AEC MkIII Armoured Car - 1st Kings Dragoon Guards 1945

Here is the Miniart AEC MkIII. What can I say about this build. Well, I found it great in parts, awful in others. The detail was really good throughout but this was frustrated by the plastic quality not being up to the small size of some of the mouldings. Put simply, many of the smaller parts broke when removing them from the sprue - despite being uber-careful. The worst part of the build was the fit of the rear wheel arches, which were supposed to mate up to the rear hull but were too narrow by 3mm, leaving a gap between the arch and the hull.

The good points. The fit was pretty good throughout, and the kit had a sensible little etched fret which complimented the styrene nicely. It also has some nice weld seams on the turret, and a fairly comprehensive interior if you wished to go down that route. 

I replaced the plastic one-piece barrel (which was actually pretty good!) with an RB metal 75mm QF, and I replaced all the lifting eyes with brass rod because the kit ones broke. I added stowage to the rear wheel arches to cover up the aforementioned gap, and I added a soft brass karaya tow cable. The figure is a Tamiya torso with an Ultracast head. I used a combination of the kit decals and a Stencilit metal allied star stencil for the stars on the engine deck and turret.

In summary, Miniart has to be congratulated for tackling this interesting but niche British subject, and for this, I totally forgive them for a few niggling issues.

M3A1 White Scout Car - 2nd New Zealand Division, Italy 1945

This is the Hobbyboss White. An excellent kit, with near Tamiya quality fit and plastic, and some nice detailing. The only drawback is the lack of a canvas cover and hoops. I added hoops using brass rod, and a part-rolled canvas cover using thin lead sheet. I also thinned down the headlight covers with a sharp blade - they could do with a bit more thinning or replacement with etched brass. 

The vehicle I modelled was a REME Fitters wagon, so I left out the rear seats so I could cram the rear with stowage. Decals were from a Star Models (Bison) set of NZ vehicles in Italy, and my main reference was Jeff Plowmans superb book on the 2nd NZ Division. The figure is a stock Miniart item.