U.S. Light Tank M24 Chaffee European Theater (1/35)

Type: Plastic construction kit

Scale: 1/35
Length: 159mm
Width: 87mm

During World War II, the U.S. Army standardized the M24 Chaffee light tank as a successor to the M3/M5 Stuart series. It featured a low-profile silhouette incorporating sloped armor, powered by twin 110hp Cadillac liquid-cooled V8 gasoline engines and supported by a torsion bar suspension system. Its turret housed the lightweight and compact 75mm M6 gun, adapted from the B-25 bomber aircraft. Combining a top speed of 56.3 km/h with excellent cross-country mobility and a firepower capable of penetrating 60mm of armor plate angled at 30 degrees from a distance of 915 meters, the Chaffee won the trust of its crews. Production began in April 1944, and the tank saw its first combat deployment in December of that year during the Battle of the Bulge, before moving on to the Northwest European and Italian fronts. By the time of the German surrender in May 1945, over 1,100 units had been deployed. Furthermore, after the war, the M24 was operated by over 20 nations, including NATO countries such as France and Italy, as well as Japan and Taiwan. It also appeared in the Korean War, the Indochina War, and the Vietnam War, and remained in service with modifications until the 1990s in some countries.