Background

A product of 1930’s design, with first production in 1942, the OQF 6-pounder evolved through World War II into the Mk.IV version on the Mk.III carriage. This version, tailored to fit into Horsa gliders for deployment with airborne troops, would generally be towed by Jeeps into combat.

The Kit

Crisply molded in light grey and light olive styrene, this Bronco kit promises to provide a few hours of high-quality modeling. A signature of Bronco’s commitment to recreating the finest of details, the kit is packed with 9 sprues of gun, carriage, and personal gear parts, ranging in size from tiny to small, 4 sprues of figure parts and personal gear, 1 fret of excellent photo etch brass, and 2 sheets of decals (1 for the gun, and one for uniform rank insignia).

Some of the other notable features of this kit include a fully-detailed breech, extra detailing rivets on a sprue rail, fully detailed carriage suspension – with lots of tiny suspension parts -- optional position trail legs (stowed and deployed), detailed gunner’s station, and equipment with stowage straps. With fully weaponry and personal gear, 4 superbly molded airborne troops are provided, and the instructions include a full-color, detailed figure painting guide. Full-color painting and marking diagrams are also provided for the artillery piece. The decals are crisply printed and registered.

Recommendation

As noted, the kit is chock-full of small parts and fine details, and is best-suited for modelers of intermediate and advanced skill. Given Bronco’s strong track record for producing superb kits with extensive fine detail and from looks of what’s in this box, I highly recommend this kit to experienced modelers looking for a finely-detailed airborne anti-tank gun with an eye towards creating a diorama or vignette depicting British airborne anti-tank ops in the latter stages of World War II.

Thanks to Dragon USA for the sample kit and to IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review it.