Walker Bulldog like I thought it would look if it were used in Desert Storm, it turned out kinda neat. I work with armor everyday so it's a break to build things out of the ordinary.

Hello Hollowpoint...we have had this particular discussion before...heh heh. I guess all I can say is, proud to be an assembler, not that it really matters...

Anywho, I too know a recovery specialist from the 1st AD, who served in N. Africa and Italy. His comments mirror those already expressed, mainly, that anything went that they could get working. Not that they built a large-hatch M32 either, but the way Rudy said it, if they needed it and it worked, it got done that way. Imagine any combination of sherman turret and hull that could possibly/physically work, and he said it existed inthe 1st AD at one point or another.

Also, my Uncle's (by marriage) Father was a sherman tanker in WWII, was in wave 2 in D-Day, and ended up in the Ruhr at the end of the war. He said that many times the Army confiscated photo's fromt he GI's...and did not ever give them back, as promised. He lost his entire collection, hundreds of photo's, to the local M.I. guy at the end of the war. He also said that anything went in the field.

I do agree with Hollowpoint though...most likely Italeri was just stretching the M4A1 mold. But that does not mean you cannot ENJOY yourself, wether that means making a proper historically accurate vehicle based on a picture with sworn deposition of its existence, or if it means taking a plastic kit and building it well, even if there is conjecture as to its existence.

and hey, hats off to whatever gets done...

Well here are some solutions you can Try. First off there were many types of M32's.
1.) M-32 this was based on the M-4 Hull (Yes the Tamiya early fits real nice here)
2.) M-32B1 This was based on the M4A1 Hull as stated above you need the early(Mid) M4A1 Hull for this conversion (Many out there)
3.) M-32B2 Based on the M4A2 Hull this one would be a challenge and is best left alone unless you have some experience in the Scratch Build Kitbash area.
4.) M-32B3 This is based on the M4A3 Hull (Yes Good Old Tamiya has it again) This would be the easiest (Along with the Tamiya M4)to do by the way.
5.)M-32B4 was based on the M4A4 with the multibank Chrysler Engine (Yep you guessed it the DML M4A4 will work with the needed tweaks for this hull).
Hope this helped a bit?
Jeff Larkin

Ahh come on guys (Jacques & Hollowpoint), Give the guy a break. You both have valid
points and ideas, but now Bruce will put the kit back on his to do list cause he wont be able to make up his mind what he wants to build it as. LOL. cant we just all get along. LOL
BUILDING plastic is GOOD for your health. Fretting about should I? is not.
LOVE you all.

Bruce I don't know what variants were built but I'm working on my own two M32s. Bothe are IDF one from the 50s with duck bill tracks and one from the 73 war with Hvss based on the M4. I will be using a DML M4a1 for the early variant. if you cant dind a DML on try getting the tank workshop upper hull. there is also a nice PE set from Eduard. thereason I posted is if you need interior shots I have some on my webshots page ,actually a complete walk around of one at the IDF collection houses. the interiors wern't changed at all.

Josh

Eventhough I knew that it was the wrong hull when I started this kit about a year ago, I built it out of the box. I was happy enough to do it that way. Its a nice little kit if your not too hung up on complete accuracies.
Here are 2 pics I took tonight, with basic weathering. Still a good bit to go, plus some stowage and odds-n-ends I will add to dress her up! Make your own mind up and please yourself.

SSG Bruce: The Italeri M32 kit builds up nice, right out of the box, as Plasticbattle's pics show. Do it that way if that is what you want.

Jacques: Yeah, we had this discussion before; here's the link: https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/11573&page=1

Just to clarify, I don''t have a problem with people assembling models out of the box. More power to them. I used to do the same thing. In fact, I built that very same Italeri M32 kit OOTB with a few added details from other kits and it ended up being the centerpiece of my very first diorama -- one that won several very nice awards (thank you) back in the mid-80s.

Then I bought some reference books, met some other more experienced modelers, decided OOTB wasn't enough of a challenge anymore and went to another level. I'm not the best modeler in the world (or even in my town), but I do try to do research and make them to the best of my ham-fisted abilitiies. That's what trips my trigger.

We didn't have the internet when I started out. I've learned LOTS since I got online. When I built my first M32, I didn't have anything for reference except for the pics in the instruction sheets and some books from the local library. Now, because I wish I had known then what I know now, I like to share at least readily available reference on the net, plus whatever I know about the pros and cons of a kit. SSG Bruce can use it or ignore it. Hopefully, he'll at least learn something from it.

As far as veterans' anecdotes go ... well, that war ended almost 60 years ago. My father-in-law was there with the 16th Armored Division in 45 and his memories are questionable at best. Most WWII vets I've talked to (and I've talked to hundreds, from General of the Army Omar Bradley to unknown privates) are a little shaky with the facts --- I don't argue with them; I listen closely and am respectful -- but I don' take what they say as the gospel truth. Heck, I can't remember the year, make and model of all the cars I've owned. #:-) #:-)

As I've said many times before, show me a photo or a contemporarily written description (i.e., something that was written THEN, not 50 or 60 years later) and I might believe it. BTW, one of the late author Stephen Ambrose's biggest complaints was that the vets he interviewed for his books often had very different stories about the same events -- even though those who were together during the event.

Very good (Hollow)point. I too like to build things as accurate as possible but I'm not a rivit counter. Tried it once, bought a kit for $30, bought a second kit for $30 to mate accurate tops with bottoms, add photo etch, turned barrel and a few other goodies and your $30 kit suddenly becomes $100+. To this day I still have scraps from both kits that may never be used because the inaccurate parts are still not used. I decided my taste were more suited to using that extra $70+ for dio accessories jerrycans, weapons sets, buildings, plywood, etc. Close enough is good enough for me.

That's just me.