Reviews of products for scale military vehicle models.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$10.42

The Vehicle

Every armed force in World War II used civilian automobiles as transportation for “important” people. There were American Dodges, Buicks, and Fords. The British used Bentleys and Austin. The Germans used Opels and Horches. Brengun doesn’t specify which model of automobile this kit represents, but it’s obviously a “luxury” car, with a hard top and 4 doors. It’s definitely nicer than Hans-Joachim Marseille’s Kubelwagen.

The Kit

You get two resin staff cars in the kit. There is a PE fret an instruction sheet, and a small decal sheet with license plates for two cars.

Assembly

There really isn’t any assembly to this kit. I removed the pour block from the connectors at the bottom of the car, and then cut these connectors off of the bottom of the car.

Review Author
Phillip Cavender
Published on
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$81.99

Introduction

I won’t go into the history of the Valentine Tank because each modeler, I’m sure, does his own research before beginning the build. But, what I found interesting was the different opinions as to how the Valentine got its name. One reference implies that the name came from the middle name of Sir John Carden, the designer of the A9 and A10 which were prototypes of the Valentine. Another reference article states that the name came from an acronym of the designer. (Vickers Armstrong Limited Engineers Newcastle-upon-Tyne). Even other references imply that the name came from the date it was introduced to the Army of which was Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 1938. Whatever the reason for the name, the Valentine and its variations continued to be used. As to accuracy of the model, it does appear to be very accurate when compared to some scale line drawings.

Review Author
Bill O'Malley
Published on
Company
AFV Club
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$80.00

The Büssing-NAG 4.5 ton truck was manufactured for the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe between 1942 & 1945. The truck was adapted for many uses including cargo, troop carrier, artillery prime mover, flak carriage, and even a version that could run on railroad tracks. This particular version of the Bussing Nag was fitted with a Bilstein 3 ton crane which could be used to lift engines and change tank gun barrels. After 1943, the Büssing-NAG with 3 ton Bilstein crane was designated Kfz. 100.

The Büssing-NAG was first issued by AFV Club in 2012 as a cargo truck, again in 2014 with new parts, and this version in 2015 with the Bilstein Crane.

Review Author
Mike Lamm
Published on
Company
Panda Hobby
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$54.95

At the 2015 Russian Army May Day Victory parade, the world got its first official view of Russia’s latest family of armored fighting vehicles. This new series of vehicles presented a new doctrine for Russian armament, design and ultimately survivability by creating a modular system to work across multiple platforms similar to what the U.S. Army attempted with their Future Combat Systems. The “Bumerang” is the design of Russia’s newest addition to the BTR family, intended to replace the BTR-80 and BTR-82 designs.

The Bumerang more closely resembles Western LAVs, rather than the BTR systems. The engine has been moved to the front, it has a v-shaped hull to make it more mine-resistant, instead of exiting the vehicle through the sides of the vehicle, as was the case with the BTR, troops exit the rear, and the Bumerang features an unmanned turret.

Review Author
Allan Murrell
Published on
Company
Videoaviation
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$25.00

This resin kits is of the standard US Tow Tractor used on airfields from the beginning of WWII to the 1950’s. This is such a nice addition to any airfield diorama. The kit represents the factory basic version as delivered these were customized a lot so you can modify it to suit any reference material you have. The kit is very easy to build as long as you watch the instruction details carefully.

In the box is:

  • 35 resin parts
  • 1 plastic rod
  • 1 instruction booklet

All the parts are all very well details with no defects. Once the parts are removed from the base parts they are extremely well molded with no flash or bubbles.

Construction

The build is very easy and is made up of 12 steps. I had no issues with the build, very little filling was required. It when together beautifully. There is also an optional rear armor plate that can be installed.

Review Author
Peter Bucher
Published on
Company
Dragon Models
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$72.99

What's in the Box?

  • 13 grey plastic sprues
  • 1 plastic lower hull
  • 1 Photo etch sheet
  • 2 bags of magic tracks (one left and one right)
  • 1 decal sheet
  • 1 set of Instructions

Background

The SU76I was based on the German Panzer III and Stug III chassis. It was armed with a 76.2 mm gun. Approximately 200 of these captured vehicles were converted by the Russians. A new superstructure enclosing the 76.2 mm gun was added to the tank. The tank was issued to self-propelled gun units starting in autumn 1943, but it was withdrawn from the front in early 1944. Some SU-76i were recaptured by the Germans who added a Panzer III commander’s copula fixed on the roof. I found this to be very interesting in that the original vehicles had been re-purposed twice.

Review Author
Jim Pearsall
Published on
Company
Brengun
Scale
1/144
MSRP
$10.43

The Jeep

The original Jeep was built by Bantam, but Ford and Willys also bid on the original contract. Due to financial problems at Bantam, the other two companies were given contracts to build Jeeps. Bantam called theirs BRC-40 Willys was the MB, the Ford was called GPW. The Jeep was a ¼ ton all-wheel drive vehicle, with a wheelbase of 80 inches and a track of 47 inches.

Willys produced 363,000 Jeeps, Ford made 280,000. We gave 51,000 to the Russians. They were used in every theater of WW2.

The Kit

The base kit is one very nicely cast piece of resin, which is almost the entire Jeep. There is a PE fret, of which 3 parts are used. There’s a decal sheet with all the markings you need. You get enough in the envelope to build two Jeeps, with PE and decals for both.

Book Author(s)
David Doyle
Review Author
Frank Landrus
Published on
Company
Squadron Signal Publications
MSRP
$19.95

David Doyle’s latest book continues to expand on Squadron Signal’s long standing In Action series that initiated back in 1971. This is a completely updated and expanded edition over Squadron’s earlier Armor in Action 34, M3 Half-Track by Jim Mesko that was published in 1996 with 50 pages.

Review Author
Marc K. Blackburn
Published on
Company
Trumpeter
Scale
1/35
MSRP
$72.95

The Kit

Joining Trumpeter’s growing fleet of prime movers, this kit is their latest addition. The AT-T is a tracked vehicle, sharing the same components as a T-54. The kit and markings are for one vehicle. The color call out sheet shows this as a parade vehicle, white rims and markings of the Soviet flag. I chose to make it a grubbier vehicle with the Soviet red star (ironically enough, left over from another Trumpeter kit). Molded in the now customary grey Trumpeter plastic, there are ten sprues in the kit of which three are the tracks and two are the rubber road wheels. It includes one fret of PE, clear parts and one sheet of decals. The parts are nicely molded, but there are some prominent mold lines on some of the smaller parts that must be taken care of.

Review Author
Andrew Birkbeck
Published on
Company
Hauler
Scale
1/48
MSRP
$16.00

This photo etched brass and nickel set is designed for Tamiya’s 1/48th scale JGSDF Type 10 modern tank.

Tamiya’s line of 1/48th scale military vehicle kits are designed to be easy to assemble, in that they are brilliantly engineered for excellent fit of parts, the parts count is relatively low, and they lack any sort of photo etched parts commonly seen in many recently released armor model kits.