70 year old kit - Megow US M4 Army Tank.

**Kevin WS** · #1 08-26-2013, 10:35 AM

I recently bid on and won a paper model on one of the local internet auction sites - paid about $20.00 for it. The seller also threw in a second kit without a box which he says is missing parts - at first glance only a couple pf small pieces.

The model is is of a US Army M4 Tank.

It was made by F W Megow and is dated 1943 - which makes it 70 years old!

The printing and coloring is excellent and it is printed on a thick card. It is also pre-cut and pre-scored - very accurately.

The quality is really. really impressive!

The box is a bit rough, as are the instructions, but everything inside is intact, although the pieces have mostly fallen out of the card. The pieces themselves are 100%. The printing is really good and of a matt finish - so I am reluctant to handle it too much as this stage.

It is a fairly large scale - 1/30-1/35 +/- perhaps.

When I have a gap I will get everything out, and juggled back into their places on the cards, and scanned so you can see the contents. A quick search on the Internet revealed nothing.

Questions for the experts......

1. Any history on this company?
2. Are these kits common?
3. Anyone else have any?
4. Any idea what it is worth actually?

It looks like a quick and fun build - I will scan it at some stage and then have a go to see how it comes out - probably at a reduced scale as it is quite big!

Picture 1 below shows a scan of the box - not very large - just a bit bigger then a paperback. Bit messed up as it has been taped and re-taped over the years.

Picture 2 shows the instruction sheet.

**rockpaperscissor** · #2 08-26-2013, 10:53 AM

Lucky you! This is a terrific find. I'm looking forward to seeing your scanned build - it would be sacreligious to put a razor to the original pages. I bet it's extremely rare.

**Vermin_King** · #3 08-26-2013, 11:40 AM

Sorry, can't answer any questions, but I will pose one.
You said some of the pieces are falling out of the card. This was die cut?

**bob neill** · #4 08-26-2013, 12:20 PM

Megow is one of those companies that carry a reputation like Cleveland Models. Both seem to have stopped producing kits before 1950, before I was old enough to be interested. Both companies seemed to have a wide range of kits available. The only Megow kit I have seen was a balsa wood, tissue covered glider of a Grumman jet for Korea.

Bob Neill

**Don Boose** · #5 08-26-2013, 12:23 PM

This is a great find! I was looking for images of WWII-era cardboard models earlier this year when we did the paper modeling presentation at the U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center. Could you post some images of the parts?

Interestingly, while the kit is labeled as an M4, the box illustration and the images of the model clearly depict a U.S. Army M2 Medium Tank.
M2 Medium Tank - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medium Tank M2
Medium Tank M2
United States' M2 Medium Tank - World War II Vehicles, Tanks, and Airplanes

I've never seen a Megow tank kit, although I built some Megow airplane kits in the late 1940s and 1950s, when they were still pretty common, although no longer being manufactured. I've still got a couple of them in the basement. Compared to the tank kit, the airplane models were rather primitive: a few balsa blocks, hardwood wheels, and a turned radial engine front when appropriate, but the plans were terrific.

Don

**Kevin WS** · #6 08-26-2013, 01:52 PM

It is die cut - and very accurately.

Don, I will post pics as soon as I have a gap and can gently disentangle everything. As I said, great quality (I think anyway) and think you will be impressed.

The card is actually very thick - I will measure it - and I reckon it would have been a nice build. I cannot print on card that thick, so we will never know!

**Kevin WS** · #7 08-26-2013, 03:19 PM

Don,

I have ever been thinking about the A2/A4 story.

I am not certain about how easy it was for a manufacturers to make models of military equipment during the war. Would there have been security issues?

Could this in fact have been deliberate misinformation? Feasible? The M4 (Sherman) was in its early days then, but would have been state of the art.

**bob neill** · #8 08-26-2013, 05:18 PM

HPA - Builders' Plan Gallery web site has several copies of plans available for balsa wood, tissue covered planes.
Home - Solid Model Memories web site has copies of solid models of planes, ships and even a train car, but I did not see a tank.

Bob Neill

**Don Boose** · #9 08-26-2013, 07:23 PM

Kevin - It is possible that the nomenclature error was purposeful deception, but it seems unlikely to me. I'm not sure how useful that particular deception would have been, and the M4 Sherman medium tank was very well known and referred to by name in advertisements (http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...All-Categories) and news stories. It also seems hard to believe that model designers who did such an accurate job of replicating the M2 would have mistaken it for an M4. So it remains a mystery.

Bob - Those are wonderful sites. I knew about the Solid Model Memories site, but not the HPA Builders Plan Gallery, and I am very happy to know about it now. Many thanks!

Don

**brianne** · #10 08-26-2013, 08:04 PM

Well, I'd guess a PR move; easier to market a "Sherman" than an "M3" tank...