Modelling the M3/M5 Stuart Light Tank

The M3 and M5 Stuart were the most significant light tanks of the US Army, as well as many other allied armies, during World War II. They have proved to be popular modelling subjects ever since, largely due to the large number of kits available in many different scales covering a broad selection of the different variants used. The Stuarts were also painted in a wide range of colourful camouflage schemes, reflecting their widespread service, and this adds to their appeal. This title shows a number of different ways to model this popular tank in 1/35 scale, covering construction, painting and weathering the vehicle.

Customer Reviews:

We Could Use More of Zaloga's How-to books

By BF Halloran - July 13, 2004

Steve Zaloga focuses on 1/35 scale Stuart models beginning with the Tamiya kit introduced in 1974 and brings us up-to-date with the AFV Club M3A3 kit of 2003. After some preliminary advice, like don't buy Model Kasten after-market tracks unless you're a glutton for extra work, Zakoga builds the AFV M3A3 pretty much out-of-the-box, because the box contains so very much. He then moves on to more difficult projects: cross-kitting the Tamiya M3 with the Academy M3A1, resulting in a beaufiful Soviet M3A1. Zaloga then goes on to show how to correct the dimensional problems of the Tamiya M5A1. There's a section called "Other Stuart Modeling Projects" and includes modeling a British Honey from an early Tamiya kit; an exercise no longer necessary thanks to Academy; the Academy kit becomes an earlier M3; an old Tamiya becomes an M3A1; an Italeri PaK 40 75-mm finds itself inside an M3A1 to become a Yugoslav tank-killer. The last project, the most extensive use of resin after-market... read more

Well done

By A Customer - January 22, 2004

This is the first AFV book in the new modelling series by Osprey, and is probably the best one so far. After being fairly dissapointed with the Harrier and Phantom books, Zaloga's quality builds, photos, and research comes through to save the series from another strike-out.The good: research, in progress steps well documented, a number of differnt stuarts all in the same book. A complete package for the same price as what you could pay for a single issue of a high-end model magazineThe fair: some photos appear washed out, others are too dark or too small.The poor: 20 of the 80 pages are re-hashed models and articles that he has written for Military Modelling. If you already have those magazines, then this book could be a bit of a let down. I didn't, so I appreciate having all the Stuart info in one volume.Osprey would do well to get rid of a lot of the repetative text such as "I did this, then I did this, then I did this" which is inevitable in this type of book,... read more

Modelling tanks

By Donald A. Cooley Jr. - March 29, 2013

Good reference for anyone building models of armored fighting vehicles. Clear writing and good photos. I'm a new armor builder and will learn a lot from this book.