Background

During the 1930’s and the early period of the Second World War, British tank tactics involved having two types of tanks: the faster Cruiser tanks that would act as mechanized cavalry or break out vehicles, and the slower, more heavily armored Infantry tanks that would lumber into battle at a speed commensurate with supporting infantry maneuvers. Of the Infantry tanks produced, the Valentine series was the most numerous, accounting for 30% of the entire British tank production of the Second World War: 7,315. Production took place in Canada as well as the United Kingdom. Nearly 4,650 Valentine tanks were provided to the Soviet Union under the Allied Lend-Lease program. A total of 12 variants of the Valentine were produced, the majority being the Mk.II/IV vehicle produced here by Tamiya.

Dragon has recently released the Befehls (Command) version of the Panther Aufs. G. This kit is a fairly extensively equipped with many parts trees, clear, photoetch, and wire cables. Though externally identifiable at distance as a Panther, there are subtle details closeup that identify this as a special version of the venerable combat variant. Germany has a history of command versions of many of their combat vehicles, primarily equipped with extra radios and operators for long range and multi-command and control networks. This kit brings into the fold another variant of one of those vehicles.

Trumpeter continues to produce a wide range of interesting and wide ranging Russian subjects. While the box says that this is the Russian AT-S Tractor, in fact, this is a two-in-one kit. Also included with the prime mover is the Soviet ML-20 152 mm howitzer Mod 1937. As with most Trumpeter kits, the box is sturdy and the sprues are individually packaged and the more fragile parts are wrapped in foam. For the prime mover there are twelve sprues, including four for the individual track links, one sprue of transparent parts and a small PE fret. There are markings for three vehicles, Russian, Finnish, and the German Democratic Republic. For this build, I chose the Finnish markings. For the artillery piece, there are nine sprues, two PE frets, a set of rubber tires and a metal gun barrel. As with most recent Trumpeter models, the parts are well molded in grey plastic, though there is some fine flash and mold lines present on the parts which take some time to clean up.

Joining Trumpeters 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. 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.

The Opel “Blitz” truck was produced from 1930 to 1975. It was used as a commercial vehicle, and when the Wehrmacht needed a reliable and fast truck, the Blitz was chosen. In 1937, the Nazis had Opel build a factory at Brandenburg, which turned out over 130,000 Blitzes, until the RAF stopped production in 1944 by bombing the plant.

This kit is the ambulance version of the Opel Blitz. The ambulance had a transportation box on the back to handle casualties.

The Kit

There are two sprues, along with a clear sheet for windows, and a decal sheet. One sprue is for the chassis and cab, the other is the ambulance box. No PE, no resin, no problem.

The model is fairly straightforward to build. There’s a frame section, the cab, the ambulance box, the wheels, and some detail parts. The kit is a reissue of the ESCI ambulance from the 1970s. The molds have been reworked, as there ‘s no flash, and the parts are pretty well molded.