This kit is a representation of the 17-pdr Anti-Tank gun used by the British Army during WWII. This variant was rushed into service when the Germans introduced the Tiger Tank into North Africa. Due to the expedited production of the gun, the correct carriage was not ready; therefore the British mounted the gun on the 25-pdr carriage. This combination as designated the 17/25-pdr and has a security code name of “Pheasant” The weapon was effective and the only criticism by the troops was its tall profile.

Sprues:

• A – This sprue contains the trails and aiming wheel
• B – This sprue contains the gun cradle, wheels and various miniscule parts
• Ca – This sprue contains the barrel (one Piece), splinter shield and various parts
• D – Ammunition and ammo crates
• E – Two tires
• Pa and Pb – Photo Etched parts
• Two decal sheets and one piece of string

This is a multimedia kit but the use of the Photo-Etch is required, there are no optional plastic parts. Please be aware that some of the plastic parts are very, very small and will take a steady hand to get them off of the sprue without damage. And when they are off the sprue these minuscule parts do their very best to hide or get lost in the carpet.

Before starting the model, you need to decide how you want to display the gun, either in travel mode or firing mode. Then you have to decide between Option 1 and Option 1. The only difference that I could determine between these two options was small variations in the gun mounts and the number of bolts displayed. The instructions are fairly clear on what to do on each version. I built mine in the firing mode Option 1 version.

Step 1 - This step builds the breech and if you are careful the breech block can be built so that it can be moved with the lever. This will help in the painting of that area.

Step 2 - This consists of the assembly of the gun and gun cradle. Some of the parts are very small and delicate that will require a lot of care to keep them from being damaged during the build. The barrel is a one piece molding using slide mold technology so you have a plastic round barrel with only minor mold seams to deal with. The muzzle brake is in one part and is very well done. This step also has you build a subassembly that is used only in option 2 so I ignored it.

Step 3 - This step shows you where the gun is to be shown on the cradle depending on which position you want to show, either firing or travel position.

Step 4 - This step builds two subassemblies for mounting in step 6. The instructions for subassembly 4 show it being glued together, then in step 6 being mounted on the gun cradle, and then a part of it is glued to the trail in step 11. This will not work. I suggest that you assemble the hand wheel and attach it to the cylinder (B61), then set everything aside till step 11, where you can glue support arm (B73) to the trail and then fit the rest of the subassembly to the support arm and the rest will be adjustable and will fit in easily.

Step 5 - This step starts the build of the gun sight. This sight is very detailed and will be a high point of the model. This step also starts the use of the photo-etched parts in earnest. Part P47 is a flat piece of PE that you will attempt to bend into a curved piece with a flange that is also a curve at a 90 degree angle from the first curve. I was unable to accomplish this feat. I also suggest that you leave off adjustment arms (B57 and B52) until you mount the completed gun sight subassembly in step 6. This will allow you to make adjustments for the proper fit. This step also has you adding some rivet heads to the carriage support sides (B42 and B41). These rivet heads are molded into the Sprue B runners. Here you will have to remove the heads with the correct height, because once you have cut them from the runner you will not be able to hold them and sand/cut off any extra plastic. I mounted them by putting a drop of glue on the support side poked the head and using a sharp pointed blade then placing the head in the glue drop and do a slight blade twist to release the rivet head.

Step 6 - This step adds larger bolt heads from the B sprue runner. Then the rest is the rest of the cradle assembly and mounting the barrel assembly by trapping it between the two carriage halves. Be careful not to glue subassembly 4 into place here. Wait till step 11 where everything will be in their proper place. If you are careful, you can get the elevation gear (B13) to be able to rotate, allowing you to position the barrel at any desired elevation.

Step 7 - This step builds what looks like a tool box. You also bend and assemble the photo-etched tool box rack. You should bend the rack and have it ready to use for test fitting the tool box. The rope handles on the tool box will interfere with the rack if not extended outwards to fit over the edge of the rack. I left the tool box out so I could paint and weather it separately, and then drop it into the rack towards the end of the painting.

Step 8 - This step is concerned with the construction of the two trailing arms. You will need to decide if you want the arms in either travel mode or firing mode. I chose to show the model in firing mode. I had trouble after I glued the splinter shield support mounts (A46 and A47) to the trailing arms. There is a small amount of play and I did not get them parallel to each other, and when I went to mount the splinter shield in step 15 it did not fit properly. I had to cut off the misplaced support mount and ended up gluing it to the splinter shield. I suggest that the support mounts (A46 and A47) be glued directly to the splinter shield in step 13, and then you can use the small amount of play to mount the splinter shield to the trails directly in step 15.

Step 9 - This step builds the two road wheels. It is very important that when you glue part A35 to B3 that you keep the orientation as depicted in the instructions. In step 10 you will glue in parts A4 and A5 and they have locating lugs that fit into A35 and B3 if the orientation is correct.

Step 10 - This step is completion of the gun trails and the mounting of the wheels. The axles (A37 and A38) have angles built into them. However, they can only be glued in one direction due to a half moon locating lug that mates with the center axle (A36). Something is wrong here and I suggest that you dry fit numerous times till you get a fit that you believe will be acceptable. I also suggest that you glue the photo-etched straps (P9) to the pad (B69) first, and then mount the whole subassembly to the trailing arm. I glued the straps to the trailing arm and then the pad to the straps, and the grooves in the pad did not match where I had glued the straps.

Step 11 - This step mates the barrel and gun carriage to the trails. I suggest that you wait on this step until after step 15 where you finish the assembly of the trails. The barrel is supposed to be loose and moveable anyway and you probably would remove it to do the additional work and painting.

Step 12 - This step builds the splinter shield. There are a lot of photo-etched parts to be added in this step. Several of these photo-etched parts are attached on a single edge only. So, you will need to make sure of your attachment and keep your work area clean, so when it pops off you can find it again. There are two aiming stakes that I left off to paint and add decals to them. They were mounted at the end.

Step 13 - This step adds even more items to the splinter shield. The instructions show the aiming port shield in the closed position. If you are building in the firing position, this should be depicted in the open position.

Step 14 - This step builds the trailing arms towing hookup. The instructions show a subassembly of a photo-etched lever (P7) being attached to part A48. These are just begging to be knocked off during the rest of the assembly. I left them off till just before I started painting. Also attachment rods A41 and A42 were left off till the subassembly unit 12 was added in step 15. This allowed me to make sure that they matched up to the trailing arms.

Step 15 - This step builds the subassembly 14 which has the recoil spade and aiming slide. It also takes subassembly 12 (assembled in step 14) and attaches it to part A49. This part and others make up subassembly 13. Then subassemblies 13 and 14 are attached to the trails. After this is complete I added the rods A41 and A42 in their correct places.

Step 16 - This step builds the aiming wheel. You use different parts to show either the transportation mode or firing mode. In firing mode bolt B76 is suppose to go thru all parts and only be glued to retaining ring B14. However, the bolt was either too short or I cut it off the sprue incorrectly. I ended up just gluing everything together.

Step 17 - This step mates everything together, either in transport or firing mode, depending on what choices you made earlier.

Steps 18 thru 23 - These are the steps to build style option 2.

Step 24 - This step builds the ammo boxs and the shells therein. There are two styles of crates, metal and wood. There are 4 different types of ammo. The shells are single pieces with fine mold line that needs to be removed. There are painting instructions and decals for each type of shell. The wooden crates can be left open to display the shell inside, however, the metal crates should not be shown with the “top” not in place as the entire crate was always closed and the shells were removed via an end flap. So you will need to build the metal crate and keep the shells out if you want to display them.

Painting and Decals:

The color charts shows the reference numbers for Tamiya, Humbrol, Mr. Hobby, and Mr. Color. The paint schemes and associated decals are as follows:

Overall dark yellow or dark green with no other camouflage colors.

The decals are for the ammo and ammo boxes; and just a few for the gun. The kit provides 8 shells, but only decals for 4 of the rounds. A name plate on the inside of the splinter shield and numbers on the aiming sticks. They have no manufacturer's name other than Bronco, so I have to assume that Bronco produced them themselves. They appear to be in register and they went on without any fuss.

Conclusion:

The build is at an intermediate level with very good detail and some exceptionally small plastic parts. The molding is crisp with no flash and minimal mold lines. I can recommend this kit to all artillery fans.