Introduction

Close on the heels of Dragon’s M48A3 Mod B release, Legend Productions provides a very complete stowage set to cover your tank with gear. This set is very complete and gives all you need, and then some, to make your tank look very lived-in by its crew.

Review

The first thing that caught my eye on this set is just how complete it is. There are a no less than 125 individual pieces in this set. They include the following:

• 1 - M16A1 rifle
• 1 - M79 grenade launcher
• 2 - M7 bayonets
• 2 - angle-head flashlights
• 2 - Uniform shirts
• 1 - Pair jungle boots
• 2 - Large bundles of bags, boxes, and ammo cans for the bustle rack
• 4 - Individual tarps and bedrolls
• 2 - M1 helmets with inner webbing and camouflage covers
• 1 - CVC helmet (bone dome)
• 1 - Boonie cap
• 2 - Butt packs
• 3 - Rucksacks
• 3 - M26A1 hand grenades
• 10 - M18 smoke grenades
• 1 - M17 protective mask carrier
• 3 - First aid pouches
• 3 - 1 quart canteens in covers
• 4 - M16 20 rd ammo pouches
• 4 - 81mm mortar HE ammo cases
• 8 - 81mm mortar illumination ammo cans (2 w/ partially open lids)
• 3 - 40mm ammo cans (1 w/a tarp covering the opening)
• 2 - Wooden ammo boxes
• 6 - 7.62mm ammo cans
• 11 - Loose .50 cal ammo cans
• 6 - .50 cal ammo cans attached w/a piece of angle iron for the fender
• 3 - .50 cal ammo cans without tops
• 1 - Belt .50 cal linked ammo
• 2 – WW2/Korean War side-opening .50 cal ammo cans (1 w/a rag stuffed in the open top)
• 1 - Radio/tape player
• 2 - Mermite hot food containers (1 open w/inner containers)
• 2 - Mermite cold food containers
• 4 - Various sized bottles
• 2 - Soda cans
• 2 - Coffee cans
• 2 - Open pails (small)
• 1 - Covered pail/oil can
• 2 - Tool boxes (1 large, 1 small)
• 1 - Oil can
• 2 - Spare track sections (2 pieces of track each)
• ½ - Of a tow bar
• 3 - Separate fuel cans in holders w/straps
• 4 - Fuel cans attached to each other in a rack w/a rag hanging off them
• 1 - Storage rack
• 2 - Lengths of brass rods
• 1 - Sheet of printed C-Ration boxes with inner box inserts

The shear amount of gear is amazing. I only wonder if one tank would have this much gear on it. I haven’t seen many with this much. It does give you great options to outfit a few vehicles though.

The myriad of gear is all crisply molded without any bubbles or air holes evident. The casting is top-notch, which is standard with Legend Productionssets. From what I can gather from references, all are typical for the type of gear seen in Vietnam. The printed C-Ration boxes look very good and the addition of the inner box inserts is very welcomed and unique. They allow you to show the boxes opened, with the inner, individual meal boxes showing. A great idea.

Conclusion

The only issue I have with the set is the lack of any instructions at all. The box top only has 1 picture showing the left rear quarter of the tank with all the gear on it. The various tarps and soft gear, such as the uniform items, are form-molded to fit certain parts of the tank by conforming to bumps, lumps and other protrusions on the hull. The issue is that there are no instructions showing which pieces go where. You can see a couple of the pieces in the picture, but not all. You are left to figure it out yourself by test-fitting them all over the tank until they fall into place like a puzzle piece.