Original Item. Only One Lot of Three Available. This is a very interesting group of three cast-metal tank identification and recognition models based on the large “teacher scale” vehicles used for military recognition training during WWII. The group consists of a British Tank, Cruiser, Mk III (A13 Mk I), a U.S. M3 Stuart Light Tank, and a U.S. M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank. All three are finished in the characteristic plain olive drab associated with this type of recognition model.

During WWII, the U.S. military contracted American manufacturers to produce three-dimensional vehicle models so personnel could study the shapes and identifying features of friendly and enemy equipment from different angles. Comet Metal Products of New York produced nine British and seven Japanese tank types in 1/36 scale, while H.A. Framburg of Chicago produced German and American vehicles, including at least sixteen U.S. subjects in 1/36 scale. Framburg examples were generally slush cast, leaving a large opening underneath where excess metal was poured out, while Comet used a related casting process and generally fitted separately cast turrets.

The first model depicts the British Cruiser Tank Mk III, officially the A13 Mk I. The identification can be found on the underside. A second faint marking on the opposite edge appears to include COMET and NY, although it is sufficiently worn that we cannot guarantee the complete wording. The model itself has the characteristic four large Christie-suspension road wheels, low cruiser hull, and early 2-pounder-armed turret configuration. The actual Cruiser Mk III was the first British cruiser tank to employ Christie suspension and entered service shortly before WWII. It retains an attractive olive drab finish with scattered edge wear, small chips and exposed metal from age and handling.

The second model represents an early M3 Stuart Light Tank, identifiable by its riveted hull, four-road-wheel vertical-volute suspension, large trailing rear idler, commander’s cupola and the numerous machine-gun positions associated with the early M3 configuration. The model retains its main gun, coaxial weapon, bow gun and simplified representations of the hull-mounted machine guns. The M3 series was initiated in 1940 and first saw combat with British forces in North Africa in November 1941, where its reliability and handling earned it the British nickname “Honey.” It also served with American forces in the Philippines beginning in December 1941.

The Stuart is constructed as a hollow slush casting with the characteristic large opening in the underside, strongly consistent with the wartime H.A. Framburg identification-model series. It retains substantial olive drab finish with expected oxidation and exposed metal. There is also visible cracking and some loss around the lower edge of the underside casting opening, but the model remains quite presentable.

The final model represents an M4A1 Sherman Medium Tank, immediately recognizable by its rounded cast upper hull rather than the angular welded hull used on other major Sherman variants. Development of the M4 began in 1941 and production commenced in early 1942; the M4A1 was specifically distinguished by its cast hull.

This Sherman has an especially interesting feature underneath. Like a Framburg recognition model, the body retains the large slush-casting opening, but it is also fitted with two transverse axles carrying concealed metal rollers beneath the tracks. After WWII, Dale Co. of Chicago marketed seven former Framburg American tank patterns as commercial models, modifying them with rotating turrets and wheels or rollers to give them greater play value. The construction visible here is therefore consistent with an immediate postwar Dale production made from the wartime Framburg pattern. It retains much of its olive drab finish with scattered chips and edge wear, exposed metal and oxidation to portions of the underside rollers.