Academy 1/35 Warrior MCV "Iraq 2003" By Kent Kirkpatrick

The Warrior

Developed in the mid-70s by GKN, the Warrior Mechanized Combat Vehicle (MCV) was built as the British counter-part to the American M2 Bradley IFV. The Warrior went into production in January of 1986. The British Army ordered over 1,000 to be built. Its design utilized an all-aluminum welded hull powered by 550 hp V8 diesel engine. The turret was armed with a 30mm Rarden cannon with a coaxially mounted 7.62mm chain gun. Current conflicts have resulted in the Warrior being fitted with additional armor protection.

The Kit

The box has colorful artwork of a Warrior MCV in a desert paint-scheme. It makes a good painting reference. There is also some color photos of a finished model on the sides of the box. Inside the box is a fourteen-page instruction manual in Korean, German and English. The illustrations are very well done and in logical order of assembly. There are eighteen sub-assembly steps to complete this model. Kit instructions have a symbol legend for filing, gluing, cutting, etc. that guides you through assembly. If you have trouble finding a part there is a parts location diagram page. There are multiple sealed bags containing part sprues and one containing the decals. The sprues are molded in a soft tan styrene. This is good in that small parts may bend but not break when mishandled. There is no flash to speak of on any of the parts. Injection pin markings are mostly hidden from view after assembly or need minimal sanding to remove. Included with the parts is fine vinyl mesh for the turret basket and poly-caps for the road wheels. There is a length of braided twine for the tow cable. Heat both ends to ensure that the twine does not fray and become unusable. My first impression is this 1/35th scale Warrior kit has a nice exterior surface detailing on the upper hull with various hatch openings if you wish to open up the model for viewing. For a kit that has this many hatch openings it is disappointing that there is not any interior detail to speak of. I guess this is to challenge the scratch-builder or after-market companies to resolve. The one-piece vinyl tracks are nicely detailed for 1/35th scale except they seem to be stiff and somewhat inflexible. I would suggest you soak them in hot water and reshape once the suspension is assembled. The cable-ends are separate so you can use the nylon twine to complete. The most time-consuming sub-assembly is the upper-hull, which involves 7 steps. One of the optional steps involves the Iraqi version, which has accessory parts involving external stowage bins, ID panels, jerry cans and other items. The appliqué armor panels have really nice detail so I suggest dry brushing them to make them stand out. To help you with the location of these items there is a page with two model photographs with location indicators. The decals are of high quality being printed on thin film and not off-register. There is a separate paint and decal instruction sheet that shows you two vehicle markings, Iraqi or Bosnian theatres of operation. Neither indicates what unit they are from. One negative item is the paint color legend does not refer to any standard FS or paint manufacturer but uses color terminology (light brown, dark green, red, etc.) instead.

Conclusion

Overall the quality of this Warrior MCV kit is very good. This is consistent with Academy's other products. I definitely give this kit two thumbs up for subject detail and accuracy. I highly recommend this unique kit to the British armor enthusiasts. Virtually no flash or sink marks on the parts.

I would like to thank MRC for the review kit.