I recently got around to building the Sherman tanks for the 1st Canadian's Three River Regiment. This is great for the progress of my project for Historicon 2017. We got them discounted from Trenchworx Wargaming Models & Accessories to support our game. Kalissa and I will be advertising about their support along Blitzkrieg Miniatures and Charlie Foxtrot Models that is making this game come true. After all, it is already in the pipeline for the PEL for Historicon. We almost missed the deadline, since we noticed it the day of. Since our game is going to be mainly a tank battle in somewhat open terrain, I decided to run the games as individual scenario games instead of a continuing game like last year. Last year's game was a four part game based on the amount of terrain on the table: mainly, hedgerows and farmlands. It is not to say that there will be no cover for our game, but I imagine it will play out a little faster. The make up of forces should be for the Germans: four Panzer IV G's, four Panzer III J's, two 8.8 Flak 36 AT/AA guns, and supporting infantry. The Canadians are going to have fourteen Sherman tanks, a Dingo scout car, some Universal Carriers, and a company of infantry. It is not exactly balanced, but it is historical. I will mostly likely base victory conditions on kills and statistics in comparison to what actually happened.
In either case, there was a month and a week long wait for Trenchworx's shipment to us. It has a funny story to it. In most cases, I do not worry about month long deliveries, since I get quite a few figures and other things from the far reaches of the globe. My patience tolerates German mail to the U.S., so a month is nothing normally. In this case, I was concerned when your order is coming from your own country. Apparently, the shipping department got word of our order for Historicon. They thought they were going to deliver the models at the show. Our contact/maybe owner had to ask: "How are they going to have it ready for a convention game at the show if they don't have the models before it?" Needless to say, that they were shipped with no problem. These are one of many reasons why we plan convention games out seven to eight months in advance. The fun hic-ups in the process. The real time in the U.S. is about five business days at most. Either way, they are on dangerously good terms with me. Their models are awesome! Here are the pictures of the Squadron short of a few tanks.
There is simply no way that you cannot review these kits in a positive manner! I am a big fan of resin over plastics. I like the weight and the fact they survive my storage manners. It is the one thing I am terrible at as a wargamer. I am not a good with storage. I need a "Go Fund Me" page just for storage carriers! The Trenchworx guys are one the ball with crisp clean resin casts. There are barely any trimming needing to be done, unless you are a perfectionist for something 95% of people will not notice.
There directions are crystal clear. I am not sure why they gave me directions times 14 when they were all the same model. This could have been in case they are being sold buy another company outlet or being donated to multiple parties. Again, the models are simple. There is not much to worry about in the building process. Using Loctite Control Gel for mainly metal, I glued these all together in about twenty minutes! If it was not for the rain, I would have had them primed as well in another ten. Here is one of the direction sheets that they gave me.
As you can see, the design was also very simple. Based on the simplistic nature of these models, the only thing they have in comparison to them are the Blitzkrieg Miniatures. However, both have the Shermans, but do not share much of the other models. To be honest, I really wanted to get some Trenchworx Models! They have some other stuff I would like to order that Blitzkrieg does not. However, Blitzkrieg has some things I also want from them! Example: Panzer IV G's are were not on the list of Trenchworx at the time, where as, Blitzkrieg has them and 8.8cm Flak 36 Guns.
But as a fairness in a review, the Trenchworx's Models do have some slight issues. For one, they have two separate hatches for the top of the turret. This does give you an option of a buttoned down or opened option. If you go with a unbuttoned tank, there is no model for the commander. Also, they follow into the same complain I have with other miniature tank models: they do not make a sold fill-in piece. Sure, you can have a full enclosed hatch, but the open space that is cut out in the turret causes warped hatch closures. You can see it on the turret of the model below with some of the hinges sticking out. I had to mash some of this in to set them slightly flush. This is the only complaint, but not worthy of not buying.
As you can see, it fits nicely together. There was minor trimming of the cast. Most of this was on the metal pieces in little strips. The model does come with Browning .50 Cal machine guns for the turret, but I did not place them on, since these are going to be Canadian. They were supplied mainly by the British and did not commonly receive them. However, the great thing about them is that they are white metal and can be used on other projects, such as half-tracks.
Apart from the great review, I do have some problems with my historical accuracy of my Historicon game. I picked the wrong Sherman tanks for the regiment. I did a lot of research for figure out the odds and ends of my historical wargame. However, in one drunken night, I decided to really dig deep into research. So much was this task, that I found actual photos of the Three Rivers Regiment in action in Sicily! Instead of the M4A1 Shermans I bought, they were Sherman M4A4's! Of course, I could not find this information sober when I really looked for it! This seemed to be the same for my A+ paper I wrote for the burning of Columbia, South Carolina by Sherman during the American Civil War. I researched that paper on Jack Daniels in college to the point of finding out the weather reports of what transpired! I got a minor in Southern history in this last class. I am sure that no one, but myself will care. To most people, a Sherman tank is a Sherman tank. Also, both versions were in combat during this campaign. If all else fails, they can be repainted for Kasserine Pass!
Here are some other historical photos.
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