US Medium Tank M4A3E8 Sherman ''Easy Eight''

THIS BY FAR IS THE BEST M4 SHERMAN THAT TAMIYA HAS DONE. EVEN THE BODIES AND WHEELS WERE STRONG AND VERY EASY TO PUT TOGETHER. I TOOK AN ITALERI (FURY) TANK PIECES AND USED THEM ON THE TAMIYA EASY 8. WHY?? BECAUSE THE ITALERI WAS ALL WRONG. PLUS PARTS WERE NOT MADE WELL OR CORRECT TO THE TANK USED ON THE MOVIE FURY. SO I TOOK A TAMIYA EASY 8 AND TURNED IT INTO THE FURY REPLICA FROM THE MOVIE. NEEDLESS TO SAY I WILL BUILD NO MORE ITALERI MODELS..TAMIYA IS THE BEST HANDS DOWN. I WATCHED THE MOVIE 5 TIMES AND DID THE CLOSEST I COULD COME TO REPLICATING THE FURY TANK. I PRETTY MUCH JUST USED A MACHINE GUN MOUNT, GERMAN HELMET WITH GAS MASK, TRACKS FROM THE ITALERI TANK. I WISH TAMIYA WOULD DO ANOTHER FURY TANK. I THINK THEY DID BACK IN 2015 BUT DISCONTINUED. SO, I DID IT THE OTHER WAY..LOL WELL WORTH THE TIME AND MONEY.

Good kit. Almost everything fit together perfectly. some of the smaller parts get a little tricky but overall they fall into place nicely. Be prepared to drill out 4 holes that are not molded into the plastic for the front mantlet lift hooks.

What an outstanding kit! Most Tamiya kits are very good, but this kit tops even their usual high quality. I really enjoyed the chance to construct the lower hull from multiple parts. This is not one of those kits where the entire lower hull is a single molded piece - you get to build it. There is also plenty to do building up the suspension and wheels. The turret features a vertically movable main gun that will hold its position where you place it. The commander's cupola has clear view ports, which I have not seen on other Tamiya kits. There is a half figure of the tank commander that is posed in a realistic position. All hatches can be modeled open or closed. The vinyl tracks are pretty good. Regular plastic model cement works with them, so it is much better than the older style where you have to melt pins to keep the ends together. Tamiya gives you their standard great set of tools and accessories to decorate the tank, including shovel, ax, crowbar, spare fuel cans, extra track links, etc. Part fit is great throughout the entire model - I didn't have to use putty anywhere. There are only a few decals; stars for the turret, sides and front depending on which of the two version you choose to build. All the decals went down fine with a bit of decal setting solution. Overall, this kit was straight forward to build, was high quality and was great looking once finished. I highly recommend it.