Bolt Action M18 Hellcat

This kit has been released for a while, but somehow the plastic kit of the M18 Hellcat hid right under our radar, as I already have the resin kit by Warlord Games in my collection. Beyond that we covered the M10 Wolverine and M36 Jackson Tank Destroyer on here in the past. But today is about the Warlord Games / Italeri plastic kit.

Just like the M10 Wolverine, the M18  Hellcat is a 1:56 / 28mm scale kit manufactured by Italeri, and thus is rather a model kit than a gaming piece.

The Hellcat, whose official designation is 76 mm Gun Motor Carriage M18, was an US American tank destroyer, which saw service in World War II and as the M39 AUV in the Korean War. Around 2.500 units were built between Summer 1943 and October 1944, and saw mostly action in Western Europe with smaller numbers serving in Italy and even the Pacific. In some countries the Hellcat stayed in service until the 1990s, like the Venezuelean military.

While the M18 was equipped with the same main gun as late variants of the much larger Sherman tank, it was able to achieve much higher top speed of up to 90 km/h (55 mph), by reducing weight with thinner armour compared to other armoured vehicles (only half an inch thick, but angled to provide better protection) and using an innovative automatic transmission. This made the M18 Hellcat the most effective US tank destroyer of world war 2, with a higher kill-to-loss ratio than any other tank or tank destroyer of the US forces.

Warlord Games charges 30 EUR / 25 GBP RRP for this kit, and inside you will find two sealed sprues, a decal sheet as well as an instruction leaflet, along with damage tokens and a stat card.

The kit comes with a small ziplock bag with three bases and a fit of coloured cotton, a decal sheet with US American insignia and the instructions, that cover a few painted samples as well.

The plastic for the Hellcat is produced by Italeri and you can see the difference in the style the frame is designed. We have a round sprue, not the trapezoidal shape of the hard plastic casted in the UK. Unfortunately, one piece fell out and was missing, along with a tool not being fully casted. But more on that later.

As usual with the tanks, we build from the tracks upwards. And that is the same with the hellcat. There is some detail on the tracks themself, and a bit of depth due to the sprockets.

While assembling the lower hull I usually add a bit of lead to increase the weight of the vehicle. It just feels more appropriate while handling, and I do this for some time now. Due to the modelled interior, there is an additional floor covering those pieces.

The lower hull is closed with the upper armour plates and you have further panels for the front and back.

To these now more details are added, like lights, tools and hatches. Unfortunately, the axe was not fully formed, but I'll cover this later on with some stowage. The hatches for the driver and board gunner can be build either closed or opened, in case you want to add crew men there.

The turret is quite elaborate piece, as the main gun can be elevated if you like. Sadly the piece #41 was missing, which is in the back part of the turret. Yet, you probably won't miss it, as it is barely seen in the assembled condition.

As for the main gun, there is an early and late variant, along with a canvas covered option for the gun mount. If you choose that one, you won't be able to move the gun anymore.

In addition, there is a lot of detailing like rails and supporting beams added to the turret, along with some cages for stowage. The sprue covers crewmen, but those are rather 25mm and a bit tiny compared to the regular Bolt Action range. Beyond that, Warlord Games (and other manufacturers as well) cover their own fitting crewmen.

And that is the assembled M18 Hellcat, in the middle between the resin variant by Warlord Games to the right, and the M10 Wolverine by Rubicon models on the left.

Of course, no review is complete with some shots from different angles.

Conclusion

While the RRP of this model is set at 30 EUR, it is not uncommon to pick these up at around 25-27 EURs. The missing and damaged pieces are inconvenient, but the Customers Service with Warlord Games is top and they offered a replacement right away without any discussion.

In direct comparison I prefer in this case the resin kit a bit more, as it has some overdrawn / more present details, which makes it in my opinion a bit more fitting for a gaming piece and less like a model kit, which is clearly the nature of the Italeri made plastic. But beyond that, I would suggest getting some stowage and adding that to this kit as it makes it much more vivid, and a lot of the pictures you will see from M18 Hellcats in battle, they are loaded with lots of bags, rolls of tarpaulin.

Beyond that, I think it is a nice feature, that the Warlord kits come with the stat cards and some tokens. The instruction on this was pretty clear, no mix ups and I like the addition of the various painted samples in the back, to show the vehicle in different units / theatres of war.

Bolt Action is a brand of Warlord Games.

The reviewed product item was bought from Radaddel