M26 Pershing

It was a bout time to add some american steel to my WWII tank collection!

backround: The only heavy tannk fielded during WWII by teh americnas, the M 26 heavy tank takes a special place among the armoured fighting vehicles of WWII. Designated the T26 E3 during development, the tank featured a 90mm gun derived from an anti aircraft gun;-quite similar to to the tigers gun which also was essentially a modified AA gun. However, the 90mm gun of the pershing had even better penetration (while not as accurate as teh tigers gun) and together with the 100mm of frontal hull and turret armour, the Pershing was a very potent tank. It was developed to counter the german tiger I tank which had entered service in 1942 and indeed these two tanks were an equal match fr each other. Pershings scored a number of tiger kills, however some of them were knocked out by tigers themself. In fact one of the first pershing operation ended  with one pershing knocked out by a tiger tank at elmsdord(which is also known as elmsdorfer überraschung, as it was the first time the tiger crews encountered the pershing tank). With a top speed of around 40 kph the pershing was not particulary fast but also not slow. It was however, significantly lighter than the tiger tank and therefore more mbile. Compared to the panther the pershing was slightly better armoured but the 75mm gun of the panther was a lot better, and the panther was also faster and even mroe mobiel on the battlefield and at that stage the panther had also become more reliable as the pershing was still relatively new and had some teething problems. Still, the ershing could hold its own very well aginst the panther and any german battle tank except germany biggest tank fielded: The king tiger. Against the king tiger the Pershing had virtually no chance in a head on engagement since its gun was not strong enough to penetrate the 150mm sloped frontal armour plate and the tigerII s gun could easily pen the 100mm front of the pershing. however, the king tiger was a very rare tank and was seldom encountered by the americans as only around 450 were produced. Not that many pershings reached the european battlefield before the war ended but they were very very successful against other tanks. A very famous encounter between a pershing and a panther in colone, ended with the destruction of the panther by the pershing, proving that the pershing was a very capable tank as the panther is generally seen as the best tank of WWII. After WWII the pershing was reclassified as a medium tank as heavier tanks like the M 103 were developed. The M 26 fought in the korean war with a lot of success, against the t 34 85, the Pershing was vastly superior, with a better gun and much better armour. However, they were soon withdrawn and replaced by the M 46 patton which itself was an upgraded pershing. Following the M 46, the M 47 and M 48 appeared on the battlefield, with more powerful engines and starting with the M 48, a 105mm high performance gun replacing the 90mm gun. The ultimate evolution of the M 26 was the M 60 MBT which formed the backbone of the US tank fleet until the introduction of the M1 Abrams. The M 60 continues beeing used by  many third world armys and it is exspected to remain on the battlefields of the future for quite some time. The germany army also used  M 48 tanks until they were replaced by Leopard MBTs. The Pershing itself was also tested with a super long 90mm gun and designated the t 26 e4 heavy tank. The 90mm gun was extremely powerful and would have been similar to the 88 of the King tiger but the Project was cancelled with only a few pilot vehicles produced and these never saw action.

The Kit: This little gem is a hobby boss kit and represents the Pershing in WWII configuration I think as the boy says m 26 heavy tank and they were recalssified as mediums shortly after WWII. It is in 1/35  and it cost me 28,99€

Detail:  Absolutely stunning. The kit has crispt surface detail, in general tank dont have even surfaces, they are made of armoured steel and the surface is often rough . The kit represents that quite well. The suspension is absolutely amazing and very well detailed. The turret also has a lot of small little details and equipment. Photo etched parts are also included for the grills and stuff. But the best thing is, is that the kit comes with a complete engine and gearbox and the interior detail for the engine room and stuff. It looks absolutely stunning.
*****
Quality. No flash, nos inkm arks, very very good quality
*****
Fitting: Good but not perfect, the hull had some small issues
****
Decals: Nice decals, quite a lot for a tank kit. I really like them and they are of good quality
*****
Extrapoint. Just the fact that the kit is so cheap and yet comes with that amount of detail is worth 5 extrapoints, but its also very enjoyable to assemble, the building process is straightforward,it is all in all just very very good. If you want you can build the engine deck open so you cn see the interioor which i highly recommend, cuz the engine really looks nice. If you cant decide you can also just stick the grill cover  onto the openings ,they fit so tightly that they dont fall out. Ibuild the rear covers open  and the middel ones I just stuck in position because they really fit very tight . The gun is also movable and the turret rotates 360 degree.
*****
Result: what can i say , this is one of the best tank kits I everassembled and surprisingly its not from trumpeter!. Thos who know me ,know that I think Trumpeter is for me the king of detail(although the recent dragon kit I assembled are also extremely good). However they also have their price. This one here combines Trumpeter detail and quality with revell style prices. I´d never thought i say this but this may all in all be even better than revell. Revell for me was always one of the best if not the best odel kit company as they produce reasonably detailed kit for a fair price. The older kit are not that god but esecially the new one from revell are just fantastic and they dont cost that much. Revell kits are therefore very very well balanced, they may not have the extreme detail of trumpeter or dragon, but they are a lot cheaper while still having a great amount of detail. However this hobby boss kit combines the best of both, it has extreme detail for a very reasonable price, 29€ is not that much. acomparable trumpeter kit would cost in excess of 45€ and a dragon kit over 50€. Hobby boss is fr me a very satisfying model company. I had the opportunity to assemble some of their kits and they were always on a consistingly good amount of detail, quality and for a fair price, something you dont get always from dragon and sometimes even from revell. I would highly recommend this kit, it is really really good, definetely one of the best, if not the best (together with dragons panther F) tank kits I´d had the opportunity to assemble this year, a very very satisfying entry in my WWII tank collection. I wouldnt recommend this kit for beginners, because there are some fiddly parts and there is some detail painting neccessary in the engine area. For those who have a little bit of experience this kit will not be a problem and a very very fun weekend build. A true 5 star kit,I am very very glad i bought it.
*****