History

The 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.

Kit

Inside 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 figures and barricades (both water & concrete). I did not build this set for this review, but after looking it over, I think this set would build into a very nice diorama featuring the RG-31.

Build

The build starts with the suspension and lower hull. There is a series of sub-assemblies next, then the interior. The build continues through to the exterior and road wheels. There are options in the build to allow for the hatches to be open or closed, and one of the window gun ports can be modeled open or closed. No engine comes with the kit. There are three different markings to choose from – US Army Iraq 2006, US Marine Corps, and UNIFL – United Nations Interim Force, in Lebanon 2007. I choose the US Army Iraq 2006. I painted the model with AK Interactive paints and Tamiya paints. I gave the model a wash and weathered it with AK Interactive and Mig production products.

Summary

The fit is overall good with some slight mismatches here and there. There is a lot of clean up with punch marks and mold lines. The detail on the parts is good, and the PE parts add greatly to the detail. The .50 cal machine gun is lacking detail, and no ammo comes with it. The decals are fantastic; I applied them with no gloss coat and they lay down perfectly with no silvering. I would recommend this kit to intermediate modelers and up. The subject of this kit is excellent and adds to any modeler’s modern army collection.

I would like to thank Kinetic Model for the kit and Stevens International for supplying this kit for review. I would also like to thank IPMS for allowing me to review this kit.