Modelkrak's 1/72 Pulitow-Garford WWI Armored Car

By Chris Banyai-Riepl

History

In 1914 the Pulitov company started construction of a new armored car based on the American Garford truck chassis. Weighing in at around 9 tons, it was armed with either a 57mm or 76.2mm gun in a rear turret and three machine guns, one in the turret and two on either side of the cab. This vehicle was very top-heavy and could only go forward, and at a maximum speed of 20kph. Even with these shortcomings, though, many were built. Since it performed so poorly as a ground vehicle, many were adapted to rail and were employed as parts of armored trains. Rumor has it that some survived as late as 1936 and possibly even later, taking part in the opening exchanges of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.

The Kit

Want to build a model of something interesting but ugly?  Grab this kit!  World War I armored car kits aren't common, probably because there weren't many cars out there and those that were out there aren't in mainstream literature.  Such is the case with this car.  The Modelkrak kit is beautifully cast in resin, with the main car being made up of three parts.  There isn't much else to the kit, with the wheels and axles making up just about everything else.  There is no coloring information included, other than the color profile on the boxtop, and there is no decal sheet either.  On the plus side, there isn't much out there on this car, so you aren't likely to run into the color police on this one.

Conclusion

This kit is a very nice kit and will be a simple one to build up.  The interesting subject matter will be sure to catch an eye at the next contest you put it into, and the only real challenge will be to find some interesting markings to put it into.  If you want something different to build, or want to try your hand at building a resin kit, this is an excellent choice.

This kit is available from Roll Models for only $22.00.