I was in my L.M.S. today when I saw a Tamyia Jumbo Sherman on the shelf first time Ive seen one.Does anyone know if this a re-release or a retooled job, worth buying? and guess what a Revell warrior 1/72 jumped off the shelf right into my hand, well thats what I told her in doors.

nah, it is a re-release of a older kit. It has several problems including the shape of the turret and the transmission housing is incorrect.

I would recomend either the Tank Workshop or the Blast conversion rather than this kit if you want a real Jumbo.

Depending on the asking price, it's always good for parts.

I'm with Jacques on either the TWS or Blast's conversion. I have the Blast kit and it is very nicely done. Worth the extra money if in fact you want to model an accurate "Jumbo".

Thanks for the advice guys, their asking the full price for it plenty of other kits i would rather get.

I've built the Tamiya version and I say it was a breeze! I'm not much into accuracy but because it's a Sherman and it's from Tamiya, I'll sure get another copy!

I've had this kit also......it's a great kit, rivet-counters aside.

Vinnie

Rivit counters aside ...errhhhh...well there are some really bad mistakes on this kit ...The turret is completely wrong ...the hull armor is missing the very promenent weld seam...The front transmission cover was completely ignored ...And on top of that the wheels have no interior details....So what is good about this kit? Just asking

Rick

Uhh, the bogie units, the track, the tools, the decals, did I mention the bogies?

Uh, gotta agree. I am definately not a rivet counter in the least, but Tamiya Messed up the Jumbo...it has good parts for the spares box, but a somewhat crummy model would be made from it. Kinda like Tamiya's OOOOLLLLDDDD T-55 kit they made many many many years ago.

Sorry to be such a bummer, but if you still want to build it, even after all our sage advice have a blast doing so!

Well as Jacques said so well if you want to build a good Jumbo ..buy a Blast ! oh you meant have a blast..... :-) . True the tools are not bad..But have you seen the ones from Formations?..You'll throw those tools into the spare box too...So I guess we're left with the bogies (with some extra bolt heads and thinned down skid),and the hull .

Rick

You guys are so short sighted.... If a newbie wants to take a shot at building a Tamiya Jumbo let him get it. Then there will be one less person to poach on the really awesome newer kits and more chance for me to score one at a reasonable price!!!

So, if a hirsute and somewhat lackwitted newbie were to purchase a luverly Sherman Jumbo in 1/35th scale. What manufacturer would you recommend?

The Tamiya Jumbo is the only plastic kit that you can build straight OOB into a Jumbo. It is, as the previous posters have stated, fairly inaccurate and a rather simplified upgrade to the original M4A3 kit hull.

There are two different Sherman Jumbo conversion kits. One is by Tank Workshop and used to be "the" way to upgrade the Tamiya kit into a truly accurate Jumbo. The Blast Models conversion is newer and supposed to be even better. Both conversions still require you to supply some Sherman kit to complete the conversion. I think TWS recommended the Tamiya Jumbo and Blast recommends the Tamiya M4 Early.

OOB the Tamiya kit will produce a Jumbo that will look different enough from a standard Sherman for the casual model builder. Purists will give you a laundry list of Sherman and Jumbo aftermarket upgrades that will give you the most accurate pieces to assemble the definitive Sherman Jumbo.

Of course the quest to gather all these items will take about 6 months to a year and cost you well over a hundred dollars, not including postage. Or just build the $20 Tamiya kit.

Hiram:

If you're thnking about jumping into building Shermans, here's a nice collection of "tweak" articles for some of the more popular kits: http://www.usarmymodels.com/ARTICLES/articles.html

I built a Tamiya Jumbo several years ago -- before the TWS and Blast kits were available -- and thought it wasn't too horrible. It's easy to fix some of the short-comings -- such as improving the welds and thickening the final drive housing. There's really no fix for the turret, except to replace it or learn to live with it. I chose to live with it. I would, however, like to build that Blast kit some day -- it looks sweet!

well, to be honest, I am currently working on a Jumbo (sort of). I had just started the Tamiya M4A3 kit with the Tank Workshop conversion AND the ABER PE set for shermans (the General PE set) and the Eduard M4A3 PE set. Yes, lots of aftermarket. But it was too much...I burned out immediately.

Anyhow, I have started to do some very serious research on the Jumbo at the Camp RIpley Museum in Minnesota...nice to have one of the five survivors so close...so I am now angeling to try to place the vehicle, hopefully in Italy in WWII in support of the 34th ID and go from there. As one can imagine, things are moving with glacial speed...