Don’t forget the longest swim by DD tanks, in combat anyway:
Terneuzen to South Beveland, in the middle of the map, on 26–27 October 1944.
4 Likes
I completely forgot about their use in that campaign. I tend to associate that campaign more with the LVT Buffalos. But having DD Shermans alongside makes perfect sense.
I’ll wager that the DD Sherman saw more water use than the tauchpanzers in their respected intended roles.
1 Like
Totally agree regarding the DD Shermans
It’s a bit closer to home for me, not only figuratively but also literally, living as I do on Walcheren 
2 Likes
Local history can be quite alluring. Even if only a small part of the big picture, when you can literally touch it, it takes on a deeper significance.
2 Likes
1 Like
Those tracks look pretty decent. If they indeed are workable (as they look like they are), I kind of hope they’ll release them separately because T54E2s are kind of thin on the ground.
1 Like
Andy never shows the back sides of the track sprues so we do not know the ejector pin situation with those parts.
Strongly dislike molding the track skids with the front bogie housings.
Track pins look thick enough that they may not break regularly, a problem with many plastic VVSS tracks.
1 Like
Seeing the sprues, I’m not that impressed. Things that jumped out at me were very thick bogie skids, heavy seams on the return rollers, pioneer tools looked chunky, nasty parting lines on the turret and final drive casting, and .50 Cal looks odd. Certainly things that can be fixed or replaced, but not an improvement over the Asuka M4A1 Mid.
3 Likes
I don’t think that was Border’s intention. They usually go for the more affordable options in their tooling. My impression in general about their kits is that they do not opt for the high detail - high price option for their releases.
1 Like
Based on everything I’ve heard and seen from Border, they indeed do go for the cheap and poorly engineered route often. Not to even mention accuracy issues.
3 Likes
My brief price check suggests I could buy an Asuka Sherman which seems to be generally regarded as a much superior product over Border Sherman for practically the same price. Different sources one is Land of Bezos the othet Chinese copy of Land of Bezos.
I haven’t see a compelling argument to spend money on or even trade an old kit stash kit for a Border Sherman yet other than curiosity.
I’ve seen many well crafted comments that Asuka is high quality and worth the price of admission.
Asuka - hero
Border - zero, but at least Border provides comedy 
3 Likes
Border isn’t comedy, it’s tragedy. Don’t understand the reasoning behind continuing to premiere sh!t kits in today’s market. Their bean counters have to be reporting that their sales suck and someone in that board room has to be smart enough to figure out it is because their models suck. Modelers are smart and want the most kit for their money, they won’t buy Border. Hard Pass on Border Shermans.
2 Likes
I noticed this afternoon, when shopping for Churchill tracks, that Domino Model in Belgium sells it for €49, and my immediate thought was: that’s not very far off the Asuka equivalent. Given the previews, I don’t see why I would buy the Border kit in that case. Had it been €30 or so, sure, I might have given it a go and corrected things like the commander’s hatch and the overthick track skids. But if you can get a clearly better kit for the same money, then sorry, Border, but I choose that every time.
3 Likes
I have never purchased an Asuka M4 because replacing the vinyl tracks pushes the cost too high.
ScaleMates is showing $50 US as the average price for these new Border M4s. For me, that puts them in competition with some really nice models.
2 Likes
To be honest, the tracks you get in Asuka kits are quite good — the main reason for replacing them, IMHO, is to get them to sit more angular over the drive sprocket and idler, because of course the soft-plastic ones curve more than real tracks would. But detail-wise, they’re not really in need of replacing.
2 Likes
Yeah. A lot of people are okay with vinyl but for me, vinyl parts are flat out unacceptable. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. I skip a lot of models because of vinyl parts.
3 Likes
TBH, this somewhat puzzles me. You find buying a set of tracks for an Asuka kit too expensive, but don’t want to build kits on which you have to use soft-plastic ones. I assume this means you really only buy kits that already have hard-plastic tracks included?
Also, AFV Club Sherman tracks are pretty cheap, as far as these things go, and quite buildable. Well, the T51s, anyway – the T48s come apart slightly too easily to assemble them completely without glue, but the easy solution there is to try fitting a different end connector to see if that does stay on, and else, apply a bit of glue to that one only.
1 Like
Ayup. Built models with plastic tracks. Built models with vinyl tracks. Had some of the vinyl tracks melt. Don’t like the way vinyl behaves. Began purchasing metal and plastic replacement tires/tracks for everything. Got pretty good at building metal and plastic tracks. Dislike metal tracks so stopped purchasing those. Switched to purchasing models with plastic tires/tracks to make the model budget go further. Will only purchase plastic tires/tracks for something already in the stockpile, something I really want, or something where cost of model plus cost of tires/tracks beats everything else I want.
Built maybe half a dozen sets of AFV Club plastic tracks. Some are better than others. Last set of T51s, built a few months back, had a noticeable sink mark in the middle of every single pad. Pins like to break. Finished runs are fragile and tend to lose shape during fitting and painting. Vaguely remember lots of ejector pin marks to sand/scrape out. 
Tracks pins in these Border M4s look beefy. That could equate to superior construction and fitting characteristics. Won’t know until I try 'em. 
Own one Border model, a Stuka. Looks really nice in the box. Have seen many good builds of Border 1/35 planes and tanks on the web. Still open to Border stuff if it makes sense.
I’ve built one set of metal tracks in my life (for a Japanese tank), and can’t say I’m a fan. I’ll use them if there’s no other option, I guess, but I much prefer plastic.
FYI what you keep calling “vinyl” is not, in modern kits anyway — and probably also not in most older ones. This is why I refer to “soft plastic” or “single-piece” tracks