Product Spotlight

Product Spotlight: “Colonel Abe”

Neo Dragon Armor’s 1:72 scale US M4A3 (76mm) Sherman Medium Tank – Creighton Abrams’ “Thunderbolt IV”, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, Bastogne, Belgium, December 1944

Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. (September 15, 1914 – September 4, 1974) was a United States Army general who commanded military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968 to 1972, which saw United States troop strength in South Vietnam reduced from a peak of 543,000 to 49,000. He was then Chief of Staff of the United States Army from 1972 until his death in 1974.

In 1980, the United States Army named its then new main battle tank, the M1 Abrams, after him. The IG Farben building in Germany was also named after Abrams from 1975 to 1995.

Abrams graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in the Class of 1936 (ranked 185th of 276 in the class), and served with the 1st Cavalry Division from 1936 to 1940, being promoted to first lieutenant in 1939 and temporary captain in 1940.

Abrams became an armor officer early in the development of that branch and served as a tank company commander in the 1st Armored Division in 1940.

During World War II, Abrams served in the 4th Armored Division, initially as regimental adjutant (June 1941 – June 1942), battalion commander (July 1942 – March 1943), and regiment executive officer (March–September 1943) with the 37th Armor Regiment. In September 1943, a reorganization of the division redesignated the 37th Armor Regiment to the 37th Tank Battalion, which Abrams commanded; he also commanded Combat Command B of the division during the Battle of the Bulge.

During this time Abrams was promoted to the temporary ranks of major (February 1942), lieutenant colonel (September 1942), and colonel (April 1945). Abrams was promoted to lieutenant colonel eleven days before his 28th birthday.

During much of this time, the 4th Armored Division (led by the 37th Tank Battalion) was the spearhead for General George S. Patton’s Third Army, and he was consequently well known as an aggressive armor commander. By using his qualities as a leader and by consistently exploiting the relatively small advantages of speed and reliability of his vehicles, he managed to defeat German forces that had the advantage of superior armor and superior guns. He was twice decorated with the Distinguished Service Cross for extraordinary heroism, on September 20 and December 26, 1944. General George Patton said of him: “I’m supposed to be the best tank commander in the Army, but I have one peer – Abe Abrams. He’s the world champion.” Frequently the spearhead of the Third Army during World War II, Abrams was one of the leaders in the relief effort that broke up the German entrenchments entrenchments surrounding Bastogne and the 101st Airborne Division during the Battle of the Bulge. In April 1945, he was promoted to (temporary) colonel but reverted to lieutenant colonel during the post-war demobilization. On April 23, 1945, Will Lang Jr. wrote a biography of Abrams called “Colonel Abe” for Life.

brams was promoted to general in 1964 and appointed Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Army, but not before being seriously considered as a candidate for chief of staff. Due to concerns about the conduct of the Vietnam War, he was appointed as deputy to his West Point classmate, General William Westmoreland, commander of the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), in May 1967.

Abrams succeeded Westmoreland as COMUSMACV on June 10th, 1968, although his tenure of command was not marked by the public optimism of his predecessors, who were prone to press conferences and public statements.

It has been asserted by authors such as Lewis Sorley that in contrast to Westmoreland, Abrams implemented counterinsurgency tactics that focused on winning the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese rural population. A joint military-civilian organization named Civil Operations and Revolutionary Development Support under CIA official Willian Colby carried out the hearts and minds programs. According to a colonel cited in Men’s Journal, there was more continuity than change in Vietnam after Abrams succeeded Westmoreland. Newsweek magazine at the time of Abrams’ appointment observed that its sources within the Lyndon Johnson administration had spoken at length with Abrams in the past and had come away convinced that the general would make few changes. The magazine quoted an unidentified military analyst to the effect that, “All this talk of dropping search-and destroy operations in favor of clear-and-hold is just a lot of bull.” Indeed none of the strategy papers produced by Abrams on assuming command of MACV indicated the need for any change in U.S. strategy and U.S. forces continued large-scale operations to engage People’s Army of Vietnam (PAVN) main force units including the Battle of Hamburger Hill in May 1969.

Neo Dragon Armor’s 1:72 scale US M4A3E8 Sherman Medium Tank – Creighton Abrams’ “Thunderbolt VII”, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, Germany, 1945

From 1969, the Vietnam War increasingly became a conventional war between the military forces of South Vietnam and North Vietnam. Following the election of President Richard Nixon, Abrams began implementing the Nixon Administration’s Vietnamization policy to decrease U.S. involvement in Vietnam. With this new goal, Abrams had decreased American troop strength from a peak of 543,000 in early 1969 to 49,000 in June 1972. The South Vietnamese forces with aerial support from the U.S. repelled the PAVN conventional Easter Offensive in 1972. The prolonged efforts and expense of the war had by then exhausted much of the American public and political support. Abrams disdained most of the politicians with whom he was forced to deal, in particular Robert McNamara and McGeorge Bundy, and had an even lower opinion of defense contractors, whom he accused of war profiteering.

Abrams was also in charge of the Cambodian Incursion in 1970. President Nixon seemed to hold Abrams in high regard, and often relied on his advice. In a tape-recorded conversation between Nixon and National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger on December 9th, 1970, Nixon told Kissinger about Abrams’ thoughts on intervention in Cambodia that: “If Abrams strongly recommends it we will do it.” Troop levels in Vietnam eventually reached 25,000 in January 1973, at the time of the four power Paris Peace Accords . Although it occurred before he assumed total command, Abrams bore the brunt of fallout from the My Lai maasacre in March 1968.

Nixon grew increasingly dissatisfied with Abrams’ performance during Operation Lam Son 719 and had debated for some time whether to recall Abrams. On May 4, 1972 Nixon resolved to replace Abrams with his former deputy General Frederick Weyand, but the decision was not publicly announced until 20 June 1972.

To honor Creighton Abrams, Dragon has announced not one but two different versions of his celebrated WWII Sherman tank. The first, Thunderbolt IV is based on his M4A3 (76mm) Sherman medium tank, which he commanded as he led his unit in the relief effort of the besieged town of Bastogne.

A second tank, which was announced earlier this morning, pays homage to Thunderbolt VII, which was a M4A3E8 Sherman medium tank. This latest vehicle is expected in early 2023.

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Product Spotlight: When Fast Simply Isn’t Good Enough

Hobby Master’s 1:72 scale Russian Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 31K “Foxhound-D” Interceptor with KH-47M2 “Kinzhal” Hypersonic Missile – “Blue 31”, Gromov Flight Research Institute, Zhukovsky Air Base, Russia, 2022

The Mikoyan MiG-31 (NATO reporting name: Foxhound) is a supersonic interceptor aircraft that was developed for use by the Soviet Air Forces. The aircraft was designed by the Mikoyan design bureau as a replacement for the earlier MiG-25 “Foxbat”; the MiG-31 is based on and shares design elements with the MiG-25. The MiG-31 is among the fastest combat jets in the world. It continues to be operated by the Russian Air Force and the Kazakh Air Force following the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Russian Defence Ministry expects the MiG-31 to remain in service until 2030 or beyond; that was confirmed in 2020 when an announcement was made to extend the service lifetime from 2,500 to 3,500 hours on the existing air frames.

During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, MiG-31 aircraft have reportedly shot down several Ukrainian aircraft, mainly by utilizing the long range R-37 air-to-air missile. By remaining at high speed and high altitude, MiG-31s have been able to operate virtually unopposed due to Ukraine’s own fighters lacking range, speed, or altitude.

The R-37M has, since October 2022, been the main threat against the Ukrainian Air Force. The Ukrainian Air Force has a significant lack of fire and forget missiles. They relied on the R-27 missiles, both the R-27ER and R-27ET, the R-27ET’s range is 60 miles. The Ukrainian pilot must illuminate the Russian aircraft with their radar to guide the missile to the target. Russian pilots firing active radar, fire and forget, R-77 give the Russian pilots the ability to launch their missiles and then take evasive action. Ukrainian pilots were forced to “exploit ground clutter and terrain-masking to get close enough to fire before being engaged”. During the first three days of the war both sides lost aircraft. The Ukrainians replaced them with older air frames that were made flyable. However the Russian Air Force turned to the MiG-31 with the R-37M missile that has a range of 200 miles. Combined with its superior radar, on the MiG-31, the Ukrainian Air Force has started loosing more aircraft. A report by the Royal United Services Institute states that in October some six R-37Ms were being fired at the Ukrainian Air Force a day. Four MiG-31 were also deployed to Crimea. Due to the protection offered by the range of R-37M missiles Ukraine has been forced to try and attack the air bases directly to destroy MiG-31s with the attack on them before the attack on the Belbek airbase and an attempted drone attack in August. Only one MiG-31 has been lost due to an accident.

The MiG 31 is also designed to carry and launch the much hyped Kh-47M2 Kinzhal air-to-surface missile (NATO reporting name Killjoy), which is a Russian nuclear-capable hypersonic air-to-surface missile. It has a claimed range of more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi), Mach 12 speed (2.5 mi/s), and an ability to perform evasive maneuvers at every stage of its flight. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and can be launched from Tu-22M3 bombers or MiG-31K interceptors. It has been deployed at airbases in Russia’s Southern Military District and Western Military District.

The Kinzhal entered service in December 2017 and was one of the six new Russian strategic weapons unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1st, 2018.

Look for Hobby Master’s inaugural MiG-31 to break several speed records this coming April.

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Product Spotlight: Beyond MiG Alley

Soviet Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 19S "Farmer-C" Fighter - "Red 37"
Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Soviet Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 19S “Farmer-C” Fighter – “Red 37”

At the height of the Cold War, when both western and eastern forces stared down one another all along the subdivided stretch of Central Europe, no other weapon came to be as synonymous with the Soviet Union’s aggressive stance as the MiG. Yes, there was the AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle and T-55 series of main battle tanks, but it was the MiG that personified the East, able to stand toe-to-toe with the best the West could produce in the Korean and later the Vietnamese Conflicts. While there were other design bureaus operating within the Soviet Union vying to produce the preeminent fighter, MiG retained the title throughout the 50’s and well into the 90’s, taking a back seat to the likes of Sukhoi in just the last few years.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat,twin jet fighter aircraft, the world’s first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. “Century Series” fighter was the North American F-100 Super Sabre, although the MiG-19 primarily fought against the more modern McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and Republic F-105 Thunderchief over North Vietnam. This aircraft was originally used by the Soviet Union but it was later used by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force.

In 1950, the Mikoyan-Gurevich (MiG) design bureau (also known as OKB-155) began work on a new fighter aircraft, intended to have a greater range than the existing MiG-15 and MiG-17 aircraft, and capable of reaching supersonic speeds in level flight. MiG chose to use two of the new Mikulin AM-5 axial jet engines (a scaled-down version of the Mikulin AM-3 that powered the Tupolev Tu-16 bomber) for its new fighter. As a test bed for the new engine, OKB-155 was authorised on 20 April 1951 to convert one of the prototype MiG-17s, replacing the single Klimov VK-1 engine with two 19.60 kN (4,410 lbf) AM-5s (later replaced by 21.08 kN (4,740 lbf) AM-5As), with the testbed, designated SM-1 (or I-340), flying late in 1951. While the SM-1 was a useful testbed, its performance was less than expected, and first resulted in an afterburner being designed for the AM-5, resulting in the AM-5F (reaching 26.45 kN (5,950 lbf) with reheat).

While the SM-1 was a test bed, the SM-2 (or I-360) was intended as the required supersonic escort fighter, with work authorised on 10 August 1951. The SM-2 was a twin-engined, mid-winged aircraft. Its thin wings, which had been designed at TsAGI, the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute, for supersonic flight were swept back at an angle of 55 degrees and had a single wing-fence on each side. Unusually, a T-tail was fitted. Armament was two Nudelman N-37 37-mm cannon located in the leading edge of the aircraft’s wings, near the wing roots – the guns had been moved compared to those in the MiG-15 and -17 to avoid ingestion of gun blast gases causing surging of the aircraft’s engines. The first SM-2, the SM-2/1 was sent to the Letno-Issledovatel’skiy Institut (en:flight research institute) (LII) in April 1952 for testing, and was flown for the first time on May 24th, 1952, with test pilot G. A. Sedov at the aircraft’s controls. With the un-reheated AM-5A engines, the SM-2 could not exceed the speed of sound in level flight, so reheated AM-5F engines were substituted. While the new engines improved performance, the aircraft was found to have handling problems, particularly at high angles of attack, where the aircraft was prone to spinning. To solve these problems the aircraft’s horizontal tail was lowered, with other changes including moving the aircraft’s airbrakes and deepening the wing fences, with the modifications causing the aircraft to be redesignated SM-2A and then SM-2B.

The AM-5F still generated inadequate thrust and so the Mikulin engine design bureau developed a new engine to replace it, the AM-9B (later re-designed the Tumansky RD-9), rated at 25.5 kN (5,700 lbf) dry and 31.87 kN (7,160 lbf) with reheat. When fitted with the new engines, the SM-2B became the SM-9, first flying in this form on 5 January 1954. The SM-9’s performance impressed the Soviet authorities, and it was ordered into production as the MiG-19 on February 17th, 1954, despite the fact that factory testing had only just started.

The rush to get the MiG-19 into service resulted in initial production aircraft having a number of serious problems. The type suffered a number of in-flight explosions, eventually traced to poor insulation between the aircraft’s engines and fuel tanks in the rear fuselage – overheating of these tanks could cause fuel explosions. This was eventually partly solved by fitting a metal heat shield between the engines and the tanks. The aircraft’s elevators proved ineffective at supersonic speeds, and an all-moving slab tail was tested by the second and third SM-9 prototypes, and later included in the major production type, the MiG-19S, which also featured an improved armament.

At the same time that the daylight escort fighter was developed from the SM-2 and SM-9 into the MiG-19 and MiG-19S, work went on in parallel to design and build a radar-equipped all-weather fighter, with the first prototype SM-7/1 flying for the first time on August 28th, 1954. This prototype had a similar airframe to the first SM-9, including the conventional fixed horizontal tail, with the second and third SM-7s introducing similar changes to those tested on the SM-9 prototypes, including the slab tail. The all weather fighter entered production as the MiG-19P in 1955. Major differences from the MiG-19S included RP-1 Izumrud radar in the aircraft’s nose, with small radomes in the centre and on the top lip of the air intake and an armament of two cannon in the aircraft’s wing roots. From 1957, production of all weather fighters switched to the missile equipped MiG-19PM, with an armament of four K-5M air-to-air missiles, with the cannon removed.

In 1955, following American introduction of high-altitude reconnaissance balloons and overflights by British Canberra aircraft, which could not be intercepted by existing aircraft, together with intelligence reports of the development of the Lockheed U-2 with an even greater ceiling, development began on a specialist high-altitude version of the MiG-19, the MiG-19SV, which entered limited production. This had more powerful engines and was lightened, with seatback armour and one of the guns removed, while flap settings were adjusted to give greater lift at higher altitudes and a new pressure suit was introduced. These changes increased the aircraft’s ceiling from 17,500 m (57,400 ft) to 18,500 m (60,700 ft). The prototype MiG-19SV was further modified (as the MiG-19SVK) with increased wingspan, giving a ceiling of 19,100 m (62,700 ft), but this was still inadequate to deal with the U-2, and effort was switched to adding rocket boosters.

Now Panzerkampf has faithfully recreated the MiG 19 interceptor as part of its ever growing armada of 1:72 scale diecast military aircraft, the first of which is now in stock and ready for immediate shipment.

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Product Spotlight: Learning to Swim

Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale US M4(105) Sherman Medium Tank with VVSS Suspension and Deep Wading Gear – 713th Tank Battalion, Okinawa, April-June 1945 [Bonus Continental (Wright) R-975, Radial 9 Engine]

Deep wading or deep fording is a technique used by some heavy semi-amphibious vehicles to traverse water that is several meters deep – the vehicle drives on the riverbed/lakebed/seabed and uses screens or a pipe (a snorkel) that reaches above the water surface for an air supply. The technique has been used by armored military vehicles such as tanks and armored personnel carriers. Deep fording generally implies driving through water of such a depth that the vehicle is mostly or entirely submerged by the water, sometimes to several times the height of the vehicle itself, as well as a sealed crew compartment, complete with air supply for the crew. This makes it different from the less extreme “wading” done by many off-road vehicles which are simply fitted with a snorkel that is higher than the normal engine air intake, roughly level with the top of the cab. In these cases, the crew compartment is not watertight, and the snorkel provides air only for the engine. Thus maximum height is limited by the crew’s need to breathe, and very rarely completely submerges the vehicle.

In contrast, lighter, true-amphibious vehicles that float on the water surface are not limited by the depth of the water.

Although Duplex Drive allowed landing craft to release tanks farther from shore, the alternative deep wading gear permitted a tank to drive partially or completely underwater on the sea floor rather than swim. Deep wading Churchills took part in the 1942 Dieppe raid, and also operated during the D-Day assault. These tanks were given waterproofed hulls and air intake and exhaust trunking to allow them to come ashore from shallow water. Tall ducts extended from the engine deck to above the turret top and they needed to stay above water. The front duct was the air intake for the engine and crew compartment, the rear duct vented the exhaust. This device saw use in many amphibious operations, it was also used on light tanks and tank destroyers. The US had similar devices for trucks and jeeps.

The Germans gave their Tiger tank a long snorkel, essentially a long tube on the commander’s hatch that allowed it to wade through up to four metres of water, as well as rubber gaskets on all openings. This was necessary because the large tank was too heavy for most bridges in Europe and Russia at the time, meaning that they had to be able to deep ford across rivers when a bridge was not available. The Tiger was the first tank to come with deep fording ability as designed, although the earlier Tauchpanzer, a modification of the Panzer III and Panzer IV, was designed to drive on the sea-bed, part of the German preparations for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain in 1941. A long, flexible rubber hose with a floating buoy on the end supplied the engine and crew with air and gave the waterproofed tank a maximum diving depth of 15 metres (49 ft) making it an extreme example of a wading tank. They were also extremely unpopular with their crew, because they were in danger of breaking down in deep water and drowning the crew. Since the crew was unable to see where they were going, direction was given by means of radio and a spotter on the surface. The Germans eventually converted 168 Panzer IIIs and 42 Panzer IVs into Tauchpanzers, although they were never used for their intended purpose in the end.

The Pacific Theatre of Operations had its own set of unique obstacles and consequential techniques aimed at overcoming the challenges posed by forcible entry by sea. Though the Marine Corps was accustomed to landing individual tanks using LCM (Landing Craft Mechanized), it profited from massive landing operations to combat test an alternative innovation: the pontoon-based T6 flotation device which allowed a Sherman’s main gun to be used as it swam to shore.

As detailed in Oscar Gilbert’s Marine Tank Battles in the Pacific, two platoons in each battalion combat-tested the bulky system, which proved more seaworthy than the ill-fated Sherman Duplex Drive amphibious tanks at Normandy, but not necessarily more useful as it took the Shermans five hours to swim ten miles to shore.

“The lead tank of the 1st Tank Battalion detachment, commanded by Sergeant D.I. Bahde, immediately ran afoul of a passing destroyer. Unable to speed up, slow down, or steer adequately, the tank plowed inexorably toward the ship, which refused to give way. The tank crashed into the side of the ship, achieving the dubious honor of being the only tank ever to ram a ship at sea.“

But it wasn’t long before Marine tankers were soon heavily engaged with the nearly 100,000 Japanese soldiers and conscripted civilians defending the island.

By then the Marine tankers had perfected a “corkscrew and blow torch” in which they plastered a sector of the battlefield with main gunfire, before tanks with hull-mounted auxiliary flamethrowers rooted out the survivors.

Riflemen covered tanks from behind to ward of suicide assaults and the tankers even called down air-bursting artillery to spray shrapnel over their own turrets for added protection. Some Marine Shermans sported arrays of M2A1 anti-personnel mines on their hulls which could be remotely detonated as a last-ditch defensive measure.

Thanks to these tactics and the open terrain, Marine tank losses to close assaults were reduced to nil, contrary to the fortunes of less-experienced Army tank units.

Look for Forces of Valor’s latest M4 Sherman tank, equipped with both deep wading gear and a flamethrower, to storm ashore later this year.

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Product Spotlight: For the (Air) Defense

Panzerkampf’s 1:72 scale Russian Pantsir S1 Self-Propelled Air Defense System – Russo-Ukrainian War 2022

When it comes to collecting diecast military vehicles, particularly modern era weaponry, air defense systems are oftentimes considered to be one of those bantamweight divisions that routinely takes a back seat to the main event draw — tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. Let’s face it, air defense systems aren’t quite as sexy or well known as the “heavies” of contemporary mobile warfare, oftentimes loitering in the rear areas guarding key positions or routes of advance and therefore far from the fighting where the cameras are rolling.

So, when Panzerkampf decided to model the Russian-built Pantsir S-1 air defense system earlier this year, collectors instantly took note, clearly intrigued by a system they may have seen in the media but wondered what purpose they served and why they were caught up in the conflict miles behind the front lines.

The Pantsir (Russian: “Carapace”) missile system is a family of self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile and anti-aircraft artillery systems. Starting with the Pantsir-S1 (NATO reporting name SA-22 Greyhound) as the first version, it is produced by KBP Instrument Design Bureau of Tula, Russia.

The Pantsir-S1 was designed to provide point air defense of military, industrial and administrative installations against aircraft, helicopters, precision munitions, cruise missiles and UAVs; and to provide additional protection to air defense units against enemy air attacks employing precision munitions, especially at low to extremely low altitudes.

The first finished version was completed in 1995 with the 1L36 radar, later another was designed. It is a short to medium range ground-based air defense system, wheeled, tracked or stationary with two to three operators. Its air defense consists of automatic anti-aircraft guns and surface-to-air missiles with radar or optical target-tracking and radio-command guidance.

The manufacturer claims that their Pantsir has already entered production and may have as many as six different vehicles in the works, largely with different camouflage patterns. So, together with Dragon’s revamped Neo Dragon Armor vehicles and other Panzerkampf “heavies”, it appears as if collectors will have lots to choose from this holiday season, at least as far as modern warfare is concerned. Incidentally, no cost has yet to be established for this item so we are unable to accept any pre-orders. We will update our site once we have a better idea as to how to price this item as well as their expected arrival dates.

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Product Spotlight: Scorched Earth

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US M4A3 Sherman Flame Tank with HVSS Suspension – POA-CWS-H5 Flamethrower, Korea, 1951

When war broke out between the Empire of Japan and the United States in December 1941, war planners at the Pentagon knew that US forces would have to take the war to Japan if they were to break the enemy in their island fortress. Between the tenacity of the average Japanese soldier and the nature of the terrain throughout the south and central Pacific, it was quickly realized that the American arsenal would have to be beefed up substantially if they were to assault and seize those enemy-occupied islands deemed important for capture, so the call went out for all manner of weaponry to help fill the void.

One device that was pressed into service was the man-portable flamethrower, a weapon of war that was both terrifying in nature and successful in use. The use of flamethrowers as a means of breaking an enemy’s morale and storm heavily defended fortifications was nothing new in 1941 — in fact they were first used several decades prior in WWI as a means of clearing trenches and other heavily fortified obstacles standing in the way of an advance. Unfortunately for the operator, a man-portable flamethrower became instantly recognizable to the enemy since he was both conspicuous in stance and an obvious target that could be picked out with ease. It was said that the life expectancy of a flamethrower could oftentimes be measure in seconds so it took nerves of steel and a fair bit of luck to serve as an operator.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale USMC M4A3 Sherman Flame Tank with HVSS Suspension – “35”, POA-CWS-H5 Flamethrower, Hawaii, 1945

Recognizing their vulnerability on the battlefield as well as the incorporation of mechanized units on the mid-twentieth century battlefield, war planners eventually developed more potent and better protected means of employing scorched earth tactics. One such result was the flame tank. A flame tank is a type of tank equipped with a flamethrower, most commonly used to supplement combined arms attacks against fortifications, confined spaces, or other obstacles. The type only reached significant use in the Second World War, during which the United States, Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom (including members of the British Commonwealth) all produced flamethrower-equipped tanks.

A number of production methods were used. The flamethrowers used were either modified versions of existing infantry flame weapons (Flammpanzer I and II) or specially designed (Flammpanzer III). They were mounted externally (Flammpanzer II), replaced existing machine gun mounts, or replaced the tank’s main armament (Flammpanzer III). Fuel for the flame weapon was either carried inside the tank, in armored external storage, or in some cases in a special trailer behind the tank (Churchill Crocodile).

In contrast to man-portable flamethrowers that were vulnerable to bullets and shrapnel making them extremely dangerous to their operators, flame tanks were extremely difficult to catch on fire or explode unless hit with an armor piercing round or explosive reaching the ammunition and engine fuel inside the tank’s main hull. Tanks such as the Churchill Crocodile, which towed the flamethrower liquid container behind the actual tank, held no greater risk of fire than standard tanks. Although the towed container itself could be easily targeted, the tank and its crew remained well protected. The armored trailer and armored coupling of the Churchill Crocodile could be jettisoned from inside the tank if necessary.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale USMC M4A3 Sherman Flame Tank with HVSS Suspension – “F11”, POA-CWS-H5 Flamethrower, Korea, 1951

Crews of flame tanks were not necessarily more vulnerable than those crews in the regular tanks, standard version of the tank (a Churchill Crocodile flame tank being more or less as vulnerable to anti-tank weapons as the standard Churchill), but the crews of flamethrowing tanks were often treated differently should they be captured alive by German troops. Due to the perceived inhumanity of the weapon itself, captured crews of such tanks were often treated much less humanely than crews of regular tanks. Instances of flametankers being executed by German troops upon capture were not uncommon. Subsequently, British tank crews received sixpence a day extra “danger money” due to the threat of arbitrary execution. Flame tanks also suffered from the fact, along with flamethrower-armed troops, that all enemy within range would usually open up on them due to the fear of the weapon.

Recently, Dragon announced the imminent release of no less than three flame tanks as part of their burgeoning Neo Dragon Armor range. Look for the first of these to unleash a firestorm on the diecast battlefield later this year.

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Product Spotlight: A Tiger in Sheep’s Clothing

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank – “Tiger Face”, “Rice’s Red Devils”, 89th Tank Battalion. Han River, Korea, March 1951

Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, “Hearts and Minds”, and propaganda. The term is used “to denote any action which is practiced mainly by psychological methods with the aim of evoking a planned psychological reaction in other people”.

Various techniques are used, and are aimed at influencing a target audience’s value system, belief system, emotions, motives, reasoning, or behavior. It is used to induce confessions or reinforce attitudes and behaviors favorable to the originator’s objectives, and are sometimes combined with black operations or false flag tactics. It is also used to destroy the morale of enemies through tactics that aim to depress troops’ psychological states.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank – “Tiger Face”, 25th Infantry Division, Han River, Korea, March 1951

Psychological warfare was still in its rudimentary stages when war broke out on the Korean Peninsula in 1950. Back then, military commanders understood the importance of fooling the enemy as a means of gaining the upper hand, even if the resources to pull off such a ruse was basic at best. Operation Ripper (March 6th-31st, 1951), as it was known, represented the UN’s attempt to liberate Seoul, South Korea’s capital, from North Korean occupation and push back the combined communist forces to their starting positions along the 38th Parallel. The Chinese Volunteer Army (CVA), who entered the war on the side of North Korea after it was attacked by UN forces in the latter half of 1950, did not possess any tanks and was largely an infantry-based formation that relied heavily upon human wave attacks to seize their objectives. The North Koreans, on the other hand, had lost most of their tanks during the fighting in 1950, and therefore posed little in the way of a threatening force as it had once been a year earlier.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank – “Tiger Face”, “Rice’s Red Devils”, 89th Tank Battalion. Han River, Korea, March 1951

For this offensive, the US Army employed a bit of psychological warfare against the Chinese forces who were supposedly very superstitious, and whose culture feared both the tiger and dragon. Interestingly, the tiger is considered to be brave, cruel, forceful, stately and terrifying, the symbol of power and lordliness. In ancient times, the Chinese people usually compared emperors to the tiger. So, in an effort to boost the morale of the UN troops facing them and instill fear in the Chinese troops opposing them, it was decided that US tank crews were to paint their tanks with tiger heads/faces, bloody sharp teeth and claws on the front of their vehicles. These schemes were the most elaborate and colorful markings ever applied to US tanks and it was hoped these tiger faces would help to strike fear in the hearts of the Chinese troops ahead of any advance.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank – “Tiger Face”, 24th Infantry Division, Han River, Korea, March 1951

Unfortunately, this colorful plan might have worked a year earlier but due to some misinformation regarding the dates of the Chinese New Year, never achieved its stated aim of forcing the Chinese to flee. In 1951, The Year of the Tiger as it was known by the Chinese, actually ended on February 5th, 1951, one month prior to the start of the UN attack. On the other hand, February 6th, 1951 ushered in the Year of the Rabbit, which had no detrimental effect on the average Chinese soldier. Changing the painted images of the tiger to a rabbit on many of the Allies’ tanks was obviously a moot idea so the tiger faces that adorned the tanks were left as is. After the offensive ended in late March, the elaborate guise was no longer needed so the paint schemes were either left to fade or were painted over to their original schemes.

Dragon’s 1:72 scale US Army M4A3E8 Sherman Tank – “Tiger Face”, 24th Infantry Division, Han River, Korea, March 1951

Never one to shrink from a daunting task, Dragon, under their Neo Dragon Armor brand, plans on re-producing these battle wagons with not one but five different iterations of the famed “Tiger Face” Sherman. Each has been painstakingly researched based upon information obtained from actual photos and other historical documents. Look for the entire collection to roll out sometime this fall.

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Product Spotlight: On Hallowed Ground

Forces of Valor’s 1:32 scale US M4A3E2 Sherman Jumbo Assault Tank with VVSS Suspension – “Cobra King”, C Company, 37th Tank Battalion, 4th Armored Division, Bastogne, Belgium, December 26th, 1944 [Bonus Ford GAA V-8 Engine

To this day, there is some debate whether or not the beleaguered 101st Airborne Division, who were tasked with defending the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne during the Ardennes counteroffensive, were in need of rescuing against vastly superior German forces then encircling the area. Ask the “Screaming Eagles” holed up in the town and they’ll say they were simply holding out against ferocious if failed Nazi assaults for several days running. Patton’s 3rd Army, on the other hand, who had ceased attacking German forces well to the south of the so-called “Bulge”, pivoted 90-degrees then marched through the thick of winter for two days, will answer differently, acting like saviors for the men of the 101st who, for all intents and purposes, were cut off from the world and hanging on by a thread.

On the morning of December 26th, 1944, as part of a concerted effort to relieve the 101st Airborne (“Screaming Eagles”) defending the all-important crossroads town of Bastogne, the 4th Armored Division’s (“Breakthrough”) Combat Command Reserve (CCR) was ordered by Division HQ to link up with Combat Command B (CCB), which was still fighting for the town of Chaumont in southeast Belgium. Colonel Wendell Blanchard, commander of CCR, called together Lt. Colonel Creighton Abrams of the 37th Tank Battalion, and Lt. Colonel George L. Jaques of the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion.

He told them to attack and seize the village of Chaumont, which was just 3 miles from Bastogne. From there, they were to advance in earnest up the main road, break through the German cordon, and make contact with the beleaguered 101st, which was rapidly running out of ammunition.

After capturing Chaumont, the two commanders initially planned to attack the town of Sibret, but because it was so heavily defended, they instead chose to assault the nearby village of Assenois, which was located on a secondary road but still provided access to Bastogne. With artillery firing in support, the leading element of CCR, comprised of three Shermans followed by a halftrack full of infantry, then two more Shermans, stormed the village. Abrams’ tanks blasted their way through the obstacles, while dismounted infantry mopped up the remaining strongpoints. After eliminating several enemy soldiers laying Teller mines along the road, Abrams command linked up with elements of the 101st at 1700 hours. The siege had been lifted and with it came the collapse of Hitler’s “Wacht am Rhein” operation.

Look for the “First in Bastogne” Sherman from Forces of Valor to break the siege in the Ardennes Forest early this fall.

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Product Spotlight: When the Whippoorwill Sings

Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale RAF Curtiss P-40B Tomahawk Fighter – No.112 Squadron, North Africa, October 1941

The eastern whippoorwill is a medium-sized bird within the nightjar family, found primarily in North America. The whippoorwill is commonly heard within its range, but less often seen because of its camouflage. It is named onomatpoeically after its song. Unlike the melodic call of most birds in the wild, a Whippoorwill singing near a house was oftentimes considered an omen of death, or at least of bad luck. As legend goes, a man could rid himself of an aching back if he turned somersaults in time to whippoorwill calls. On the other hand, if a Native American heard a whippoorwill’s called invitation, he or she was advised to decline it.

Such was the fate of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter, an aircraft rushed into production early on in the Second World War, and meeting with mixed results for several allied nations. First taking to the air in 1938, a scant year before hostilities broke out in Europe, the P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational service. The Warhawk was used by most Allied powers during World War II, and remained in front line service until the end of the war. It was the third most-produced American fighter of World War II, after the P-51 and P-47; by November 1944, when production of the P-40 ceased, 13,738 had been built, all at Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s main production facilities in Buffalo, New York.

Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale American Volunteer Group Curtiss P-40B Warhawk Fighter – R.T. Smith, 3rd Pursuit Squadron, China, June 1942

While it wasn’t a complete disaster in aerial combat, it failed at higher altitudes since it lacked a two-speed supercharger, which instantly made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat, meaning it was rarely used in operations in Northwest Europe. However, between 1941 and 1944, the P-40 played a critical role with Allied air forces in three major theaters: North Africa, the Southwest Pacific, and China. It also had a significant role in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Alaska and Italy.

Forces of Valor’s 1:72 scale USAAC Curtiss P-40B Warhawk Fighter – 78th Pursuit Squadron (18th Pursuit Group), Bellows Field, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7th, 1941

That said, Forces of Valor plans on introducing three different P-40s later this summer, each drawn from a different theatre of action and user nation called upon to fly it. While the P-40 paled in comparison to other Allied front line fighters, it nevertheless served a crucial role in the early to mid stages of the conflict and until such time as more potent fighter aircraft could be designed, fielded and flown against the best that the Axis air forces could send aloft.

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Product Spotlight: Up the Boot

Armored Fighting Vehicles of World War II 1:43 scale US M18 Hellcat Light Tank Destroyer – “Black Cat”, 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 5th Armored Division, Italy, 1944

The tank destroyer battalion was a type of military unit used by the United States Army during World War II. The unit was organized in one of two different forms – a towed battalion equipped with anti-tank guns, or a mechanized battalion equipped with armored self-propelled guns. The tank destroyer units were formed in response to the German use of massed formations of armored vehicles units early in WWII. The tank destroyer concept envisioned the battalions acting as independent units that would respond at high speed to large enemy tank attacks. In this role, they would be attached in groups or brigades to corps or armies. In practice, they were usually individually attached to infantry divisions. Over one hundred battalions were formed, of which more than half saw combat service. The force was disbanded shortly after the end of the war when the concept had been shown to be militarily unsound.

One such unit was the 805th Tank Destroyer Battalion. The 805th was formed from the 105th Anti-tank Battalion on December 15th, 1941, in line with the reorganization of the anti-tank force. It was shipped to the United Kingdom in August 1942, and then deployed for the North African Campaign in January 1943, equipped with M3 GMC tank destroyers. It was attached briefly to the 34th Infantry Division, then attached to the 1st Armored Division on February 20th, just in time to see action at the Battle of the Kasserine Pass, where it took heavy losses. On March 23rd, equipped with the new M10 tank destroyer, it fought at the Battle of El Guettar.

In October 1943, it converted to a towed battalion equipped with 3″ anti-tank guns, and was shipped to Italy, arriving in the Naples area on October 25th – the first 3″ towed battalion to see combat. It was attached to the 34th Infantry Division in January 1944, and supported the division in fighting on the Bernhardt Line and at Monte Cassino, before being shipped to the Anzio beachhead in mid-March and attached to the 36th Infantry Division. In June, it was attached to the 1st Armored Division.

It re-equipped with M18 Hellcats in the summer of 1944, but continue to be used mainly for indirect-fire missions through the remainder of the war, attached to a variety of different units during the drive north. On April 21st, 1945, they were attached to the 34th Infantry Division when it captured Bologna, and with the 88th Infantry Division when it reached the Brenner Pass in early May.

The second batch of six Armored Fighting Vehicles of World War II, which includes the Hellcat shown here, are now in stock and ready for immediate shipment. And if you’re looking to retake Italy from the Nazis, you may want to deploy this combat vehicle to the front lines.

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