1:35 Periscopes – US Sherman

A window on the world for a crew under armor

Once the hatches were closed, the only view out left to American tank crews was through rotating periscopes. The driver, his assistant, the loader and the commander each had their own, and the crew could change them within seconds, because they were built as a replaceable unit: a hit by a fragment meant pulling the damaged piece out and fitting a new one from the stock inside the hull. In the retracted position the head of the device sank into the opening, while in the raised position it projected from it and could be turned from side to side.

Box contents

The set contains ten pieces, of which five assemblies are in the raised and five in the retracted execution. This pair of positions matters more for the build than it seems: a model with open hatches and figures outside looks credible with the heads pulled down, while a machine ready for action has them up. The cast parts have sharp frame edges and an accurate head shape, which in a kit molding usually drowns in the rounding of the mold.

Fitting to the model

Cut the original shapes off the molding and level the surface, widening the opening in the armor with a needle file if necessary. Seat the parts dry and only then secure them with a drop of super glue. You can imitate the periscope glass with a gloss varnish with a drop of dark paint, which in the end looks better than merely painting it black. If you are building a scene with open hatches, decide beforehand how many heads you will leave up; a crew resting outside usually had them all retracted, whereas a machine on standby had them raised even at rest, so that the commander could see around him without opening the hatch.