Post by bigjohn on Sept 9, 2013 12:47:13 GMT -5
The New TMD
www.newtmd.com/News-and-Blogs
Sherman 75mm Composite Turret Shell
Item # 35-75121
Scale 1/35
Price $15.00 US
Description from Web Site;
"This turret shell features cast in applique armor, smoke mortar hole and no pistol port.
It is a direct replacement part for Tasca 75mm Sherman kits. can be used for Dragon kits with the addition of our Ring Adepter.
Master by: Karl van Sweden"
Review
This turret represents a D50878 low bustle turret manufactured from the Summer of 1943 to Dec. 1943 and features the “cast cheek armor", no pistol port, and smoke mortar hole.
The New TMD is a web based business only and does not package their products in “Retail” style packaging. This example came to me sealed in a clear bag.
Close inspection revealed a very nice casting with a realistic cast texture, and the addition of extra detailing such as foundry marks and weld beads. The weld beads outline the addition of the late war modifications for the M2 stowage mounts (not Included). If your project doesn’t require the mounts, then the weld beads can easily be sanded off.
The turret is cast in a light gray resin with a large casting gate on the rear. The connection between the turret and gate is very fine, and cleans up very easily. There was just a small amount of flash along the bottom edge of the turret. Again, with some light sanding, the flash cleans up quickly.
The resin material is of a high grade and durable, it flexes quite a bit with out snapping. I flexed it to the point where I could get other resins to break, but this one didn’t
Only one air bubble was found in this casting, and it was on the tab under the gun mount that covered up once the gun was installed.
Clean up and assembly of this turret was quick and straight forward. The only fit issue was a gap where the kit turret ring meets the turret bustle, but that was easily taken care of with a little filler.
Conclusion: A perfect turret to convert your Tasca Firefly Ic back to a regular M4 Composite. Packed with plenty of detail and not limited to just the Composite M4s. Can be used on any Sherman manufactured between the summer and end of 1943.
Note; This turret can also be used along with TMD’s Dragon turret ring adapter to correct the wrong turret configuration in Dragon’s M4 Composite kit.