Small Scale Military Headquarters

Just got the email from my sales rep at 21stC, The M7 preist is out along with 3 new battle packs. The battle packs are 1) 251 and 222. 2) hellcat tank destroyer and a tiger 1, 3) P47 and a FW190

http://www.ecsmilitary.com/page3.html

saw the tiger vs M18 and the 21st Tiger looks smaller than my S1 FOV.

that 21C would pantograph up the M7 to 1/18th.... Or the M18. Or 222.

that's been covered before....they can't simply scale up 1/32 models as the detail would not be crisp enough, so they have to make XD ones from scratch. Our best hope is that the new halftracks and pak sell really well, then that may encourage 21c to make all new vehicles.

My trick knee tells me that 1/18 armour is gaining momentum and will get more popular as time goes by.

I found a 32x Pz III L in all tan DAK markings w/green turret palm tree symbol at a WM in Iowa.

I'm with you on that. Every new 1/18 piece opens up the possibilites for custom fodder too.

I just recieved 2 priests yesterday by mailorder. Overall the piece is well done and a welcome addition to the lack of variety within the ranks of allied armor on the market today. I think the crew figures are average at best, and would be much improved if you repainted them yourself. I do have on complaint about the paint job on the priest itself. The olive drab and black camo paint is great, but it fades away into the white or gray primer underneath as it goes down the side to the tracks. I think the idea is that this fading of the paint represents weathering, but it really looks like the paint job is incomplete. Portions of the crew cabin have also not been painted with olive drab and remain in the primer color. I don't know if this is historical, have a feeling it is not, but it really seems like the paint job was rushed or incomplete, at least on the 2 that showed up on my doorstep. Nevertheless, a must have piece in the 1/32nd scale range.

Hyguy,

could you tell us how much "cold steel" the vehicle has and which parts are plastic?

Thanks
Wieslaw

Portions of the crew cabin have also not been painted with olive drab and remain in the primer color. I don't know if this is historical,

No, not historical - the entire interior of an M7 would be OD. The WW2 standards stated that interiors of closed top tanks, etc should be white, but ANY PART visible from an overhead aircraft should be OD (or camouflaged). That's why some armored cars (M8) have white inside the lhull, but have OD floors under the turret. A FEW tank destroyers and armored cars might have had white turret interiors, but they were painted outside of regulations.

I'm personaly VERY excited about the M7 being available! I can deal with a little touch-up paint because I usually correct/add details anyway.

Now, to keep lobbying for a 1:32 scale 2.5 ton 6X6!!!!!

Gary

aferguson wrote:that's been covered before....they can't simply scale up 1/32 models as the detail would not be crisp enough, so they have to make XD ones from scratch.

That may be partly true, but as a long-time model builder I can tell you that almost all of the earlier 1/18th vehicles were basically pantographed up versions of Tamiya 1/35th scale models. They not only copied all the features, but carefully copied EVERY error in the original kits. Most of the 1/32 stuff also has Tamiya ancestry - very recognizable.

Gary

Yep. The 1/18th Tiger with Interior is exactly the same as the Tamiya 1/16 Tiger model the had interior detail.

After closer inspection of the priest, the fading of paint appears to be not fading at all. 21stC has used a light colored wash on the bogies and tracks to simulate weathering. It looks like the priest drove through a bowl of milk instead of weathering to me , not a big fan. Wieslaw, the only metal portion appears to be the hull. The back wall of the crew cabin, the crew cabin floor, the front of the priest between the tracks (the hood if you will), canon, commander cuppola, the underbelly of the hull, and the bogies are all plastic. Overall, the piece has a sturdy feel however.
Gary I am with you on the deuce and half, its gotta be the third most recognizable allied vehicle from WW2, possibly #1 being the sherman, and #2 the wileys jeep, and we have yet to see this thing produced. I think I would buy like 5 of them.....

These sound pretty good. I hope the Wally's in my neighborhood stocks them soon.

C2000

I found the Preist at the Joplin Mo. Wal-Mart last night.

The paint job on the M7 is not too bad. The weathering depicts the accumulation of road dust that often made the tank look much lighter in color. Most examples I have seen, in color photos, are usually covered all over with dust though. While the 21st paint work is a departure from their usual work and actually realistic, it is kind of a shock to see. It does grow on you though.

The camo job follows the North African camo scheme except 21st used black instead of sand color. It is almost right on pattern wise, not color wise though. There are many repaint opportunities, like the three color British desert scheme(the Brits used M7s in the Alamein scheme). The US had the M7 in North Africa with a US Army Engineer sand color applied with the standard OD that made for an interesting pattern, mentioned above. Finally, there was a scheme applied to tanks and M7s based at Heliopolis, Egypt. They were all tan with a white star on a blue circle. They were used for training and testing. They had Grant tanks painted this way too.

Functionally, I was surprised the gun does not elevate more than it does with out a struggle. The traverse range is ok and the recoil function is nice. The opening drivers vision port is a nice touch. My issue is with the tracks. They come right off all the time. I dont know if it is the bogies or the track itself, but the tracking quality is poor. I dont understand as the more recent Shermans they came out with(Pacific rainbow schemes) seemed to have the tracking problems fixed. Nice model overall with the exception of the tracking issue.

TJ

The M7 Priest is showing up in DC metro area WM's, I found one at the Mt Airy Maryland Wally a few days ago. All the multi packs (both AC and armor) have been available here for a while, at least a month or so. Still looking for the new playsets though, no sign of them yet.

we got the M7s here in Florida.

Holy Smokes!!!!!wich wally's in Fla.????????

The priest finally showed in central Illinois. Found them at the Springfield, Illinois Walmart. Lack of quality control reared its ugly head on this one to ruin a fine model. Glue streaks all over. Misaligned parts, worse was the top ring of the pulpit. Ammo can for 50 cal. glued on the wrong side and upside down. At least I have one!

Ray

FieldmarshalX wrote:Holy Smokes!!!!!wich wally's in Fla.????????

saw one in the Cocoa, Florida Wally.

Just seen one in a VA WalMart, looks good. Might just grab one 'cause I know I'll never build a 1/35th kit of same. Wish it had more figs!

and on eBay:
120048677756.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0048677756

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