Also from Poland (see previous few posts)
and also soft polyethylene, comes forth this interesting beast from Centrum in Warsaw;
Mounted on a full [packaging] sized card,
it's not so much a header as a backer! Also, while the main body of the tank,
running-gear and turret are a straight copy from Atlantic's own clip-together 'readymade', the rocket-tube bundles
and bed-frame seem to have been copied from the 1:72nd scale Esci-Revel-Polistil (and other brands) kit.
To the point where it is on a separate
small runner, while the rest is on a runner which is also a copy of Atlantic's own with each component in
the same place! To produce the M4
Sherman [with] Calliope therefore
meant some changes to the Atlantic
turret
Close-ups for those who can compare with
the Atlantic set (I won't de-'sprue' this until I have a duplicate one!), while the reasons
for assuming the Calliope is from Esci,
are twofold, A) this predates the Airfix
one and is clearly pirating other makers and B) see the T34/85 in a minute!
The card art shows an Allied star as one of
the markings, bu what you actually get along with the bridging disc and
formation sign is the Polish 'Winged Hussar' symbol, so presumably representing the Polish 1st Armoured Division
in the Normandy/Western campaign?
The upper shots are another Sherman, slightly better card shot and
slightly different plastic colour by the looks of it, below it is a T34, and a late war T34/85 at that, probably also copied
from Atlantic? Both shots supplied by Tomasz Karpowicz about 12-years ago!
Everything will appear here at Small Scale World . . . eventually!
Tomek also sent me this, which is quite
delightful, as 'readymade' toys go, it's the same T34/85, but
with the AMRCR (anti-mine
reconnaissance castor roller) mine-clearing frame taken from the Esci Churchill IV kit (albeit greatly simplified) - hence the Esci assumption for the Calliope's
origins. Again this would have required a change or two to the Atlantic clone, to take the Esci-cloned parts.Markings for both T34's are - of course - the other Polish Army of WWII, that recruited by the soviets, but mostly trained at the Western Allies expense in Syria!
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