LINK For those wondering about the name: Bush Ape: mythological creature, similar to Big Foot, Yeti et.c. Also known as Yowie LINK In modern times the term has been used for other purposes but back in the days of the photo above it ought to have been the Big Foot equivalent. / Yowie

Cryptozoology meets model building.

Until now I had totally failed to put the mental hyphen in the right place. I was trying Bu-shape, Bus-hape but the obivous never dawned on me, Bush-Ape ! On course. And totally appropriate for the overly tall Lee tank.

For those interested. The Australian 3rd Army did not take an offensive role in WW2. They served as home defence only during WW2. Originally based in New South Wales, later Queensland (East Coast of Australia). Intended to repel a Japanese Invasion that came close, but never eventuated. Interestingly, Australia had far more Grant's than Lee's, so this is an interesting release, but a welcome one for modellers here. If the box top is to be believed, this should be a good representation of the Aussie 'Yowie'. There is a preserved example here in a museum, so no excuse for not doing homework. (of the vehicle, not the mythological animal )

Thanks as always for the history; on the kit itself: was there in fact any differences with this variant (outside of decals) and the one the British used elsewhere? I'd buy it just for the decals if I had to, but I've already got the British variant in the stash and was wondering.

According to the MiniArt instructions "Bushape" was in 1st Aus Army Tank Btn. My grandfather was in 1AATKBN for a period then spent most of his time in 2AATKBN. I have a few photos of Aussie M3Lee's in the same group (I'll upload them if I can work out how!). So I'm not sure whether they're 1st or 2nd AATKBN. The other tanks I have photos of are "Boogie Woogie", "Brutus" and "Britannia".