ESCI – 8322 – M48 A2

Description:

M48 A2

Unassembled plastic model kit in 1/72 scale of a U.S. M48 Patton introduced in the early 50s, initially with a 90mm as main gun, that was kept in the A2 variant. A2, redesigned the rear hull, simplifying it, as well as the suspension system, reducing the return rollers from 5 to 3 and eliminating a tension idler wheel between the last road wheel and the drive sprocket (track tensioner arm).

In 1988 ESCI-Ertl tooled a mould for the M48 tank that was enough for five different related releases, some of them just by changing decals.

This is the first release and we can consider it as the parent kit, which main features for the good and the bad are present in all the related releases.

All the releases share the main hull and chassis parts, as well as wheels, tracks and main turret parts, a last sprue with gun, mantlet, turret details and copulas changes on the different variants that need it.

Tooled by ESCI-Ertl it means the kit enjoys the link-and-length tracks, but the brand did the same simplification on the wheels, single piece instead of double, double width than other ESCI kits. This design also causes tracks to lost the central inner teeth. The rest of the kit, is a good kit, with a good amount of detail for the scale and everything correctly casted except by some ejection pin mark not hard to correct.

The configuration of the wheels sprue in this kit was quite clever by ESCI-Ertl, as it contained enough return rollers for 3 or 5 per side configuration, which allowed the A3 and A5 releases, as well as the tension idler wheel, a feature of the A1 and early A2 production. This also allows to build this kit as a A1 upgraded to A2, these tanks kept 5 return rollers and the tension idler wheel, early A2, with 3 return rollers and tension idler wheel, and A2 with 3 return rollers and no tension idler wheel, though instructions in this kit only guide to build the early A2 variant. It also worth it to mention, that for every 5 rollers version, like the A3 and A5 kits, the chassis part has no guidance for the two extra rollers, only for the 3 of the A2 variant, though instructions shows the chassis part as if it had 3 or 5 points for the return rollers, it only has 3, and you need to measure where to add the extra two.