The M3 Grant Mk.I was the British version of the US M3 Lee medium tank. When the British went to the US looking for weapons with which to fight the Germans, they were offered the M3 Lee, but they had to accept the same 75mm main gun as used by the US Army. The British were desperate for tanks so agreed, but requested a change in the turret. That was done and so the Grant can be easily told apart from the nearly identical Lee by the turret. Gone was the tertiary machine gun turret which also lowered the profile of the tank. Thanks to the rather limited range of motion of the main gun, the Grant was not used as a cruiser tank (the Crusader was used for this purpose), but used in what are known as assault squadrons and more than likely to be utilized as infantry support rather than going out and seeking tank to tank battle.

THE KIT

There is actually only one sprue's difference between this kit and the previously previewed M3 Lee. That is the turret sprue which is shown above. The Grant also seemed to use the full dirt shield fenders, something that most Lee tanks did without. Also the same is the small etched metal fret so I'll let you read that other preview rather repeat myself in that regard. Instructions are basically the same though there is only one main gun option provided.

Markings are provided for four different tanks. First is an overall Sand  and is one of those used to train British tankers in the field. It was used during the June 1942 Ghazala battle. Next is another Sand colored Grant from an unidentified British unit. The third tank is from the Scots Greys from Sept 1942 and is in an OD and Sand color. The final scheme is the one shown on the box art from the 2nd Dragon Guard (Queens Bays) in an interesting disruptive scheme.  Decals are well printed and judging from past performance, should work quite well with minimal hassles.

As with the previous Lee kit, there are lots of extra unit markings provided and a page in the instructions that explains what is what so you really do have a lot more than four options!

CONCLUSIONS