This is a re-boxing of Dragon kit #7071 that has already been reviewed by Rod Lees. For photos of the kits parts, you can find that review in the Archives section. I will confine myself to sharing my impressions of this kit.

First off, you have to decide what ship you are building, as there are parts for around four different ships and some surgery is required on some kit parts in some instances. None of this is difficult, but you have to decide right from the git go, as the first step in assembly requires a decision. After that, you need to decide whether you're going to do it full hull or waterline. I like to place my ships in their natural environment, so I went for the waterline. Which was just as well, as a quick check of how the lower hull fit led me to believe that there were a few problems in this area – but, as I said, I dodged that bullet. One small note here is that if you do it full hull, the name plate has the molded-in name "Essex," not "Sheffield."

Background

The US Army has attempted to standardize its fleet of vehicles ever since General Pershing pushed his squadron of 1916 Dodge touring cars into Mexico, chasing Pancho Villa. During WWI, the Army designed the “Standard B Liberty Truck”, of which some 9500 were manufactured by 15 different companies. The Army continued to design and update its truck requirements, and during WWII the GMC- and Studebaker-built 2 ½ ton trucks were representative of those basic designs. Other trucks were used, however, as vehicles from every manufacturer made their way into the military. After WWII, the M34 and M35 2 ½ ton and the M54 5 tons were updated into the M813 and M939 series. They served as the basis for a number of body styles, but the Army was still searching for a way to simplify, streamline, and reduce the bewildering variety of motor vehicles and overwhelming logistics chain.

Zvezda has brought out another anti-tank gun for their war-game "Art of Tactic". This time it is the British version used by the BEF during the Battle for France.

The kit contains 22 parts for the gun, 9 parts for the 2 crewmen, a base, and a flag piece for the game, as well as a movement card. The kit has the same snap together construction as the other guns in this series and is made out of some type of softer plastic than regular injection kits, but not as soft as other figures. The plastic can be trimmed with a sharp knife. I did resort to Tamiya liquid glue for some parts to make sure nothing falls off later on. One of the parts for the gun is an optional carriage to display it in travel mode behind a vehicle.