New Tamiya Tank: 1/16 R/C M-51 Super Sherman Full-Option Kit

[Pcomm1]

FYI: Announced at the Tokyo Hobby Show 2010.

Visit: http://www.tamiya.com/english/hobbyshow/10THS_index.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

1/16 R/C M-51 Super Sherman Full-Option Kit

[BigPanzer]

Wow! Great news!

Bearing in mind the interest in IDF armour, probably a good choice particularly as much of the development work is done so it makes for a cheap tank to develop and they can still sell it for top price.
Bet they even use the Pershing MFU instead of going to the trouble of recording the proper Cummins diesel. The lower hull and running gear already exists so all they need to do is tracks, upper hull, turret and a few sprues.
I'm already thinking of the Chilean variant (M60?) with the 60mm gun!
Wish they (or HL) would do a T55, it looks like that is the only way we will all get one.

Peter

[Pcomm1]

Or keep it an M-51 Sherman and model a Syrian Pz4 so it can have a foe.

Should I repaint my Ardennes Pz, I wonder???????

[Andy in Cheltenham]

That is very nice.

[littletankman]

Nice but to be honest they have most of this on the 105 Sherman . Think they would of been better to make a WW2 Sherman or some British armour .

andy

[fleshpedler]

I think that this just might upset a few guys who are changing there old tammy shermans........
Fleshy...........................

[Pcomm1]

Just my 2 cents: Because it is a Sherman with a good combat record it is interesting to me. Whether I will buy it or not remains to be seen. I like WWII ETO tanks best.

Unless this new tank is a must have, I do believe Tamiya will have more rc tank offerings next Spring, 2011 according to Asian rc tank friends. Wait and see might be a good idea, if your not a big Sherman fan.

I guess the sad message to all those guys with the build time and or well over a 1000 USD, Euros or Pounds invested into their beautifully finished Tamiya and or Mato Sherman variants is probably not printable on this forum.



This new Tamiya Super Sherman variant, based on the previous Sherman 105mm Easy Eight HVSS Hulled Sherman, is already a well proven runner, and to be perfectly honest, that is the most important feature to me. Without a solid running suspension/hull and the TBU, these rc tanks just aren't that interesting to many, nor would the current and loyal Tamiya 1/16 RC Tank following have developed over the last decade, without the TBU System. With that said, I believe more Allied and Axis WWII Tamiya tanks are a better direction, but this is still an interesting Tamiya Super Sherman tank.

The Mato VVSS suspension Sherman looks kinda cool modified into a pro model, but it remains a low end consumer toy modified to pro hobby standards. The Mato VVSS solution looks clunky to me, no matter how well executed the model.

And the fact that the Mato Sherman model is not properly proportioned, just doesn't work for me as a modeler, no matter how well painted or how much finicky detail is piled on to it.

And on a historical info industrial design note just sent to me by a friend who was a US Army tank commander from long ago and has modeled many IDF tanks: The Super Sherman is a US Army American name and really has no connection with the IDF.

In Israel a Super Sherman is the M-1 (the The Mato VVSS Sherman would be a IDF M-1 Super Sherman): an unmodified 76mm Sherman, regardless of A1 (???? = dagem alef) or A3 (??? ? = dagem shalosh) chassis.

The M-50 and M-51 are highly modified Shermans, irrespective of the chassis with the M-50 carrying the French CN-75-50 75mm and M-51, the D-1000 105mm gun.

M-50s can be from A1, A2, A3 or A4 chassis, but most M-51s are A1 or A3s and they were never regarded as Super Shermans.

If true, bad Tamiya.

John

[FireflyKeith]

I love it, and if i had the cash i would buy one

Keith

[BigPanzer]

Hi,

I did a lot of digging into IDF armour quite a while ago, and the more you go into the designations the more you realise that it depends what country you are standing in and how confusing it all gets! Its almost as bad as trying to find out the correct colour to paint it!
I suspect that to give it its non-Israeli (miss)name is a move by their marketing because SUPER Sherman sounds better than plain old M51.

I don't think the name Isherman was used in Israel either.

By the way, Tam seem to have produced quite a lot of 1/16 tanks in quite a short time lately. Perhaps they have finally woken up to the fact that we are out here.

Peter

[littletankman]

I do have a vintage Tamiya Sherman and a full option model , which I do like once the Mato suspension mods done . But i cant see my self buying another Sherman as I realy only ike doing the WW2 tanks . Although Im sure this will produce some good models :~