Introduction

Metal cables are a German invention that very quickly replaced rope and chain in general use due to superior strength in one case and weight, ease of use on the other; I found this information supplied in the next product I reviewed for Armorama in the form of a tow cable for the Sherman tank.

Review

This offering from RMG Resin Models is designed to be a direct replacement for whatever is supplied with your model. This particular product has been designed for use with the:
US M4 Sherman
M5 Stuart
M3 Stuart
M7
M24 Chaffee
M10 Wolverine/Achilles
M36 Jackson
M12
M18 Hellcat
As such this cable will look at home on a number of American armoured vehicles and those in foreign forces use.

The product is supplied in a blister pack with a hanger slit in the top and this has done a good job of getting the item to me in good condition. Inside there is two pieces of paper with information on the product and some history on cables. There is a single cable in the pack along with a Ziploc plastic bag that contains 2 resin eyelets/shackles.

The Instructions in the package advise you to remove the shackles from the pour plug with care and due to these items being quite fine that is good information. I secured the pour plug under a finger against my cutting mat and then used a new No 11 scalpel blade to remove the shackle; I did not cut as such but just applied gentle pressure as I ran the blade along the connection, it came free after about 6 passes with the blade. I then gave the shackles a light scrap with the scalpel blade to remove anything that remained of the pour plug.

The cable is made of copper and is I believe 6 copper strands wound around a central cable of copper again I believe. The cable is the best I have found in terms of realistic appearance and ease of use. When bent around something there is a little sprung rebound but it generally retains the shape. If for some reason you need a sharp bend it will do that easily as well. When it comes to bending the cable there is very little resistance and that is why I like it so much.

Now to use this it is just a case of securing the cable inside the holes of the shackles, wrong. I made several attempts to insert the wire but the hole is just ever so slightly small; I suspect this may be due to the shrinkage of the hole as the resin cured. I grabbed my micro drills and just slowly went up in size until I found the one that took away a very small amount of material that resulted in a good fit of the cable as can be seen in the photographs.

Conclusion

Kit manufacturers provide cables in their kits in vinyl, injection moulded plastic, string and occasionally metal cables. Of these the metal cable is the best option but it is often a very stiff metal that is difficult to cut cleanly and shape as required. This product from RMG Resin Models does away with all that and is far superior to anything in a kit with possibly the exception of the metal cable and that it beats on its ease of use in terms of being malleable. A great product at a good price, but as these are currently only available from the manufacturer who is in mainland Europe it may be worth waiting until you have a decent sized order depending on where you are.