Roden 1/35 WWII British Armoured Car
By Roger Sams
The Kit
The kit consists of 226 parts molded in light green plastic broken down into 8 separate sprues. There are an additional two sprues of tires cast in vinyl, a well printed decals sheet with markings for two vehicles, more on that later, and a small sheet of clear acetate for the searchlight and headlight lenses. The parts are cleanly cast will only a little flash and only a few sink marks. There are quite a few injector pin marks, most of which are shallow or will be hidden during construction. Some of the detail is a little on the soft side while on other pieces the detail is sharp and crisp. The radiator and engine assembly pieces are very impressive. The fenders are very nice as well, thinly cast but have some
serious injector marks on the underside. The seams lines minimal and clean up shouldn’t be a problem. There are many small delicate parts so take care when removing them. The 36 step multi-lingual instructions booklet is nicely printed and has a brief operational history of the vehicle. It also provides a painting guide using Model Master colors as a reference. 36 steps may seem like a lot but a few steps consist of gluing only two pieces together so don’t sweat it. There’s good exploded view drawings of each assembly and the parts are clearly labeled.
Construction starts with the engine which consists of 22 parts. As I mentioned earlier, the engine is very nicely details and should build into a fine replica of the 6 cylinder 80hp Rolls Royce engine. Next comes the assembly of the wheels and tires. Again Roden has done a nice job with the tread pattern on the tires. There are three sprue attachment points on each tire that will require some careful trimming when removing. The wheels themselves are a two part assembly with the vinyl tire sandwiched between. They as thinly cast and have nice rivet, valve stem and lug nut detail provided.
Interior construction comes next. Its pretty basic but again the parts are finely cast. The hand brake and shift levers are really sweet. The chassis comes next with most of the previous sub assemblies sandwiched between. Keeping it square and level will be the priority now. The chassis rails will require some care when being removed as there are some delicate parts that could be easily broken. The detail on the outside of chassis is once again nicely rendered with only a few injector pin marks in the inside that should be hidden when assembled. The rear drive assembly comes next. The differential housing and the drive shaft detail is a little lacking but since they’ll end up under the vehicle that’s not a big deal. The wheel/tire subassembly is attached to round out this step.
The rear drive subassembly and the front axle are now attached to the completed chassis. You’ll want to be sure everything sits level here else they’ll be trouble later. The interior floorboard, radiator and engine firewall are attached next. After that comes the assembly of the rear bed of the vehicle. This looks pretty straight forward and shouldn’t pose any problems. The armored cab is assembled next. This consists of 9 parts which has nice rivet detail throughout. There’s a subtle cast texture to the armored plates that really sets the kit off. The doors at the rear of the cab have detail on the inside but it’ll take a let effort display them open. The detail on the hood is very nice as well but its cast in one piece which means that it’ll take a little surgery to open it up and show off the engine.
The body is now attached to the chassis as well as the running board, fenders and bed. The next major assembly is the turret. The interior race is done first. The gunners platform and machinegun are attached at this point. The machinegun is not very good. It’ll pass but could have been much better. The turret consists of 6 parts, not including the hatch and machinegun shield and when assembled attaches to the interior race. The turret’s rear hatch is molded shut. There are 3 Enfield .303’s included in the kit, they aren’t too good either but like the machinegun will pass.
Final assemble is next with spare wheels, turret, spotlight and headlights and the remaining subs attached in the steps 35 and 36.
The Decals
The small decal sheet has markings for two vehicles. The instructions are thorough and show the decal positions nicely. The decals are in register and appear thin. I have no experience with Roden decals but these look every bit as good as those from Dragon or Tamiya. The 5 part British roundel for the Ajax vehicle version might be a challenge but will really set off the appearance of the finished kit.
Conclusion
Roden’s first foray into 35th scale is not without fault but I’m excited to build this kit. I’m not a rivet counter and don’t own a set of measuring calipers and usually go with my gut when it comes to kits. This is good kit that I’m confident it will build into a fine replica of the real vehicle and look forward to Rodens next 35th release. I also look forward to a aftermarket backdate set with spoke wheels and a resin hood to show off the engine.
Big thanks to Matt Bittner of Internet Modeler for letting me do this review and Roden for providing the kit.