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Armo's 1/35 Austin-Kegresse Armored Halftrack 1917

By Karen Rychlewski

 

Overview

During the first years of World War I, Imperial Russia purchased armored cars and chassis from Britain and France. However, the mud, snow, and generally poor condition of Russian roads limited their use to solid ground. A more successful design was developed by Adolphe Kégresse, the technical manager of the Imperial garage in St. Petersburg, who in 1910 had replaced the rear wheels of some of the Czar's cars with a light rubber tracked unit. In late 1916, the Kégresse system was installed on some of the British Austin and Russian Austin-Putilov armored cars. These cars were arguably the first armored half-tracks to appear on the world's battlefields and were very successful in their role as reconnaissance and infantry support vehicles. The Russian staff ordered nearly two hundred of these cars to be produced by the Putilovski factory, but the Russian Revolution intervened; in the end, only a dozen or so were built. They were used during the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-20 and several were captured and used by the Poles into the twenties. At least one survived until 1939 as a monument in Modlin, Poland, where it was photographed by the Germans.

The Kit

This is the recently-released 1/35 resin and PE kit No. 35030 by ARMO of Warsaw, Poland. This company has become one of the major players in the armor market and produces a line of interesting kits and conversions of Russian, Soviet, Polish, Czech and German vehicles, dating from this WWI era brute to a SCUD missile launcher. The kit is boxed in a thin but sturdy corrugated cardboard box with a black-and-white photo of the completed model on the boxtop. Three more small photos of actual cars and a brief history in English and Polish are included inside, along with a catalog listing of ARMO's kits. The two pages of instructions are very clearly drawn exploded-view diagrams with PE parts and parts which must be scratchbuilt clearly noted; there should be no problems identifying any of the pieces. However, the drawings for the tracked rear suspension could be a bit confusing; ARMO draws only the left side unit and notes that the back suspension is "x2". If two units are built as drawn, the modeler will end up with two LEFT side units: some of the pieces must be 'mirror-imaged' to build the right side unit.

All of the resin parts are cast in a dense, light yellow resin with nary a pinhole to be seen--raised and indented details are crisp and clean, and the fit of the major parts (body, undersurface, frame, and two turret tops) is exact. All of the smaller bits are packaged in a plastic bag and small box; most are attached to their casting blocks and have a bit of flash. Although this will necessitate some delicate cutting, sawing, and sanding, the blocks prevent the pieces from breaking or warping: given the choice, I for one would rather do the cutting and not have to deal with driveshafts and axles that look like limp spaghetti. Only one small piece was broken. Some of the thinnest parts (steering rods, headlight brackets) I would think about replacing with metal rod; on the other hand, built from the box this will be an impressive model and potential prize winner. ARMO should be congratulated for giving the modeler an extensively detailed undersurface: the axles, springs, steering gear, muffler, and driveshaft are all separate piece; and when all are in place next to the molded-in engine and gas tank the bottom view will be just as handsome as the top. My only complaint involves the tracks themselves: they each are provided as two resin halves. Since the original car had rubber tracks, I wish ARMO had provided 'rubber bands' instead. Never thought I'd be wishing for that!

As if all this weren't enough, ARMO includes a photo-etched fret done by Part, another Varsavian company, which supplies gun shields and a few straps and brackets. But the really beautifully done PE bits are the drive chains. Each of the two chains requires three PE pieces: the sprockets are sandwiched between two oval chain pieces so that the final result has enough thickness to look very realistically in-scale. The chain surfaces are double-etched (a process which Part has taken to a high art) and look very real; I'm hoping that when assembled, they can be given a bit of 'sag' to complete the look of the real vehicle.

There are no decals provided, nor does ARMO give color suggestions for painting. When in doubt, paint it dark green or light gray. Neither the Russian nor Polish versions had much in the way of markings, although I've seen photos of Polish ones with a small red/white split shield and white numbers on the sides. Another reference stated that one of the Red Army cars had "Death to the Bourgeoisie" on its turrets--that should be a hit at your local IPMS show!

Conclusion

This is a great kit: beautifully engineered and cast, but not quite "shake the box" because of the complex track units and the few parts which need to be scratchbuilt. With enough bolts and rivets to satisfy the most demanding rivet-counter, it will build up into an eye-catching model without a great deal of effort. Keep up the good work, ARMO!

Photos and information about this vehicle can be found here.

My kit was purchased from Jadar-Model, Warsaw, Poland, for US$39.90.