Review; Monty's Caravan + Dingo Revell Matchbox 1/76 model kit vehicle afv

Welcome to one of the most singular model kits ever made, the private vehicle of General Montgomery himself.

The Box 

The original box, which is lively, but that green looks a bit strange in what seems apparently a desert road. Maybe it is Italy, but all the same that green colour looks American to me.

The Revell new box is dull, you hardly realize what it is until you read the title, although the black gives a nice sensation of quality.

The Kit 

In the Revell reissue, the flash is quite noticeable, and nearly all parts will require some sanding to look good and fit ok. Some pieces are a bit tiny to handle, as it is again a 1/76 kit. 
The details are slightly thick everywhere, which wouldn't so bad in 1/72, but in 1/76 is more noticeable. What is best of this set are the extras, you get three generals, a big stand, barrels and top to make a table and traffic barriers. This is what I call a good set, and not all these modern kits where you only get exactly one vehicle and nothing else whatsoever. 

Parts fit generally well, the wheels cannot be made to turn without major modification as in most Matchbox kits. I will add that Revell instructions are quite badly done, and you are left wondering what some parts are and how they should be stuck, without help of internet.

The Verdict

For a start  I have to say that I am a Montgomery fan and I love everything related with him  and his campaigns so it is very hard to be impartial here .WW2 specific vehicles are rare to be seen in the modelling world specially in 1:72 (except those standard vehicles that include the militar codes for that general in particular; like Rommel's halftrack) so this italian captured lorry modified as staff lorry for the personal use of Montgomery is a really interesting subject and a must  to complete your 8th army collection.

We cannot also forget the small but very used in combat Dingo light armed vehicle, one of those vehicles that you can't find easily from any other manufacturer  although Britain won the war!!!(if it was german we will be flooded with kits of this vehicle).

For those that also like to make small dioramas or make improvements in interior kits this will be a nice addition for their collection as the interior of the lorry only includes a small bench table.

Accuracy; 6/10, Acceptable.
Mould quality; 6/10, Acceptable. (Revell release)
Difficulty level; 5/10, Moderately easy.
Price/Quality; 7/10 Good, today Revell's reissue should be easy to find and well priced.

My version

This is a particular vehicle, so if you don't modify the lorry to retransform into the regular Italian army version, there is only sandy for North Africa/Italy or green for the european theatre. As you can see in the pics, I went for the sandy version, depicting Italy (as the base is quite difficult to believe it is in North Africa), and I did some interioring work, creating a small bed and a bathroom. I did this many years ago, before knowing the uses of epoxy putty, so I used Patcolor (a self-drying plasticine sold by Jovi) as a putty to recreate the interior.

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Photos

Hasegawa Cruiser Tank Crusader Mk III 1:72 Revell Review Model Kit

This friday we will speak of a classic kit, the Cruiser Tank from Hasegawa;

Boxes; The first release box have all the flair of the 70s, the second one is just dull (I never liked the grey on Hasegawa's kits, maybe due to seeing them so many times). The artwork has more realistic colours in the second one, but in overall is not very exciting. The Revell box is typical Revell box, realistic and nice, more proper with desert colours, but it has been done like if it was a modern tank, and the driver looks like a Iraqi tank crew!

THE KIT - 9.0

One of the smoothest, easiest and nicest models to build I have had the honour of building (and that's quite a feat considering I've built around 200 model kits!). Everything fits perfectly, and if you are in a modelling spree, you could finish it in 2-3 hours! a perfect tank for a novice, and all the same with good accuracy. 

The only dark points you see after carefully comparing with the real thing, is that the turret is slightly squashed, and it lacks some angle on the roof of it. The real turret would be much higher. The front lights are big and they don't look like the real ones, so if you are one of those accuracy maniacs you will have a nice extra work replacing them. But knowing this was released in the 70s, you could say it's one of the best models of that decade!

Instructions are very clear, tracks are fantastic, soft and easy to assemble and adapt to the wheels (how nice it would be that all tanks had the same quality of tracks!) and decals are ok, but you will have to use some decal micro film or varnish or they will be flying off in a couple of months.

As always with hasegawa you get a nice little pilot, although he is in a very weird pose.

PRICE-VALUE RATIO - 8.5

Released since the 1970s, and if you ask me, at least in constant production from the mid 90s to the mid 2000s. This kit should be dead easy to find (although now you don't see much AFVs Hasegawa kits on shop, maybe Revell has bought all moulds, I don't know). But all the same Revell kits are easy to find, and quite cheap. And looking for it on eBay and finding it for less than 8 pounds can be easy, so a very good value here.


 Overall;

This is a important tank, besides having a interesting design (I had to check twice when I was kid to make sure it was a WW2 kit!), much different to the conventional tanks of WW2, it is a easy kit to do, cheap and easy to find, so stop reading and go and buy it! very appropiate for wargaming too. 

If you have enjoyed this review and want to say thanks, the best way is to click in one of the advertisings in the blog. Every little help will be appreciated. 
This is the Crusader I built, some 15 years ago so not much in way of weathering and similar, age provides that :);

Here you can get inspiration on other builds, gathered from the net;

Thanks for reading, and see you in the next battle!

AUTOBLINDA AB41 1/72 ITALERI Model Kit Armoured Car Panzerspähwagen AB41 201(i) nº7051

Welcome to my first review of 1/72 vehicle, the Autoblinda AB41 of Italeri.

Let´s go on with the subject then;

BOX ART >> A nice realistic illustration, which correctly depicts the vehicle. It could be more sensational, but it's ok. The rear of the box is very useful, as it gives three camouflage schemes, something that is very appreciated and will save long hours in search of something more exciting than the typical camo.

THE KIT - 9.5 >>

There is not much to say, it is just and plainly exact and perfect. Everything fits, there is no problems, no errors. This has a great merit, as it is a vehicle with many angles, there are many possibilities of some plate that doesn't fit, but no, everything has been well done and you will not need putty to fill cracks nor anything like it.

The final sensation is of museum-like perfection. The only small thing you could complain about is that maybe the cannon is too fine, but you could also say that other companies make  the cannons too big for 1/72.

EXTRAS - 2.0 >>

You don't get many really, just four cans of petrol. No man, no little diorama, no boxes, nothing. It would have been nice to have included the driver in the illustration, but well, nothing can be perfect.

POSSIBILITIES - 7.0 >>

You have a couple of nice possibilities for this kit besides the most typical ones, not many but interesting all the same. The first is camouflaging it for the Germans (as they named it, Spahpanzerwagen 501), and there is more than one camo. The other option is to make some other italian camo with green like the one showed below.

PRICE/VALUE RATIO - 7.5 >>

It can be found for a moderate 10 GBP on eBay. I was lucky to find it on retail for 7-8 €. 

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE - 7.0 >>

"The historical importance score is determined by how many were built, and how much operational service they had, and how much influence they had on the conflicts they were involved in"

Only 550 were made, but all saw active combat, and it was the most common armed car in the Italian army, so it has quite good historical importance. The germans made a further 120 as Panzerspahwagen AB41, which shows that it was a useful vehicle. Probably the most important armed car that wasn't made yet in 1/72.

WARGAMING - 8.0 >>

It is approved with the "Alzo Zero" label as suitable for wargaming, as lately with all Italeri kits. It is quite easy to build the model .Maybe the wargamer will not glue some of the more fine details to handle it more easily, and it will have a lot more detail than a die-cast or other ready made models. 

OVERALL - 9.0 >> 

Knowing it's importance, a such good quality kit for a reasonable price like it has, you just have to buy it. It is also very needed for wargaming, to represent the Italian armed cars. Italeri has done honour to their homeland and has given a very much needed representation of many Italian vehicles, which to this date had only existed in 1/35.

IMAGES OF FINISHED JOBS

Model kit made by myself.