This project has not been a priority, as I have been focusing my energies on what is becoming a very sizable collection of Soviet armour, as the Red Army is the one I've been using in my games so far.
The idea is that my Russkis will make up a mid-war force, while the 761st will be fielded when I want to play late war games set in the western theatre. But the Soviets have been first in line, and as a result I wasn't planning on expanding on the Yanks any time soon.
However, fate intervened recently in the form of an amazing sale at Hobby Link Japan, where there were selling off excess stock of some of their Dragon and Easy Model pre-built 1/72 armour kits. As much as 70% off in some instances.
The opportunity of buying a completed model for as low as 450- 690 yen each- that's about $5.00 to $7.00 US- was too good to resist, especially as postage wouldn't bite as would be the case if I was ordering from overseas.
The opportunity of buying a completed model for as low as 450- 690 yen each- that's about $5.00 to $7.00 US- was too good to resist, especially as postage wouldn't bite as would be the case if I was ordering from overseas.
So along with a gaggle of extremely cheap T-34's, I took the opportunity to buy all the Shermans I would need for the battalion.
These will need repainting of course, and I will work on filling in a few unsightly seam lines, reinforcing the .50 cal to the gun mounts with thin wire for strength, and of course adding liberal amounts of stowage and tarps. But essentially, I was able to outfit the rest of the battalion for less than thirty bucks!
I already have some Pegasus Hobbies' trucks and some Italeri jeeps, so the only things I need now are a 105 close support Sherman, and the M5 light tanks. The latter will have to be in metal by the looks of things, and the Rafm models seem a good choice at the moment.
The big gap is a lack of infantry and vehicle crews. I need to look into what options are available.
