Chris Graeter
Reviews By Author
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M1113 ACAVPublished:
HistoryThe M1113 is one of the most famous armored personal carriers in the history of military vehicles. It entered service in the beginning of the 1960’s and was the most widely used armored vehicle of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Marine Corps in the Vietnam War. Capable of Carrying a fully equipped infantry squad, it proved its mobility, reliability and efficiency in the very difficult operational environment of Vietnam characterized by swamps and jungles. The “armored cavalry assault vehicle” or “ACAV” version was developed very soon to improve the fighting effectiveness of the M1113. The new features implemented on ACAV version were a circular turret armor for the commander’s M2 12.7mm machine gun and two additional 7.62mm M60 machine guns, protected by shields, and… more |
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S-35 Somua Detail SetPublished:
HistoryThe SOMUA S35 was a French Cavalry tank of the Second World War. Built from 1936 until 1940 to equip the armored divisions of the Cavalry, it was for its time a relatively agile medium-weight tank, superior in armor and armament to its French and foreign competitors, such as the contemporary versions of the German Panzerkampfwagen III. It was constructed from well-sloped, mainly cast, armor sections, that however made it expensive to produce and time-consuming to maintain. During the German invasion of May 1940, the SOMUA S35 proved itself to be a tactically effective type, but this was negated by the French command's strategic mistakes in deploying the Cavalry armored divisions. After the defeat of France in June 1940, limiting production to a number of about… more |
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M2/M3 Bradley In ActionPublished:
Squadron Signal Publication, In Action series has come out with a new book authored by David Doyle on the M2/M3 Bradley. The book starts out with an interdiction on how and why the Bradley came about. From the US Army’s open top M3 halftrack in WWII to the M113 APC the US Army needed a vehicle that could keep pace on the modern battle field with the latest tanks. The new vehicle would need to posses excellent firepower, speed and protection to transport troops. After a long development period the M2 Bradley joined the US Army. The book covers this development period well with good photos and text. The book continues with excellent photo references and text that follows the different upgrades and deployments that the Bradley has seen from the 1980’s, peace time Germany, Kosovo, the two… more |
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M3A3 Bradley CFV, Standard EditionPublished:
HistoryThe M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) is an American tracked armored reconnaissance vehicle manufactured by BAE Systems Land and Armaments (formerly United Defense) based on the Bradley Fighting Vehicle Family. The M3 CFV is used by heavy armored cavalry units in the U.S. Army. The M3 Bradley CFV is very similar to the M2 Bradley IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and is fielded with the same powerful two-man 25mm Bushmaster Cannon turret with the coaxial 7.62mm machine gun. It only varies from the M2 in a few subtle ways and by role. The M3 is classified as an armored reconnaissance and scout vehicle and does away with the firing ports found in the M2 series. The M3 also carries more TOW missiles as well as more ammunition for its 25mm and 7.62mm guns.… more |
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M3A3 Bradley w/BUSK III Interior Set (US Calvary Fighting Vehicle)Published:
HistoryThe M3A3 Bradley w/BUSK III CFV is the very latest model fielded by the US Army. The Cavalry Fighting Vehicle’s (CFV) primary duties are reconnaissance and scouting. The CFV Bradleys are normally assigned to Tank Battalions or Cavalry Divisions. The Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) Bradleys are used to transport troops into battle and out. MENG has followed their kit of the successful M2A3 Bradley (IFV) w/BUSK III with the new M3A3 Bradley (CFV) w/BUSK III. They have separated the main vehicle and the interior into two kits and packaged both separately. This gives modelers the option to build the vehicle kit without the interior at a cost savings. This review covers MENG’s M3A3 Bradley w/BUSK III Interior Set. The vehicle itself is reviewed separately… more |
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M3A3 Bradley w/BUSK IIIPublished:
HistoryIn 1980 the US Army formally took delivery of the new M2 Bradley IFV (Infantry Fighting Vehicle) and M3 Bradley CFV (Cavalry Fighting Vehicle). The M3 CFV had a wielded aluminum hull. It was powered by a 500hp Cummins VTA-903 diesel engine with an HMDT-500 automatic transmission at that time. Its two-man turret had positions for the commander and gunner. The turret consisted of a 25mm M242 Bushmaster chain gun, a 7.62mm M240C coaxial machine gun and a two-tube TOW anti-tank missile launcher. Firing ports and periscopes on each side of the hull, and the two firing ports on the rear ramp were eliminated on the M3 CFV. The primary rule of the M3 CFV is reconnaissance and scouting. M3 CFV is normally assigned to Tank battalions. The M3 CFV first saw combat in the… more |
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MBT-70 (Kpz. 70)Published:
KitThis is another of Dragons “Black Label” kits. The model is boxed in a sturdy box with a nice painting showing the vehicle used in West German markings. Inside you will find seven spruces molded in grey plastic. Also one clear spruce, lower hull section, four Dragon DS track links, small decal sheet, instruction fold out sheet, and a photo reference sheet with photos of a vehicle at the famous Deutsches Panzermuseum Munster located in Germany. The parts are flash free with some mold lines that clean up very well. Dragon includes a correction instructions sheet for step 15. The correction is a simple one in that all is needed is to cut off a piece of a part and glue it in a different area. The parts count is just right and I found that there are only two parts… more |
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Soviet Heavy Tank Object 279Published:
Object 279 was a Soviet prototype tank designed in 1959 to be capable of operating on a nuclear-biological-chemical battlefield and even survive the blast wave from a nuclear weapon (from a distance, anyway). The tank had a bowl-shaped body to channel blast energy around itself. The vehicle carried a 130mm main gun capable of firing discarding sabot shells that could penetrate over 400mm of armor. The tank’s own armor was up to 319mm thick. The tank had four tracks to assist it in going over exceedingly rough terrain. In spite of its advantages, the tank was never put into production due to gearbox reliability issues and its inability to cross some bridges and move in swampy areas, due to its weight. KitThe kit comes with four parts trees, three parts trees for the… more |
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U.S. Modern Infantry (Iraq War)Published:
KitThe kit comes with two sprues, one for the four US Army figures and one for the four US Marine figures. There is a paper sheet with printed US food ration boxes that can be cut, folded, and glued up to represent these ration boxes. Also there is and instruction sheet for assembly. The first thing you will notice about this kit is that it is not a Tamiya mold, but instead a Master Box Mold. In fact the kit contains two Master Box figure sets into one. Why Tamiya used, Master Box Molds instead of producing their own is beyond me (could be a distributor relationship- Ed). Tamiya has a history of producing excellent figures, so I was a little dumb founded as to this fact when I received the kit. The figures have excellent detail with little to no flash to clean up.… more |
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RG-31 Mk 3 Mine-Protected APCPublished:
HistoryThe RG-31 is a 4x4 mine-protected, all-terrain armored personnel carrier(APC) first manufactured in South Africa. It is able to withstand mine blasts and small arms fire due to the V-shaped, all-steel welded armor monologue hull and high suspension. As a multi-purpose vehicle, the RG-31 assumes a wide range of roles, such as APC, ambulance, and surveillance vehicle, but is mostly used during peacekeeping missions for its non-aggressive appearance. The RG-31 has served in Iraq & Afghanistan. KitInside the box, there are 5 tan plastic sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 black rubber sprue, 5 black hard rubber tires, a PE fret, a decal sheet, and a 24-page instruction booklet. Also included in the kit box is a bonus "Check Point" set. The set consist of four… more |