INTRODUCTION

Much has been said in website discussion groups and kit previews about the ExtraTech M10, and M10 Achilles kits.  The kits have gotten praise but the question is whether the quality is up to the cost of $30 American.  This construction review will also count for the very similar Achilles tank destroyer model.  While ExtraTech AFV models have previously been done in resin, their M10 and M36 kits are in injection-molded styrene made for ExtraTech by the well known Czech company Eduard and a small fret of etched brass.

 HISTORY FOR THE MODELER

Rather than being designated a tank which it looks like, the American Tank Destroyer was characterized as a Gun Motor Carriage (a.k.a. self propelled gun).  Like the German Marder series of Panzerjagers (tank hunters) these vehicles were lightly armored and carried a good high-velocity gun.  The M10 GMC’s differed in having a fully rotating turret rather than a fixed mount with limited traverse, and operated under different strategies.  The M10 and sister vehicle Achilles were supposed to use maneuver to hunt their prey, leaving the Allied tanks to assault the infantry defenses; while the German Panzerjager typically hid and waited for their prey to come to them.  Of course there are exceptions to these plans in real life.

            The M10 is based on the M4 Sherman with the VVSS suspension and the twin diesel engines of the American M4A2 Sherman medium tank.  Rather than the short 75-mm gun initially issued to the Sherman the M10 was armed with the higher velocity 3-inch gun (76.2-mm caliber) derived from a US anti-aircraft gun.  The British took the M10 Wolverine and upgunned it with their superb 17-Pounder (77-mm) to make the Achilles [ExtraTech kit #72028].  With a new turret and a 90-mm gun the chassis became the M36 Jackson tank destroyer.

            Not to go into great detail: the mobile, lightly armed tank destroyer concept did not work out and the tank destroyers were more often used in infantry support.  Many went to French and Commonwealth units and 52 to the USSR under Lend Lease.

 WHAT WE GET IN THE BOX

The ExtraTech M10 kit consists of 142 gray injection-molded styrene parts, not including another 40 bolt parts for the hull & turret, 50 track parts, and 18 etched brass parts on 5 sprues.  The molding is very good: sharp and with little to no flash.

The ExtraTech VVSS (Vertical Volute Spring Suspension) bogie assembly is about the finest part of the model.  In the above photo is compared with the Revell (white) and the ESCI/Italeri M4 VVSS bogies.  Note that while the Revell and ESCI assemblies consist of just two parts (right & left halves), the ET assembly consists of eight individual parts.  What this means to us is that we can finally articulate the suspension over the rough terrain of a diorama or vignette.

ET and ESCI offer the solid spoked Sherman roadwheels.  Revell gives us the open spoked roadwheels.  It’s clear in the photo that the Revell roadwheels are considerably larger than the ET and ESCI roadwheels.

In the above photo we examine the gray styrene ExtraTech sprocket and idler wheels and compare them to the white Revell M4 and tan ESCI M4 parts.  The ET and ESCI sprockets are comparable in detail and size.  The Revel sprockets lack a whole ring of bolts. The ET sprockets have seven attachment points to the sprue while ESCI only has two, making clean up easier with the ESCI sprockets.  With the idler wheels, again the Revell wheels come out on the bottom as far as detail quality and being too large in size.  The ESCI and the ET idlers I found pretty comparable and well done.

The scan above is of the dark gray styrene link & length ExtraTech tracks compared with the white link & length Revell M4A1 kit tracks and the light gray polyethylene rubber-band type tracks.  All the track types appear to be T48 rubber block or T54E1, T56E1 or T62 steel block 16 9/16” wide tracks.  Revell’s tracks are the widest, ESCI’s the narrowest, with the ET tracks in-between in width.  All have adequate track teeth.  The Extra Tech tracks have the sharpest details of the three and they assembled smooth and with great fit.  The ESCI polyethylene track material is terrible to work with for a good display model.

 CONSTRUCTION NOTES

1.      We must scratchbuild some of the interior fixtures based on references you may find.  An important item will be ammunition for the ready rounds stored on the rear wall of the turret.  [Ready rounds are included in the Extrapack M10 model but not in the initial release.]  Ammunition stored in the M10 hull was packed in cardboard tubes that are included in the kit.

2.      The gun breach is good but basic and will need detailing based on your references.

3.      The gun barrel will need sanding smooth & round, or we can get a turned aluminum barrel.

4.      Sand the mold-seams off the 12 ammunition tubes, the 12 roadwheels and two idler wheels.

5.      The line drawings on the last pages of the instructions, showing different vehicle markings, depict the tracks going in the wrong direction for the front view.  Don’t use this drawing to attach the tracks.  The box art has it correct and use that as a reference for the tracks.

6.      Most of my reference photos show a hood extending down from below the engine deck, which is visible in the box art.  ET’s model does not include this hood though.  This hood may have been a part of a wading trunk used in amphibious landings so not present on all M10’s?

7.      When assembling the bogies insure that the top of the return rollers (B33) are even with the top of the skids (B25) so the top track run lays flat and even.

8.      There are no tabs on the turret ring to hold the turret (E1) onto the hull (A3) so we will have to glue the turret on to keep it secure.  White glue allows a weak bond so will allow the turret to be moved later.  I detailed the turret first before pushing it down into the hull, instead glue the turret on first then add fine details.

9.      The commander’s periscope (E7) was modified to more closely resemble a periscope I found in two reference photos.

10.  A single tow cable for the left side of the M10 is not included in the kit so will need to be added.  Cotton tea-bag string coated in white glue works well.

11.  The placements of the driver’s and radio operator’s periscopes (parts B20) are not shown on the instructions.  Glue one of these onto the underside of each hatch (A6 & A16) if you model the hatches open.

12.  For a Normandy period M10 you may consider adding hedgerow cutters available from LEVA Productions or scratchbuilt.

13.  The above scan shows assembly of the eight-part ET HVSS bogies, followed by the attachment of the bogies, idler and sprocket wheels to the lower hull.  The engineering of the model appears to me to facilitate the most accurate suspension detail reasonably produced in the scale so far. 

14.  The above scan of the upper instructions shows the placement of the hull superstructure upon the completed lower hull with interior.  The driver and radio operator hatches (A6) are molded open but the kit does not have the correct hinge that actually holds the hatch open 90 degrees to its placement when closed.  So to model the hull with the hatches open we must scratchbuilt the brackets that hold them up, up on edge.  Two upper hulls are included for the kit: one with markings for the locations of the supplemental-armor bolts (B7) on the hull front & sides, and another hull without the bolt location marks for a late M10 hull.  The lower line drawing depicts the turret assembly.  In order to attain the best detail the upper sides are molded as three pieces (F2, F8 & F1) though I found it difficult to assemble with the bottom part (E1) without gaps.

15.  The above photos are of the M10 interior in the process of detailing with the photo-etched brass supplied with the model and scratchbuilt parts of styrene and wire.  Much of this interior detail will be difficult to see once the model is complete.  Note seat frames made from copper wire mounted on the back of the seats.

16.  The etched brass turret traverse wheel (H4) is depicted as attaching to the side of the turret ring.  In reality it should attach to a traverse mechanism that we will have to scratch build.  Note some filled in minor sinkholes in the turret counterweights.

17.              Front and rear weld seams need to be scribed more prominent as noted in the above photo of the unpainted hull and turret.  The track-grouser stowage rack on the port side of the hull should have raised ribs to hold the grousers.  On the Extrapack version of this model these parts are given in etched brass.  Not all M10’s mounted the racks so we may leave off one or both sides.

18.  The rear tools are excellent.  A complaint I’ve heard is that tool brackets are not included molded onto the tools.  My reply is that if the brackets were molded on I would typically have to cut them off anyway in order to add more realistic scratchbuilt or etched-brass tool clasps.  Brackets from strips of aluminum were very easy and look decent.  There are variations in tool placement on M10’s and my assembly differed from Extratech’s instructions.

 PAINTING & MARKINGS

The M10 was painted at the factory in olive drab, which could be in reality a variety of brown to green shades so do not worry too much about the shade of OD paint you choose.  The interior of the turret is the same olive as the exterior though the hull interior and floor is white according to a reference I have (though a written reference stated the floor was OD.  The rubber track blocks were given a base coat of dark gray and the track teeth and end connectors made rust and steel where appropriate.  The track blocks could just as well been painted as all steel.  After decal application the lower half of the hull and suspension was given a light coat of dust.

ExtraTech gives us water slide decals for six vehicles, including American, Polish and French army units in Europe.  Decal markings were well printed and in-register.  Two Soviet SP gun regiments [one being the Soviet 1223^rd SP Artillery Regiment of 29^th Tank Corps, 5^th Guards Army, 3^rd Belorussian Front] was issued the M10 from the 52 tank destroyers received by the USSR.  I have found only one very poor photo of a Soviet M10 from July 1944; so to model a Soviet M10 I had to interpolate the markings based on what I could find out about the typical Soviet markings for self propelled artillery units and the 5^th Guards Army, etc.  In the end I chose simple red stars, and a white triangular air-recognition marking for the turret roof.

This are a good photos to see the articulation of the eight-part suspension bogies over uneven ground.  Try this with the ESCI M4 kit’s bogies?  Note the periscopes on the bottom of the driver and radio-operator’s hatches.  The placement of these periscopes is not included in the M10 directions.

19.  The tow cable was made from teabag string coated in white glue and painted.  The etched-brass light guards add much to realism.

20.  Bedrolls were produced from epoxy putty.

 CONCLUSION

            Overall I liked the model much and recommend it for a very good display model.  It assembled easily with great fit of the parts.  The interior detail may be too simple for an advanced modeler who should get the Extrapack version of the M10 or be happy with scratchbuilding.  Because the fit of the parts is very good a novice modeler should enjoy it also.  My judgement is that this model is too complex and expensive for most wargamers.  This is fine considering that this model appears aimed toward the ever more demanding display modeler and that Hat model company produces a simpler M10 in 1/72 scale.

 REFERENCES

U. S. Tank Destroyers In Combat 1941-1945 by Steven Zaloga, Concord Publications (1996).  A good not too expensive softcover book with a narrative history of the tank destroyer program, color plates and many photos.

Camouflage of the Tanks of The Red Army 1930-1945, Armada Vertical Series No. 5, Translated by Stephen (Cookie) Sewall, Exprint Publications (1999).  An excellent softcover book with more information on Soviet AFV markings than anyplace I have yet found, all in English text.

Tanks of Lend Lease, 1941-1945 (2000).  A Soviet publication with English captions only.  A noteworthy softcover book with many unique photos of everything from Lend Lease tanks to motorcycles.  Unfortunately it is primarily written in Russian (Cyrillic) and I do not know the exact title or author.

U.S. Tank Destroyers in Action by Jim Mesko, Squadron/Signal Publications (1998).  A very good inexpensive softcover book on US Tank destroyers of WW2.

http://afvinteriors.hobbyvista.com/m10/m10a.html  AFV Interiors website.  An excellent website focussing on interior features of the M10 and many other AFV’s.

http://www.ontheway.us/reviews/Extratech/M10prev.htm  In the box preview of the ExtraTech M10 model by Doug Chaltry.

http://www.ontheway.us/reviews/Extratech/Achillesprev.htm  Preview of the Achilles model by Doug Chaltry.

http://www.ontheway.us/reviews/Extratech/AchillesEPprev.htm  Preview of the later released Achilles Extrakit which includes the basic Achilles model with additional resin details and a much larger etched brass fret.

http://www.extratech.cz/products.asp  ExtraTech’s website.