Stuart V

Manufacturer: BattleFront Miniatures
Product Code: BR????
Date of Article: 07 Nov 2008

Description

The Stuart V is merely the US M3A4 (if I’m not wrong) light tank in British service. The Stuart was a fairly good tank especially earlier in the war, but as the war escalated the lethality increased at an exponential rate and the Stuart wasn’t designed with the expectation to keep up. They were primarily used for scouting, a role which the British 7th Armoured Division didn’t think they were suitable.

(Edit: They weren’t. A day (or slightly more) before Operation Perch (or more famously Villers-Bocage), some Stuarts of the 7th Armoured Division got shot up, which was one reason why they weren’t out in front scouting. As it is, when Wittmann attacked, the “forlorn hope” of the Stuarts trying to stop Wittmann’s Tiger from entering Villers-Bocage proved about as much use as tissue paper. They just brewed up, killing a lot of the crew.)

As a miniature, the Stuart is an amazingly fun tank to put together. Small, compact, not many parts, the main confusion is over the positioning of the turret hatches.

Turret Hatches

Unlike earlier models of the Stuart, the turret hatches of the Stuart V (and subsequent Stuart VI) opens to the rear, with hinges on the rear side of the turret, as shown in this picture:

The hatches are also separate and both sides do not need to open together. Unfortunately I don’t have a real-life photo to show this.