PSC 1/72 Stuart 1 Honey

M3 Stuart 1 Honey in 1/72 scale...

...3 kits for the wargames market in the one box, from The Plastic Soldier Company

Another recent release from The Plastic Soldier Company in their series of 1/72 scale models is this one, the M3 Stuart 1, the 'Honey'. There are three complete models in the box and you can build them in any one of three different versions. The first is the M3 Stuart in British service in North Africa, the 'Honey'. Then there are both the Mid- and Late- production versions, as used by the Americans.

There are two sprues of parts for each model so a total of 6 sprues in the box. The Honey has a different upper hull to the other two, along with track units which include sand shields as well. I found on the Honey that the track units didn't fit flush and I should have removed some plastic from the hull side or the track units to get them to fit correctly. If you build either of the other two mid- or late-variants, their track units fit perfectly. I noticed too late to remove them so was left with a gap that you can see in the photos below. My solution since these were taken has been to use some filler. The Honey also has optional fuel drums to fit on top of the hull, along with the angular 6-sided turret. The other two versions use the rounded turret. The other difference between them come from the side panels to the hull. The early Honey has two machine guns to fit in the side sponsons and the guns need their location pins cut back, or the holes drilled through into the upper hull. The mid-production version has the two MG positions plated over/plugged while the late-production version simply has the flat plate where they would have been fitted. Not difficult models to build and the end result look good. Don't forget that they also do this subject in the smaller 15mm scale as well, though in that case you get 5 kits in the box.

There are no transfers included in the kit, but the Plastic Soldier Company do have a handy range of transfers available separately so you can choose your preferred units markings.

For the gamer, with 3 per box, this is good for building up your units.

Robin