M3A1 Scout Car

ESCI 1:72 Scale Vehicle Review

M3A1 White Scout Car, 1:72 ESCI 8356.

The ESCI 1:72 scale M3A1 White Scout Car comes with decals for U.S., French, and Soviet vehicles, highlighting the kit‘s versatility. The Soviet Army received American M3 White Scout Cars under the Lend-Lease program. These vehicles were employed as reconnaissance vehicles, as armoured personnel carriers for motorized infantry of elite formations, and as prime movers for the ZIS-3 Anti-Tank Gun. However, due to a shortage of armoured personnel carriers, motorized infantry typically rode tanks and assault guns into battle.

Contents

  • M3A1 Scout Car
  • Decals
    • US 1st Armored Division, Tunisia, early 1943
    • French 2e Division Blindée, Paris, August 1944
    • Soviet Army, unknown Unit, 1944
    • Soviet Army, unknown Unit, 1944

Evaluation

The ESCI M3A1 White Scout Car has remained unique in this scale since 1976. Reissued by Italeri in 2009, the M3A1 Scout Car is a popular model kit for wargamers, collectors, and diorama builders to this day.

The ESCI M3A1 Scout Car is a scale model kit, apart fron the fact that, due to manufacturing limitations, the 13 mm thick armour plate of the open-topped fighting compartment cannot be represented at a true scale thickness of 0.18 mm. This visual shortcoming can be mitigated by sanding down the inner surfaces of vertical armour plates.

Rivet heads, hinges, joints, and panel lines are clearly defined. The body and chassis fit together well; however, the tires are noticeably narrow for a vehicle in this weight class.

M3A1 Scout Car of the Forces françaises libres (FFL), 1:72 ESCI 8356.
M3A1 Scout Car of the Forces françaises libres (FFL).

The Free French Forces (FFL) and the British Army used the M3A1 White Scout Car as a reconnaissance and liaison vehicle, an armoured ambulance, or command vehicle. Some captured M3A1 White Scout Cars from U.S. stocks also ended up in the inventory of the Wehrmacht‘s Afrika Korps.

The ESCI M3A1 Scout Car is a must-have for wargamers and collectors, it serves perfectly as a reconnaissance or command vehicle for the U.S. Army, the Free French Forces, and the British Army, as well as an armoured personnel carrier for the Soviet Army of the Second World War.

M3 Scout Car