M247 Sergeant York (Takom 1/35)

[Adam Durrant]

I have always been fascinated by the story of the ill fated Sgt York DIVAD project. Based on the M48 hull and mounting twin 40mm Bofors auto cannon, it was designed to keep up with and provide air defense for the Abrams and Bradley formations. To keep costs down it used off the shelf parts such as the APG-66 radar from the F-16 fighter jet. Unfortunately it was a complete failure, the radar struggled to detect and track even stationary targets, the turret traverse couldn’t keep up with a fast moving target, and the increase in weight resulted in the vehicle becoming mechanically unreliable and unable to keep up with the formations it was designed to protect. The radar had a mode designed to detect the spinning blades of a helicopter and there is an urban legend that during one test the radar locked on to, and was about to engage, the spinning fan of a port-a-Loo provided for visiting VIPs!

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I built the Tamiya offering 30+ years ago and the Academy offering shortly after. Both were pretty simple and my modeling skills probably didn’t do the subject justice at the time.

I have awaited the Takom release since it was announced, and now with a clear work bench I can begin!

The kit comes in a sturdy (and large) box with the usual attractive box art we have come to expect from Takom.

The instruction manual is in the landscape A4 format, 30 steps with 3 known colour schemes and 2 “what if” colour schemes done by Ammo.

You get 20 Grey sprues in the usual Takom slightly soft plastic, one clear sprue, 3 slide molded hull/turret parts, a small PE fret, some poly caps and a piece of copper cable. A small set of decals is provided, mine are all in register.

The tracks are plastic Indi links and come with a small jig to help the build.

Looking at the sprues the detail is crisp, there is very little flash and mold lines look to be in sensible places. The usual large sprue gates I have come to expect from Takom are present….I suppose you can’t have everything!

[Adam Durrant]

Steps 1-2
I can understand why Takom releases Blitz kits, the average modeler would not appreciate having to clean and assemble the 55 parts it takes to get this….

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I’m using Tamiya thin glue as the Ammo extra thin (Mig 2025) is a bit hot for the soft Takom plastic. The torsion bars are workable, just be sure to reference the angle they are all designed to sit at before applying glue.

[Philipp Gross]

I'd say the 55 parts were well worth the effort Adam That hull looks nice and crisp, how was the fit?

The M48 is my favourite Cold War tank, I hope some German variants are in the pipeline. I have some Revell kits, but there's a reason I haven't built them yet

Philipp

[Adam Durrant]

The fit is perfect Philipp, I haven’t had to resort to filler yet

The only issue is Takom’s reluctance to use locator pins, the best you get in some places are wee rounded bulges so perfect location requires reference pics and careful study of the manual.

[Adam Durrant]

The M48 is my favourite Cold War tank, I hope some German variants are in the pipeline. I have some Revell kits, but there's a reason I haven't built them yet

Philipp

Sorry Philipp, just saw the above. Takom’s M48 kit is very “modular” so I suspect they will just continue to build on the range of variants in their catalogue

[Adam Durrant]

Steps 3-5
This builds all the details on the front of the hull as well as some of the back deck and joins upper and lower hulls.

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Detail is good but the brush guards for the lights are a bit awkward. They are split into two pieces in the middle and joined with a small butt joint. Some gentle squeezing and then sanding were required to make them look like one piece, and I chose to assemble them on the model rather than as a subassembly as suggested in the instructions.

[Adam Durrant]

Step 6-7
This is the back deck. Nothing special here, I used Tamiya slow setting glue for the major sub assemblies as it’s all built from flat parts, again with no locator pins. I went with the slow glue so I could make minor adjustments all the way through to keep it all square.

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From the looks of things the next steps will be to assemble all the swing arms….

[Vincent Power]

I knew absolutely nothing about this vehicle before I read your build Adam. Sounds like a good idea gone bad. The cast texture on the hull is nice. Is that what you get in the kit or have you added some texture?

Vincent

[Adam Durrant]

I knew absolutely nothing about this vehicle before I read your build Adam. Sounds like a good idea gone bad. The cast texture on the hull is nice. Is that what you get in the kit or have you added some texture?

Vincent

Hey Vincent. The cast texture is really well done, as are all the casting marks and welds. I won’t be changing any of them…at the moment!

I suspect the Sgt York would have been as auspicious as its namesake if they hadn’t cheaped out and tried to use surplus M48 hulls and kit. The Gepard was built at the same time and has been a success, manly as they kept the weight down, the Gepard hull is not a surplus Leo A1 hull but a purpose built hull that has less armour and is slightly longer. Turns out SPAAG turrets are very heavy as is all the extra kit needed to run them (APUs, batteries etc). The Gepard can keep up with the formations it protects and has a purpose built radar and gun system.

[Vincent Power]

Thanks Adam. My knowledge of modern armour is almost zero so I appreciate your summary. Sometimes the failures are just as interesting as the successes.

Vincent