Today we are taking a look at the Warlord Games M3A1 Half-track plastic kit. This 2 sprue kit allows you to make the M3A1 Half-track that was used by US forces. The M5 Half-track used by the British is slightly different but at this scale you could easily get away with using a M3A1 for your Commonwealth forces.The amount of parts crammed into the 2 sprues for this kit is quite amazing. It comes with a .50 cal and not one, not two, but three .30 cals! This is great for those wanting to fully deck out their M3, while I myself stole one of the .30 cals for another vehicle. You also get a few lose helmets and backpacks to add on as extra stowage as well as some jerry cans. Extra stowage never goes astray when it comes to gamers. It also comes with a crew model, not seen in pictures of mine as he still awaits painting.
The level of detail on the molded on pieces, like the tools on the sides and the interior is top notch and continues the high level of quality of the warlord plastic kits. Assembly was quick and easy, and the kit comes with instructions. A great addition I wish manufacturers would include in their resin kits! The armoured visor can be put on either up or down.
As a fan of plastics, it's hard to find faults in this kit. There is no flash to clean off. Once cut from the sprue, assembly is a fairly quick process and the kit comes with enough guns to make the available options for the unit. It has great detail and holds the paint well, no fear of it flaking off because of some arcane magical properties of the construction material.
This kit has been out for a while, although I only just recently had the chance to get my hands on one, painting it for my brother's US army, but it's a quality kit. It's such a cool looking model, any self-respecting US player will need one for their collection. I'd love to see more of these kinds of plastic kits from Warlord, to go along with their 251/1C Hanomag.
