AP Models

Canada Cruiser Tank Ram II

The Ram cruiser tank was an early war Canadian design based on British experience and American M3 automotive components. It had a cast upper hull and turret, and carried either a 2-pounder (the Mk I) or 6-pounder (Mk II) as its main armament. While several hundred were built in Montreal and shipped to England, none were used in combat as gun tanks.

Small scale kits of the Ram are hard to find, with this all resin example of a late model Ram II coming from Italy.

As resin kits go, this one is quite good. The shape of the upper hull is correct as is the turret, and it scales out to be 1:72 as expected. The resin casting is sufficient—while there are some bubbles, only a couple of small ones mar the upper surfaces, with the only large ones appearing on the bottom of the main hull casting. The pioneer tools are all cast in place, while the 6-pounder barrel, headlights , fire-extinguishers and commander’s hatch are cast separate. Only the commander’s hatch is open and has a small well for a figure; the rest of the crew hatches are cast closed.

Sadly, where the kit is a major let-down is the tracks and lower hull. The hull single piece casting is too shallow, thus cutting off the bottom curve of the three-piece transmission cover and the idler mounts. Where there should be a lower hull bottom with rivet detail, there is only the pour point for the resin. The tracks are cast as a single piece with the bogies, idler and sprocket and while not a bad casting per se, some small bubbles mar the end connectors and the steel chevron detail of the T-54E1 style tracks seems rather anaemic and under-scale, although in my example, this could be due to resin shrinkage.

All in all, this is not a bad kit, and if one replaced the running gear with that from a Dragon or Trumpeter Sherman a very good model of this rather rare Commonwealth cruiser tank could be built.

Article Last Updated: 15 August 2009