Tom Willoughby's Tamiya 1:48 Pershing

This is the 1:48 Tamiya Pershing which is size compatible with 28mm wargame models such as Bolt Action. The tank has been made and painted by modeller Tom Willoughby who was a tank commander in another life.

Tom has sent me a few notes on his techniques.

'I drilled out the cupola vision blocks and replaced them with crystal clear, also opened the periscopes. A pet peeve of mine is modellers who show a tank in action closed down but no periscopes up: also a tank with the crew standing around with closed hatches. We never closed the hatches if we were off the tank eating or pulling maintenance. The only time hatches were closed was to lock it up.'

The M26 Pershing was, like the Comet and the Centurion, a tank that could have been available and should have been available for Normandy '44 were it not for incompetence. It lacked the great reliability of the Sherman but was capable of matching the Panther, Tiger or T34/85.