Mirage Hobby 1/72 M3 General Lee (728001)

The M3 General Lee was America's interim medium tank — rushed into production in 1941 because the M4 Sherman was not yet ready, but a tank was needed urgently to equip US armoured forces and supply Britain under Lend-Lease. Its unusual armament arrangement — a 75mm gun in a limited-traverse sponson on the right side of the hull, plus a 37mm gun in the rotating upper turret — reflected the engineering compromise necessary to mount a 75mm gun before an adequate turret ring could be designed to accommodate it. American crews disliked the high silhouette and sponson gun limitations, but the 75mm's effectiveness against German armour made the Lee useful in the early North African campaign. In American service the riveted-hull M3 was designated the Lee, while the British-modified welded-hull version with a lower profile turret was the Grant. Mirage Hobby's 1/72 kit covers the original Lee configuration.

America's armoured stopgap — the M3 Lee and its unconventional 75mm solution.