Cookie Sewell posted a review on the long awaited Academy M3 Lee.

Thanks For the review! I thought the turret rear was a bit suspect. I sure hope ABM cranks upo some help for this puppy - like a Burma late Lee!?

Have 2 get one....

Chris

I spoke to Sid of ABM at the AMPS National convention. I asked him directly if he was planning on re-issuing his full kit Grant and Lee kits. He said that he was leaning strongly towards it as he anticipated that some of the seriously AMS afflicted among us (my words) would still want an M3 with more finesse that what Academy can deliver. Sid mentioned a possible June timeframe -- smart given that the initial wave of M3s will have been snuck home from the LHS or the online shipper already! LOL

I'm sure that some may just want Sid's upgrade sets which had his excellent Lee and Grant turrets and more accurate view ports (the slot was off center, unlike the Tamiya one and it seems like the Academy one, too).

Save your nickels and dimes!

Roy, Great news! It would also be nice to see Rob at Formations get into the Lee/Grant game. There's just something cool about that big boxy sponson gunned, multiple MGs, 7 passenger, .... Tank

I have missed out on the ABM on Ebay countless times - It would be nice to see some more ABM products to ease MY AMS!

Chris

Rob's a good businessman. He's a fan of ABM as well. With Sid re-issuing goodies, Rob wouldn't serve himself well if he delves into that arena too, I would think. When ABM was on hiatus, I sold a Lee Upgrade set on eBay for $80. Whew!

Even though an Academy Lee is on its way to me right now, I think it's likely that I'll still get one of Sid's full resin kits -- they are just THAT cool!

I will have to get me a couple of the Academy Lees,such an interesting tank,must be the shape and the size.It will certainly look good sitting next to some Shermans.

Regards

Mark

There's another review of the Academy M3 Lee by Saul Garcia on Track-Link. There a sprue pics, some useful drawings and a slightly different take on things than Cookie's review. http://www.track-link.net/reviews/k1669

I've got a couple of these on order.

Greetings all,

This sounds like quite a good kit. I do love kits that have interiors, even if you can't really see them.

Will there be a lot involved in turning it into a Grant or do you think that might be around the corner? An update for the old Tamiya kit is long overdue.

Cheers

Al

4 years ago I had an interesting discussion with the Australain importer of Academy. One of their reps had a great interest in Armour and actually knew the product (quite unuusual in the industry). He had just returned from Korea and indcated that we would see 3 variants of the M3 (Cast, Rivetted and Welded) with bot hthe Grant and Lee turrets (as per their M3 Light). He also discussed an all new tool Sheridan at the time and the M36. The best snippet was that once the M3 kit was released that they would be doing an early Sherman M4A2 with Direct Vision and M3 Suspension as they only required a new turret and hull as the M4A2 lower was all ready in production for the M10 series.
I had/have no reason to disblieve him and given DML are now doing 2 M4A2 Mid Production vehicles I can live in hope that Academy will follow with an early.
This is the best year for Allied WW2 I can ever remember going back as far as 73.
CHeers
Al

Hi Al,

Interesting stuff there. I'd have to agree that the past 18 months have been really good for allied modellers. I quit about 6 years ago due to lack of kits I wanted to build, but since I started again they seem to just keep rolling out new stuff that interests me.

I'm looking forward to the rest of the year that's for sure.

Cheers

Alan

Alan The 8th army used a few Lees in the Desert if you're looking for a British variant to build. They were also used by the British in the far east.
A company called ABM make the grant in resin I don't know if they'll sell the turret on it's own.
I would think that Academy will release the Grant fairly soon though.
Discussion of British use of the Lee over on ML
http://www.network54.com/Forum/47208/thread/1148244021/British+Lees+in+North+Africia----

Hi Al: Academy has said that an M3 Grant and a cast-hull M3A1 will be in the future.

Hi Pat and Roy

Thanks for that information. I'll check out the discussion on ML.

It will be an interesting year for us allied modellers this year, if my bank account can stand it.

Cheers

Al

Edit - thanks for spotting that Pat - very interesting - Cheers

Alan, I believe it will just get Better. DML are doing a complete makeover of the Firefly 1c with correct Late LB turret and I believe that further Sherman Variants will follow. I wonder if they will revisit the M4A4/Vc (Again!) and the V /75mm using the new turrets. It just gets better and better.
Cheers
AL

Hi Al,

Know what you mean, bank account suffering!!! LOL, but now they have the Mk V and Mk III hull will they do a DD version. The Firefly IC and a British Mk III are supposed to be coming out some time this year.

They are bound to do a 75mm/V because I'm converting one at the moment and 'Murphy's Law' says also that after youv've spend many hours and much time, money and trouble trying to get something right a better replacement will appear!!!!! LOL, LOL,

Cheers

Alan

My "gripe" is that I've already burnt up my Calibre35 M31 Conversion Kit (& some other stuff) on the Tamiya Lee. Even though I'm not finished, I don't think I can pry the bits off to try on the Academy version instead...

John

John,
I just got the M31 kit from Caliber 35.
Was planning to use an old M3 Tamiya kit but think I'll wait for the new release.
So what do you think of the M31 kit? When I opened the box I was impressed with the finish of the resin parts...very clean.
But wow there are alot of them. Only found one piece so far that I'll have to heat and straighten.
The M31 is IMO a very slick looking vehicle.
Gary

Just a question, but how prevalent are M3Lees and Grants on display around the world?

A Lee and a Grant are in the Jacques Littlefield collection. Photos are on Chris Hughes' website:

http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/allied.htm

There's an ex M31 located here:
http://www.kiyatkin.com/multimedia/index.php?cat=9
http://www.tanxheaven.com/dmk/M31/m31.htm
This is Ft Knox.


A Grant in Brussels:
http://www.tanxheaven.com/map/m3grantbrussel/m3grant.htm

Bovington Saumur and Aberdeen have more too.

http://www.tanxheaven.com/ljs/m3grant/m3grantljs.htm
http://public.fotki.com/pcmodeler/reference_gallery/armor_reference_photos-1/m3_grant/

There's a Lee in The Canadian War Museum's collection, in Ottawa.

There is what is apparently a very early (like single digit serial number) Lee in a park near where they were made in (maybe) Pennsylvania.

Paul

There's a Lee at the Patton Museum at Ft. Knox. Also, there is a Lee at the Virgina Museum of Military Vehicles(VMMV). A Grant is located at the VMMV as well.

Chris "toadman" Hughes

Toadman's Tank Pictures

Yes, I decided to order another Calibre35 M31 kit.

I like the Calibre35 kit -- much better than the DES M31 kit. The Calibre35 kit doesn't discuss fixing the turret shape, leaving off or welding shut side doors, etc, so you have to do extra research to get it just right.

I fixed the turret shape (as best I could) and that caused some problems & rework of the crane mounting to get things to fit right.

It's on the back burner right now -- I was doing an interior & got tired making tool cabinets & stuff ...

John