Post by mshackleton on Nov 6, 2012 9:38:02 GMT -5
Bronco Models
Light Tank M24 Chaffee (Post-War version) Service in Asian Army Force
Catalogue No.: CB35072
Scale: 1.35
Reviewed by: Michael Shackleton
This model was kindly supplied for this review by Bronco Models.
M24 in Asian Use Post-war
The M24 went into production late in the war and the US Army was the most important customer. It was not extensively exported under Lend-Lease with Britain being the only significant recipient. The British only received 302. After the end of hostilities, however, significant numbers of Chaffees were supplied to armies around the world under various mutual aid packages from 1950 onwards. Around ninety per cent of all production - 4,400 tanks - was exported.
The principal recipients were the newly-formed NATO countries. France was the largest recipient and most, or all, of the British Chaffees are believed to have gone to the Netherlands.
Asian armies also received significant numbers - and so we come to the subject of this latest version of the Chaffee from Bronco. The versions depicted in this kit are from the armies of Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and South Vietnam.
The M24 was used to create the armoured force of the new Japanese Self-Defense Force from 1952. They received 289 and four battalions were formed. They weren't totally replaced until the early 1970s.
On Taiwan, the Republic of China received a few M24s to replace M5A1 Stuarts that had been used in the failed civil war on mainland China in the late 1940s. Two armoured divisions were formed from the 242 tanks they received. According to Zaloga, within a decade, they had all been replaced by the M41.
After the withdrawal of French forces in 1955 from Indochina, the South Vietnamese organised four cavalry regiments and each had a squadron of M24s. They received 137 in total. In the Vietnam war, they did not see combat until November 1963 when M24s of the Armour School fought against a small number of M24s from the presidential guard brigade during a coup! The US soon replaced the M24 with the M41 but the M24s were still used as static pillboxes around airports with their engines removed.
132 M24s formed the backbone of Pakistan's small armoured force. They had three regiments, one of which saw some action in a large tank battle at Assal Uttar on 10 September 1965. Pakistani sources say only one tank was lost, Indian sources say 60 were knocked out! In Bangladesh in 1971, 29th cavalry had 66 M24s which were all in bad shape because of their age. They faced large numbers of Indian PT-76 and T-55 and most were lost or surrendered, survivors seeing out there days after the war having been handed over to the Bangladesh government in a very poor state.
Korea received 30 tanks which were used for training in the early 1950s.
Revised Turret
Following their release of the American version of the M24 (early production), Bronco have now released an Asian version to follow-up their British Chaffee. Rather than burden you with another in-depth contents review, I will refer you to my earlier review of the American version here: modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=miniart&action=display&thread=1155 and try to describe the differences between the two kits.
The biggest problem with the original American release was that Bronco made an error with the turret - see the review above. This has now been addressed and Bronco should be commended for listening to various modellers who brought up this problem on various websites. The sprue containing the revised turret is identical apart from the obvious retooling of the fold line across the turret roof panel. I still think that the turret sides, particularly around the rear roof panel, are too high. On the real thing they are SLIGHTLY higher around the edge, but only to the depth of the weld bead. The kit has a definite taller edge all around the turret. This can be improved with some gentle scraping with a sharp knife and/or file.
If you bought the initial American version and wish to replace the turret with the more accurate version, the turret is available separately for the price of shipping (catalogue number CB35069SP) - see here: www.track-link.net/forum/news_industry/23365. The American kit (and all subsequent versions) are now been available with the updated turret, but check inside the box before buying in case your local friendly hobby shop still has some old stock.
Asian Versions
How do these Asian versions differ from the original American release? On opening the box and inspecting the sprues, the two kits seem to be the same. However, on closer inspection and looking through the instructions, there are some important differences. There are no figures on offer this time, the decals are different (not surprisingly) and the etch fret has been reworked - there are now two frets.
Two far more important differences are the tracks and the road wheels. The wartime T84 metal tracks were replaced with T87 rubber block tracks which had a chevron pattern shoe. Rather than designing clip-together tracks as in the WW2 versions (which fall apart if glue is not used), this time Bronco have designed the post-war tracks with each link built from three parts. Before you hold your hands up in horror, I have built Bronco Leopard 2 tracks which are designed the same way, and they go together very quickly. You also end up with a relatively strong and workable track. Admittedly, the Leopard 2 tracks are a fair bit larger than M24 tracks, but I don't see any problem putting them together, especially if you use some kind of straight edge to guide the building of the links.
Bronco have NOT supplied the same road wheels as in the US and British versions. To replace them, Bronco have engineered a new set of wheels with a different pattern. The wartime wheels had a concave wall around the edge before a couple of angular steps just below the rubber rim. These post-war wheels have vertical walls, a distinct reinforcing ring around the hub and an overhang where they meet the rubber tyres. Difficult to describe, but hopefully the photos will make it clearer. Strangely, neither Hunnicut or Zaloga mention this type of wheel in their writings, but Bronco have spotted them.
However, be careful when using these wheels as not all post-war M24s used them. A quick check - as detailed below in the decal options - shows that the wartime wheels were still widely used after the war. It is also possible to see a mixture of both types of wheel on the same vehicle. Go to the Prime Portal site referenced below and you will see the difference, particularly in Paul's M24 Chaffee Walk Around which shows an M24 fitted with these wheels. The ideal would be if Bronco issued this set and the wartime set as separate accessory kits, or combine both into one kit.
The lower front hull plate has also been reworked to include floatation mounts and there are several extra sprues for building a host of .50 Calibre ammunition boxes for use on the ex-RNVA versions. Other than these, the sprues are identical to the previous offerings.
One thing that does bother me is the gun barrel. The early (US) version has rings around the barrel thanks to its parentage from the B-25H Mitchell ground-attack version of the medium bomber. Later versions do not have the rings as supplied in the kit, so these need to be cleaned off.
Compared to the instructions for the American version, the Asian instructions have been re-jigged slightly to accommodate the necessary changes.
Decal Options
Before you make your model, it is best to look at which of the decal options you want to build. Most of them have tiny detail differences that are helpfully included in the colour profiles. Differences from the WW2 American version are:
1 Rubber block tracks with chevron-pattern tread.
2 Different road wheels (but check references).
3 No side skirts.
4 Floatation mounts on the front as well as the rear hull.
5 Splash ring around the turret ventilator (does not need to be deleted as on the WW2 version)
6 Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
7 Additional machine gun mount on the forward turret.
8 Jerrycans fitted at the rear of both track guards.
There is one further option of an infantry telephone box mounted right rear in place of the rear light. Rather unhelpfully, Bronco do not make it clear which options this is appropriate for. The only readily-available reference for this (that I can find) is the Osprey M24 Chaffee book by Steven Zaloga (New Vanguard 77).
The above are not mentioned as options as they were standard fittings for post-war versions. I'll mention the differences between the options below.
Options 1 and 2: two JGSDF options, both from unknown units.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Stowage shelf across the hull rear on option 2.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Both in plain Olive Drab.
Photos here www.network54.com/Forum/156324/thread/1094315801/Need+pics+of+JGSDF+Chaffee+tanks show both types of wheel in use with T87 rubber block tracks and they are fitted with the infantry phone box.
Option 3: former RVNA vehicle, Tan Son Nhut (unit unknown), South Vietnam, 1967.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
0.50 Calibre ammunition boxes stowed on both fenders.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 23).
Three-tone camouflage with Olive Drab base and green and black disrupters (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains the wartime pattern road wheels but does use T87 rubber block tracks.
Option 4: former RVNA vehicle, Saigon City (unit unknown), South Vietnam, 1967.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
0.50 Calibre ammunition boxes stowed on both fenders.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 23).
Two-tone camouflage with Olive Drab base black disrupters (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains the wartime pattern road wheels but does use T87 rubber block tracks.
Option 5: ROK Army Training Centre, Kwang-ju, Korea, 1953.
Stowage shelf across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 21).
Plain Olive Drab.
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains wartime T86 metal tracks and also wartime pattern road wheels.
Option 6: Pakistan Army, 29th Cavalry regiment, Boyra, Bangladesh, November 1971 (third Indo-Pakistani war).
Stowage basket across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Olive Drab with Earth disrupter (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the Osprey book, the disrupter should be grey (plate G on page 32). A photo on page 23 does confirm that this does have later style wheels as in the kit and T87 rubber tracks. The infantry phone box has been cropped out of the photo if it is there.
Option 7: Taiwan Army, unit unknown, 1980s.
Different pattern headlights.
Stowage basket across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret WITH gun mounted.
Olive Drab.
Conclusions
A very fine model indeed is all I can say. Now the turret has been corrected, I cannot fault this kit. I have to admit it has always been one of my favourite machines so I am very happy indeed to see a modern plastic kit of this tank.
The inclusion of T87 rubber block tracks (which will build into stronger tracks than those in the two WW2 kits) and the inclusion of different wheels is great. However, as discussed, these wheels are not appropriate to all of the versions covered by this kit. Check your references before you build. This is my only criticism of a lovely model along with the retention of the rings around the barrel.
The Bronco M24 is not a shake-the-box kit. It is a model for the more experienced builder. However, it is not so complex that it will put off any competent builder. Take your time, and you will be well rewarded with the result. It is extremely well detailed including very fine casting marks on many parts. It offers some of the best moulding I've ever seen with things like track guard mounts and the track guards themselves which are very thin and close to scale thickness. All of the rear deck panels and the glacis transmission plate are separate parts making things easy for after market people to come up with different interior sets. The kit has open hatches, all of which have interior details. The sprockets and idlers have lightening holds moulded in. There are many other nice touches, as already detailed above. However, there are some toy-like options such as a recoiling gun and workable torsion bars.
Overall, very, very highly recommended. Almost as good as it gets!!!!
This model was kindly supplied for this review by Bronco Models.
References
Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank, Volume 1. Hunnicutt, R.P. Navato, CA: Presidio Press, 1992.
M24 Chaffee Light Tank 1943-85 (New Vanguard), Osprey Publishing, Steven Zaloga.
M24 Chaffee - Armor Walk Around, Color Series No.14, David Doyle.
M24 Chaffee in action, Squadron Armor no.25, Jim Mesko.
WWP M24 Chaffee in detail. M24 Chaffee, F Koran, M Velek.
Allied-Axis: The photo journal of the Second World War, issue 15.
www.primeportal.net/tanks/m24_chaffee.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M24_Chaffee
afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m24chaffee.html
Light Tank M24 Chaffee (Post-War version) Service in Asian Army Force
Catalogue No.: CB35072
Scale: 1.35
Reviewed by: Michael Shackleton
This model was kindly supplied for this review by Bronco Models.
M24 in Asian Use Post-war
The M24 went into production late in the war and the US Army was the most important customer. It was not extensively exported under Lend-Lease with Britain being the only significant recipient. The British only received 302. After the end of hostilities, however, significant numbers of Chaffees were supplied to armies around the world under various mutual aid packages from 1950 onwards. Around ninety per cent of all production - 4,400 tanks - was exported.
The principal recipients were the newly-formed NATO countries. France was the largest recipient and most, or all, of the British Chaffees are believed to have gone to the Netherlands.
Asian armies also received significant numbers - and so we come to the subject of this latest version of the Chaffee from Bronco. The versions depicted in this kit are from the armies of Japan, South Korea, Pakistan, Taiwan and South Vietnam.
The M24 was used to create the armoured force of the new Japanese Self-Defense Force from 1952. They received 289 and four battalions were formed. They weren't totally replaced until the early 1970s.
On Taiwan, the Republic of China received a few M24s to replace M5A1 Stuarts that had been used in the failed civil war on mainland China in the late 1940s. Two armoured divisions were formed from the 242 tanks they received. According to Zaloga, within a decade, they had all been replaced by the M41.
After the withdrawal of French forces in 1955 from Indochina, the South Vietnamese organised four cavalry regiments and each had a squadron of M24s. They received 137 in total. In the Vietnam war, they did not see combat until November 1963 when M24s of the Armour School fought against a small number of M24s from the presidential guard brigade during a coup! The US soon replaced the M24 with the M41 but the M24s were still used as static pillboxes around airports with their engines removed.
132 M24s formed the backbone of Pakistan's small armoured force. They had three regiments, one of which saw some action in a large tank battle at Assal Uttar on 10 September 1965. Pakistani sources say only one tank was lost, Indian sources say 60 were knocked out! In Bangladesh in 1971, 29th cavalry had 66 M24s which were all in bad shape because of their age. They faced large numbers of Indian PT-76 and T-55 and most were lost or surrendered, survivors seeing out there days after the war having been handed over to the Bangladesh government in a very poor state.
Korea received 30 tanks which were used for training in the early 1950s.
Revised Turret
Following their release of the American version of the M24 (early production), Bronco have now released an Asian version to follow-up their British Chaffee. Rather than burden you with another in-depth contents review, I will refer you to my earlier review of the American version here: modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=miniart&action=display&thread=1155 and try to describe the differences between the two kits.
The biggest problem with the original American release was that Bronco made an error with the turret - see the review above. This has now been addressed and Bronco should be commended for listening to various modellers who brought up this problem on various websites. The sprue containing the revised turret is identical apart from the obvious retooling of the fold line across the turret roof panel. I still think that the turret sides, particularly around the rear roof panel, are too high. On the real thing they are SLIGHTLY higher around the edge, but only to the depth of the weld bead. The kit has a definite taller edge all around the turret. This can be improved with some gentle scraping with a sharp knife and/or file.
If you bought the initial American version and wish to replace the turret with the more accurate version, the turret is available separately for the price of shipping (catalogue number CB35069SP) - see here: www.track-link.net/forum/news_industry/23365. The American kit (and all subsequent versions) are now been available with the updated turret, but check inside the box before buying in case your local friendly hobby shop still has some old stock.
Asian Versions
How do these Asian versions differ from the original American release? On opening the box and inspecting the sprues, the two kits seem to be the same. However, on closer inspection and looking through the instructions, there are some important differences. There are no figures on offer this time, the decals are different (not surprisingly) and the etch fret has been reworked - there are now two frets.
Two far more important differences are the tracks and the road wheels. The wartime T84 metal tracks were replaced with T87 rubber block tracks which had a chevron pattern shoe. Rather than designing clip-together tracks as in the WW2 versions (which fall apart if glue is not used), this time Bronco have designed the post-war tracks with each link built from three parts. Before you hold your hands up in horror, I have built Bronco Leopard 2 tracks which are designed the same way, and they go together very quickly. You also end up with a relatively strong and workable track. Admittedly, the Leopard 2 tracks are a fair bit larger than M24 tracks, but I don't see any problem putting them together, especially if you use some kind of straight edge to guide the building of the links.
Bronco have NOT supplied the same road wheels as in the US and British versions. To replace them, Bronco have engineered a new set of wheels with a different pattern. The wartime wheels had a concave wall around the edge before a couple of angular steps just below the rubber rim. These post-war wheels have vertical walls, a distinct reinforcing ring around the hub and an overhang where they meet the rubber tyres. Difficult to describe, but hopefully the photos will make it clearer. Strangely, neither Hunnicut or Zaloga mention this type of wheel in their writings, but Bronco have spotted them.
However, be careful when using these wheels as not all post-war M24s used them. A quick check - as detailed below in the decal options - shows that the wartime wheels were still widely used after the war. It is also possible to see a mixture of both types of wheel on the same vehicle. Go to the Prime Portal site referenced below and you will see the difference, particularly in Paul's M24 Chaffee Walk Around which shows an M24 fitted with these wheels. The ideal would be if Bronco issued this set and the wartime set as separate accessory kits, or combine both into one kit.
The lower front hull plate has also been reworked to include floatation mounts and there are several extra sprues for building a host of .50 Calibre ammunition boxes for use on the ex-RNVA versions. Other than these, the sprues are identical to the previous offerings.
One thing that does bother me is the gun barrel. The early (US) version has rings around the barrel thanks to its parentage from the B-25H Mitchell ground-attack version of the medium bomber. Later versions do not have the rings as supplied in the kit, so these need to be cleaned off.
Compared to the instructions for the American version, the Asian instructions have been re-jigged slightly to accommodate the necessary changes.
Decal Options
Before you make your model, it is best to look at which of the decal options you want to build. Most of them have tiny detail differences that are helpfully included in the colour profiles. Differences from the WW2 American version are:
1 Rubber block tracks with chevron-pattern tread.
2 Different road wheels (but check references).
3 No side skirts.
4 Floatation mounts on the front as well as the rear hull.
5 Splash ring around the turret ventilator (does not need to be deleted as on the WW2 version)
6 Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
7 Additional machine gun mount on the forward turret.
8 Jerrycans fitted at the rear of both track guards.
There is one further option of an infantry telephone box mounted right rear in place of the rear light. Rather unhelpfully, Bronco do not make it clear which options this is appropriate for. The only readily-available reference for this (that I can find) is the Osprey M24 Chaffee book by Steven Zaloga (New Vanguard 77).
The above are not mentioned as options as they were standard fittings for post-war versions. I'll mention the differences between the options below.
Options 1 and 2: two JGSDF options, both from unknown units.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Stowage shelf across the hull rear on option 2.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Both in plain Olive Drab.
Photos here www.network54.com/Forum/156324/thread/1094315801/Need+pics+of+JGSDF+Chaffee+tanks show both types of wheel in use with T87 rubber block tracks and they are fitted with the infantry phone box.
Option 3: former RVNA vehicle, Tan Son Nhut (unit unknown), South Vietnam, 1967.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
0.50 Calibre ammunition boxes stowed on both fenders.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 23).
Three-tone camouflage with Olive Drab base and green and black disrupters (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains the wartime pattern road wheels but does use T87 rubber block tracks.
Option 4: former RVNA vehicle, Saigon City (unit unknown), South Vietnam, 1967.
Stowage basket across the hull rear on option 1 as per WW2 versions.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
0.50 Calibre ammunition boxes stowed on both fenders.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 23).
Two-tone camouflage with Olive Drab base black disrupters (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains the wartime pattern road wheels but does use T87 rubber block tracks.
Option 5: ROK Army Training Centre, Kwang-ju, Korea, 1953.
Stowage shelf across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Does have right-rear infantry phone box (photo in Osprey book page 21).
Plain Olive Drab.
According to the photo mentioned above, this version retains wartime T86 metal tracks and also wartime pattern road wheels.
Option 6: Pakistan Army, 29th Cavalry regiment, Boyra, Bangladesh, November 1971 (third Indo-Pakistani war).
Stowage basket across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret but not mounted.
Olive Drab with Earth disrupter (exact colour matches not specified).
According to the Osprey book, the disrupter should be grey (plate G on page 32). A photo on page 23 does confirm that this does have later style wheels as in the kit and T87 rubber tracks. The infantry phone box has been cropped out of the photo if it is there.
Option 7: Taiwan Army, unit unknown, 1980s.
Different pattern headlights.
Stowage basket across the hull rear.
Additional aerial mount in place of wartime smoke launcher.
Additional machine gun on forward turret WITH gun mounted.
Olive Drab.
Conclusions
A very fine model indeed is all I can say. Now the turret has been corrected, I cannot fault this kit. I have to admit it has always been one of my favourite machines so I am very happy indeed to see a modern plastic kit of this tank.
The inclusion of T87 rubber block tracks (which will build into stronger tracks than those in the two WW2 kits) and the inclusion of different wheels is great. However, as discussed, these wheels are not appropriate to all of the versions covered by this kit. Check your references before you build. This is my only criticism of a lovely model along with the retention of the rings around the barrel.
The Bronco M24 is not a shake-the-box kit. It is a model for the more experienced builder. However, it is not so complex that it will put off any competent builder. Take your time, and you will be well rewarded with the result. It is extremely well detailed including very fine casting marks on many parts. It offers some of the best moulding I've ever seen with things like track guard mounts and the track guards themselves which are very thin and close to scale thickness. All of the rear deck panels and the glacis transmission plate are separate parts making things easy for after market people to come up with different interior sets. The kit has open hatches, all of which have interior details. The sprockets and idlers have lightening holds moulded in. There are many other nice touches, as already detailed above. However, there are some toy-like options such as a recoiling gun and workable torsion bars.
Overall, very, very highly recommended. Almost as good as it gets!!!!
This model was kindly supplied for this review by Bronco Models.
References
Stuart: A History of the American Light Tank, Volume 1. Hunnicutt, R.P. Navato, CA: Presidio Press, 1992.
M24 Chaffee Light Tank 1943-85 (New Vanguard), Osprey Publishing, Steven Zaloga.
M24 Chaffee - Armor Walk Around, Color Series No.14, David Doyle.
M24 Chaffee in action, Squadron Armor no.25, Jim Mesko.
WWP M24 Chaffee in detail. M24 Chaffee, F Koran, M Velek.
Allied-Axis: The photo journal of the Second World War, issue 15.
www.primeportal.net/tanks/m24_chaffee.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M24_Chaffee
afvdb.50megs.com/usa/m24chaffee.html
