Attack Humber Armoured Car Mk. II [Gallery]

After a good bit of a modelling-mojo-boost I got from visiting the Euro Model Expo 2022 in Lingen, I managed to finish the Attack 1/72 scale Humber Mk. II I reviewed previously. Having suffered a few setbacks on other models, it has been a considerable joy to get one finished to an acceptable finish. 

 

I ended up replacing the kit-provided fuel cans on the side fenders ("Flimsies") with ones I 3D-printed using files from the cults3d.com user 3D72nd. The models are really nice and I printed them on my Anycubic Photon Mono. As for the paintjob, I went with a basic light stone/desert yellow vehicle from North Africa 1942. Dark chips were applied without alighter layer beneath as the contrast to the basic paint was quite nice with just the dark chips. Different enamels and oils were used to create the dusty appearance. 

Enjoy the final photos and take care! 

Tom

Review: Attack Hobby Kits #72933 Humber Mk.II Aroured Car

In recent years, the Czech Company Attack Hobby Kits has provided multiple WW2 wheeled vehicles for the 1/72 scale market. Among the more recent (2021) releases is the Humber Armoured Car Mk.II. The vehicle has been available from Hasegawa since the 70s, but Attack provides us with a - not perfect - but nice and more up-to-date rendition of the vehicle. While having been released in a plastic-only version, this particular version includes both PE and resin parts.

The nice and glossy boxtop

Historical Background

In search for a quickly-producable armoured car, the British army contracted the company Karrier to design an armoured reconnaissance car based of the earlier Guy arnoured car from 1939. Using an artillery tractor as the base chassis, the Humber Armoured Car  (not in fact named the "Karrier") featured a slightly modified Guy armoured body and A two-man turret reminiscent of that used on the Mk.VI light tank. Armament was a long 15mm and one standard BESA machinegun. After about 300 vehicles, the Mk.II version brought a redesigned sloped front and other improvements. Those were the vehicles likely to be encountered in the desert campaigns of 1942. With the Mk.III (also available from Attack) a bigger three-man turret was introduced with the Mk.IV even gaining a 37mm gun. Total production totaled at over 5000 vehicles, making it more numerous than the more advanched Daimler armoured car. The vehicles served in many nations until the 1960s.

Preview of the largely assembled model

 

The Kit Contents

Inside the box are two plastic sprues in a blueish grey colour, three blocks of resin accessories/wheels, a decal sheet, a PE fret and two very fine metal barrels attached to the back of the instructions.

The first plastic sprue

The first of the two sprues contains mostly hull-parts and the plastic wheels for those who are building the "vanilla" edition of the kit without resin wheels. Being a multi-part-assembly, some car should be taken when building up the hull to minimize gaps and get a good fit. Unfortunately, there is some flash visible and part cleanup is necessary.

Closeup of the wheel-details and the noticeable flash

 

On the second sprue one can spot some removed sections and some unused parts hinting at the kit´s modular nature allowing for several variants to be released. The 37mm (?) barrel suggest a possible Mk.III-kit yet to be released. Stowage boxes and the turret will be built with parts from this sprue.

The second plastic sprue

Detail on this sprue is good, although not as sharp as some other recent kits (vespid, TAKOM etc.) in places. Drivetrain-parts are also represented on the sprue which is really nice when compared to the much older Hasegawa kit. Flash is again an issue that has to be fixed by some careful cleaning up of the parts before assembly. Do also note that none of the part numbers are on the sprue and attention should be paid to the instructions during assembly.

Details of the stowage boxes

The included photoetch parts include grab-handles, rearview-mirrors and some sand channels to be mounted on the vehicles rear. This presents not only a nice detail, but also an opportunity for some weathering when representing some battered and well used equipment. The overall quality of the PE is very nice and adds some "sharper" details to the model.

The PE fret

Curiously enough, the Mk.III version includes PE for the fenders, while this version lacks them. Although acceptable, this is somewhat irritating.

Among the included resin parts are items as such as wheels, the un-mantlet, smoke launchers and a very delicate Vickers machinegun. While the details are nice, there are some holes in the wheels that might require fixing. The tire pattern is however way superior to that of the plastic parts and really benefits the model.

The resin parts

Care should be taken when removing the parts from the casting blocks, as the resin as rather brittle and sanding/cleanup should be done with appropriate dust-protection as resin dust is not exatcly the most healthiest ting to inhale!

Details of the resin parts.

The decal sheet includes options for several British vehicles in North Africa. It seems to be of a good quality, but markings an the Humbers in the desert weren´t necessarily anything fancy.

The decal sheet

The instructions are of good quality, although some exact placement of parts may require some dry fitting and checking of reference pictures. The metal barrels are attached to the instruction and are very nicely done.

The instructions

The (very delicate!) metal barrels

Camouflage options are relatively simple as they are mostly yellow brown and just one option includes dark brown stripes. The sand channels, spare tire and flimsy-cans should however provide some visual interest when painted.

The painting options

The Assembled Model:

Assembly of the kit included a good ammount of cleanup and some filling around the hull front, were a sizeable gap appeared. It is however completely possible that these fit issues were "user-error" on my part. As stated perviously, some fiddling was required to find the optimal position for some of the parts. The resin details fit without any problem, but some filling was necessary on the wheels and care has to be taken when clenaing up the machuinegun which is rather fragile. Bending the PE parts was easy for the most part apart from the sand channels that were a bit hard to bend - a bending tool would be recommended to bend them cleanly.

Preliminary assembly of the kit

The metal gun barrels are without doubt a highlight of the kit and together with the resin MG really add a goof ammount of detail to the turret. The only major fixes were done at the hull front, were I usedstyrene and liquid puttly to fill gaps.

Top view of the vehicle

Some details were obviously not attached for ease of painting. I also kept the wheels removeable for the same reason. The hatches are not posebale and can only be modelled in close position and would require some surgery to open up to for example add figures. 

Verdict

For a 2021 tooling, the kit has some nice details, however these mostly come from PE and resin parts while the plastic has something of a short-run appearance in places and cannot be directly compared to the "creme" of modern 1/72 scale plastic kits like Vespid and TAKOM do. This aside, the metal and resin parts do significantly elevate the look of the model and enable the modeller to built a proper disply-piece when taking care to work around the shortcomings. Compared to the older Hasegawa offering, this kit comes out as the preferable option and can be recommended to any fan of small-scale armoured cars with a bit of experience.

+ resin parts
+ metal barrels
+ photoetch

+/- plastic details

- some fit issues
- closed hatches

                                                    Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Review: UM #468 Panzer 38(t) mit 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48

Among their recent multi-media releases in 1/72 scale, the Ukrainian company UM has released the Panzer 38(t) mit 7,5cm KwK as a continuation of their 38(t)-based offerings. This vehicle is in fact not a misslabeled Panzer 38D, but another desing that UM actually represented rather accurately.

Box top

 

Historical Background

The Czechoslovakian Panzer 38(t) served the German Wehrmacht well in the first years of the Second World War due it´s reliable and well thought-out nature. When the tank itself fell out of favour, hull and running gear where used for specialist vehicles as such as the Marder tank destroyers, Grille SPGs and in a further developed form on the Jagdpanzer 38(t) colloquially known as the "Hetzer".
In 1944 Krupp forwarded a proposal to keep the 38(t) platform relevant as a combat tank with armament comparable to the Panzerkampfwagen IV. The vehicle recieved a welded hull sporting 50mm of sloped front armour and 30mm on the sides. A simplified Panzer IV-turret without a commander´s cupola was fitted to it. Armament consisted of the 7,5cm KwK 40 L/48 tank gun or the 8cm PAW 600 recoilles anti-tank weapon firing hollow charges. Further lightening of the vehicle by reducing the armour down to 40mm and removing the turret basket were also discussed. In the end however, Krupp´s proposal did not gain any traction and thus remained a "Paper Panzer" (although one of the more realistic sort). It can also be referred to as the Panzer 38(t) Weiterentwicklung.

Depiction of the proposal as found in Spielberger´s Panzer 38(t) book [1]

 

The Kit Contents

The kit comes in a side-opening glossy blue box reinforced with carboard on the inside. On the back are advertisements for other UM kits as well as some photos of the fininshed model like it is displayed on the cover. Seeing a built model as a boxart is definetly an interesting option and shows the modeller what can be achieved with the kit.

Box back

Inside the box are four plastic sprues, four individual resin parts, one photoetch fret, a small decal sheet and the instructions. Those are printed in blue and white and should be easy enough to follow. The only colour refernce present is the boxart, yet this is not too big of an issue, as this is a "Paper Panzer".

 

Two identical sprues A are common with all other 38(t)-kits and contain roadwheels (not to be used), suspension element and the tracks.

Sprue A

Detail is ok on the link-and-lenght tracks, although the super-detailer might want to get some resin 340mm-type ones from OKB. On the leaf springs, details are a little soft, but will be hidden behind the roadwheels.

Sprue A in detail

Sprue B contains the upper hull parts exclusive to this kit. The lower hull tub is also assembled from parts of this sprue.

Sprue B

Panel lines are recessed on the engine deck, although it might profit from some handles and maybe hinge detail made from wire. As on the other sprues, noticeable flash is present and has to be cleaned up before assembly.

Sprue B in detail

 The biggest caveat of the kit is also found on the engine deck: While the reconstructions of both this model and even  the 38D series show a sloped engine deck, the kit has it flat with the exhaust located on the back plate instead of the sloped top part. The deck does look different from the 38D-based vehicles which is correct considering this vehicle being developed from the standard Panzer 38(t) and/or Jagdpanzer 38(t).

The last plastic sprue "D" has four new roadwheels, fenders, the exhaust and the gun barrel. Again, flash is present, but the details look nice. Bolt detail on the roadwheels is plenty.

Sprue D

 As with the other sprues, there are a lot of parts that will benefit your spares-box.

Sprue D in detail

The resin parts consist of the turret, muzzle brake, gun mantlet and a part of the exhaust systems. They are cast from a yellow resin and do not show major imperfections in their casting. Detail on the simplified turret is sparse as one might expect. There is flash around the turret machinegun that needs to be removed carefully. It is a pitty that the muzzle is not hollow and has to be drilled out.

The resin bits

 Decals are made up from different Balkenkreuz-type markings and no tactical numbers or number plates. If you want some more markings, you have to resort to the spares box or aftermarket decals. The PE fret is rather stiff brass and contains side skirts, a few handles and other bits as such as a mesh for the engine deck. Nothing spectacular, but nice to have it included for those finer details.

Decals and photoetch parts

Verdict

Overall, this kit is a good example for a short run-type kit. Detail is reasonable (just slightly "soft") and benefits from the included photoetch while definetly leaving room for improvements as such as flame cut marks and armour textures. Resin details are a nice touch, but could have been easily made from plastic in my opinion. Flash on the parts will definetly require a good amount of clean-up and some filling will be likely required as it is often the case on those type of kits.

The biggest selling point for this kit is however the subject selection and it is the only vehicle of it´s type in 1/72 plastic, although the missing slope on the engine deck isn´t really explainable to me, as it could have been avoided by simply using well accessible sources as such as Panzer-Tracts. I do feel like it has been modelled either after some internet-reconstruction or the Amusing Hobby 1/35 Panzer 38D.

Recommended for fans of "Paper Panzers" and usual subjects with some modelling experience.

+ Unusual subject
+ photoetch parts
+ nice roadwheels
+ overall accurate

+/- resin parts
+/- tracks and overall detail

- engine deck
- muzzle brake not hollowed
- flash

 Overall Rating: 7.5/10

Revell Panzer IV Ausf. H Vignette [Gallery]

 So what took me so long to post something new? Well, side from real life of course, a small project seemingly did not want to go to plan - the Panzer IV Ausf. H by Revell in 1/72 scale. While I planned the diorama layout in advance and bought some aftermarket for the tank, the project suffered from two mojo-killers: Firstly, the PE sets from Aber that I used on the tank were ungodly fiddly and secondly the ventilation tube from my airbrush-both fell down and destroyed the turret prompting me to rebuild it using a mix of kit and PE parts. Additionally, I had some hard splattering issues with my airbrush which did not help things much.

Anyway, pulling throuh such a project can feel suprisingly rewarding if you take final photos and things actually look more or less as intended. Enjoy the pictures and take a look at the artcle on the little shed and the base if you like!

Cheers,

Tom