Bronco 1/35 Humber Armored Car Mk.II
By Joe Lotz
Item No.: 35085
MSRP: $65.50
The Humber Armored Car was made by the Rootes Group. It was one of most produced British armored cars of WW 2. Basically the Humber was a combination of the Guy armored car body and the chassis of the Karrier KT4 artillery tractor. In 1940 the first order for 500 was placed with production starting in 1941. The Humber was used in North Africa and in the European Theater of War by Reconnaissance Units. Improvements of the Mk.II over the Mk.I consisted of changes to the turett and better armor around the driver and the radiator. The armament consisted of a 7.92mm and a 15mm BESA machine gun. A total of 440 vehicles o the Mk.II were built.
After the war the Humber Armored car was used in 1948-49 by Egypt. Other countries that used the Humber after the war were The Netherlands, Portugal, Cyprus, Burma, Mexico, Denmark and Ceylon.
There are still several Humber Armored Cars left in Museums in either functional or static displays.
The Kit
When I opened the box I was surprised at the amount of parts in it. The box is filled with 13 tan colored sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 PE fret, a piece of string, a small decal sheet, 5 plastic tires, the instruction booklet and a small poster of the box-art. I counted 760 plastic parts and around 100 PE parts for a model that is about 6 inches long when assembled. About 60 parts are marked as not being used. That still leaves a lot of parts and small ones at that to be assembled.
The parts have nice and crisp detail. There are no ejector marks in visible spots and I did not notice any flash.
The instruction booklet contains 34 pages. There are 55 assembly steps and 4 painting options. 2 options are for unknown units while the other two are for a vehicle of the 12th Lancers, Armored Car Regiment, 1st. Armored Division and a vehicle of the 11th Hussars Armored Car Regiment, 7th Armored Division. All vehicles are having a sand base color. The vehicle for the 11th Hussars has black camouflage spots.
Paint call-outs are for Mr. Hobby, Hobby Color, Humbrol and Tamiya. A nice touch is the inclusion of 3-D photos for some of the PE parts and the location o some of the plastic parts.
This model comes with a full engine, transmission, suspension and interior. Options include open and closed hatches and the steering appears to be movable.
Conclusion
This is a lot of modeling for the money. I am very impressed with this kit and the amount of detail. To build it will definitely be a challenge due to the high amount of small parts. So everyone attempting this kit should have some experience under their belt. This is by no means a beginner’s kit. This kit will build into an impressive replica of the real thing. I would like to thank Bronco for another impressive kit and thank Dragon Models USA for this review kit.