Military Model Scene

Now a pack of 3x 1/72 scale models of the British army Sexton SP 25 pounder.  The British version of the American Priest, but rather than a 105mm gun, it used the standard 25 pounder instead, though still based on a Sherman (or Canadian Ram) chassis.  The war in North Africa had presented the need for self-propelled (SP) artillery and initially used the 'Bishop', with a 25 pounder mounted in a bulky turret fitted to a Valentine tank chassis.  It proved cumbersome.  Then the US provided their M7 Priest, an open top SP armed with the American 105mm gun.  This was good, but supplying US ammunition in British Army units added complexity.  Thus a request to Canada to produce a vehicle that looked very similar with the basic layout, but fitting a 25 pounder to the Canadian built Ram tank chassis.  Only later, when US production of the M4 Sherman built up, were later examples built on the Sherman chassis.  Over 2,000 Sextons were built, used mainly by the British and Canadian armies.

The box holds 6 sprues, 2 sprues for each model holding the parts to build either an early or late version.  The differences are in the bolted or cast transmission covers, and different running gear.  Once removed from the sprue, the parts clean up very easily, some mould seams which need to be scraped down.  Unlike the smaller 15mm scale kit which PSC also do (reviewed separately) there is a slight bit of excess plastic which has crept onto the outer side of both the rear stowage boxes.  These need to be shave off in order for the superstructure side panels to fit correctly.  There are a couple of mould ejection stubs that need to be removed from the back of the track units, but that is easy and the fit of parts is very good.  There are even a couple of items of stowage included, such as a tarp to fit on the back of the engine deck, a spare roadwheel and a couple of jerrycans.  The instructions give a clear assembly guide plus a clear view of which parts to use for either early or late variants.

With 3 per box, this is a good value way of building up your wargame units. No transfers are included with the kit, but PSC do have them available in separate packs, including the Allied stars.

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Robin