Tamiya 1/35 M26 Armored Tank Recovery Vehicle

HISTORY:

The Allied liberation of Europe began on the 6th of June 1944, on the beaches of Normandy, and lasted until Germany's surrender on May 9th, 1945. The Sherman tanks of the U.S. Army began their steady advance into the European mainland, wrenching Europe piece-by-piece from the clutches of Germany. However, the massive tanks of the Wehrmacht, such as the Tiger and Panther, would prove overpowering against the agile, yet considerably smaller Shermans. One of the major factors that allowed the Allies’ advance to continue, dispite this disparity in power, was the quick recovery and repair of battle damaged tanks. That is where the M26 Armored Tank Recovery Vehicles and their brave crews came in.

The U.S. Army started developing large size towing vehicles in 1941, influenced by the British experiences in the North African Campaign. In that mechanized desert war the recovery of damaged or inoperative tanks often made the difference between victory or defeat. Aware of that importance, the U.S. Army place great weight on the development and deployment of a large transport vehicle. The production request was sent out and several large vehicle manufacturers, including Fruehauf Trailer brought out prototypes. But in the end, Knuckey Truck Company's 6 x 6 tractory for quarry/mine use would be selected as the base. However, because the samll company could not meet the huge production demands of the U.S. Army, the Washington rail car maker, Pacific Car and Foundry, was given the task, and made several modifications to the design to facilitate mass production. The new vehicle was officially designated the M26 Armored Tank Recovery Vehicle in April 1943, and mass production began. The M26 was used with Freuhauf's M15 semi-trailer as the 40ton M25, also known as the "Dragon Wagon" (subject of another boxing of this kit by Tamiya), but the M26 tractor was also extensively used on its own. The M26 was frequently loaded with welding equipment, vices, and other necessary tools for emergency tank repairs at the front lines of battle.

The powerplant of the M26 was a 240hp., 6 cylinder Hall-Scott 440 engine, which transferred power to the rear wheels via a chain drive. The armoured cab could hold a crew of seven, and was armed with a ring-mounted M2 (50cal. ) machine-gun. The M26 was also equipped with a 15.9 ton winch on the front, two 27 ton winches on the rear, and an adjustable support arm for recovery and towing operations called the "A-arm".

The M26 first saw acton on the Italian Front of 1943, and was later extensively used in the inland advancement of the Allies following the invasion of Normandy. In all kinds of weather, in the middle of the night, or under a barrage of enemy fire, the repair crews continually fulfilled their duty to recover and repair damaged tanks. Furthermore, since a high accidence risk and their fear of enemy ambush was involved in towing tanks back to the repair yards, the crews strove to do as many on-site repairs as possible. After the production of the 735th M26 vehicle, due to the burden of the 19 ton chassis on the front wheels, the M26A1 Tractor Truck was developed. It was mechanically the same as the M26, but incorporated a lightweight canvas covered tubular framework and pressed steel cab instead of the armoured cab.

After the war, most of the M26’s were left behind in Europe, some of which were put to use by the French Army.

What's in the box?:

The kit comes in a large, 17.5 x 10 x 3, tray and lid type box. It has Tamiya's usual box painting of the vehicle on a white background. Side panel paintings show M26s retreiving a Sherman M4 tank and another showing it retreiving a German Panther tank.

The inside of the box has three compartments: one large one and two smaller ones at one end. One of the small compartments holds the cab's upper body shell, and the other small one has a small box in it that holds the vinyl tires (11 of them), vinyl poly-caps, some chromed plastic parts, 50 cal. Machine-gun parts, clear window and headlight parts, a fret of photo-etched parts, metal chain, lengths of two colors of string, and some metal rods.

The largest compartment has nine cello bags, of 12 trees of olive drab colored parts, the instruction booklet, and the decal sheet in it.

The instructions are a 12" x 8" booklet of 20 pages.

Page one begins with a photo of the model made up, in black and white, followed by the history of the vehicle in Japanese and English.

Page two continues, at the top, with the history in German and French. This is followed by "Read before assembly" instructions and a list of Tamiya brand paint numbers to use to make the model.

Pages three, through the top of page seventeen, gives us 36 total assembly steps. So, this is obviously not a kit for a beginner, or a quick WEEK-END BUILD by a long shot.

The bottom of page seventeen, and the top of page eighteen, show various towing arrangements used by the M26.

The bottom of page twenty gives painting and decaling instructions, followed by an after-market service coupon, to mail in to Tamiya for any missing parts in the kit.

There are two, identical, letter "A" trees of parts. They hold parts of two figures and wheel hubs. (18 parts per tree). The figures are divided into separate body, arms, and heads, and are in seated poses. An alternate, to the arms, is a folded set of them.

Tree "B" holds exhaust and muffler parts, some frame members etc. (27 parts)

Tree "C" holds leaf-springs, transmission, drive shafts, differential parts etc. (30 parts).

Tree "D" holds the fenders, some frame parts, body panels, steering wheel, radiator fan, radiator, and more drive shaft parts etc. (29 parts).

There is no letter "E" tree.

Tree "F" holds the fifth-wheel parts, gas cylinders, winch parts, towing arms etc. (62 parts).

Tree "G" holds drive chains, more winch parts etc. (52 parts)

There are two identical, letter "H" trees. They hold more drive chains, jerry cans, tools, seats, head lamps etc. (54 parts).

There are no letters "I" or J" trees. Tree "K" holds the cab's rear panel and the armoured fold-down window covers (15 parts).

Tree "L" holds the 50 cal. machine-gun mounting ring, headlight guards, a canvas tarp, a Thompson machine gun in its case etc. (35 parts)

Lettering now jumps to letter "S" tree. It holds two more standing figures, more gas cylinders, a vice etc. (40 parts)

The remaining parts are the cab shell piece, clear parts, vinyl tires etc. (mentioned earlier in the two small compartments).

The decal sheet completes the kit.

Tamiya also markets the M26, with the M15 trailer, as the 40 ton transporter "Dragon Wagon".

The tow arm in this kit can be posed in any of five different positions. This vehicle can be used in many diorama scenes, for sure!!

Highly recommended.

I bought this kit, while on a trip out of town, at a small "Momma/Poppa type hobby shop" for a bargain price. It is always NICE to get a real good deal on a kit, once in a while!

Also, there are several after-market photo-etched parts sets available for this vehicle. But, as-is, I think the kit hardly needs them. The detail provided with the kit parts is more than sufficient.