Little Bulldog

The M41 Walker Bulldog is an American tank that has not been represented in 1/72 scale by the plastic model companies despite its widespread use by many nations.

I have three types of diecast models of this tank. The first picture shows the War Master M41A3, and the Amercom M41A3. I believe that the Amercom model is identical to the original Altaya version, so that is how I will refer to it from this point forward.

The War Master and Altaya models are similar, but despite the superior finish on the War Master model, there are certain aspects that are better with the Altaya model. I believe that the hull of the War Master M41 is a copy of the Altaya model, but some of the surface details seem much softer.

The turret of the War Master M41 does not have the softness of the hull, and seems to be a new tool with a more accurate commander's cupola.

The most objectionable part of the War Master model however, has to be the road wheels, which are all connected to each other by plastic strips. I guess these make the model easier to manufacture on the assembly line, but they look horrible. I'm going to see if I can cut them off without damaging the model at some point in the future.

The next comparison is of a Hobby Master M41A3 (of which there are now 10 different versions) and the Altaya M41A3.

The finish of the Hobby Master model is excellent, and details like the headlight guards are not overly chunky like on the Altaya and War Master models. The downside of the Hobby Master tanks however, is that they are very expensive.

Finally, a comparison of all three tanks.

The overall dimensions are pretty much identical for length, width, and height.