Saturday, January 18

AFV Club's four brand new year kits built up so you can see what war was like from the British perspective...

AFV Club has four new and very good looking kits we thought we would show you in today’s preview – very detailed and not very common vehicles in 1/35th scale make today all that better for military modellers..

AFV Club new items Jan/Feb 2014

AF35263 AEC Truck Early type
 
The AEC “Matador” 4x4 truck was first designed to pull artillery pieces – the main design soon progressed to all types of jobs by the British and armies of the Commonwealth forces.
Packing a 7.6litre diesel engine for power the Matador was made in large numbers - (9,000 Matadors built) and it was used in most theaters including as a refueling truck for the RAF and other countries air forces.
Here is the test shot built up

AF35219 - British Ordnance QF 6 Pounder Airborne Anti-Tank Gun Mk.IV on Carriage Mk.III
The widely used QF 6 Pounder Airborne gun is seen here replicated in 1/35th scale and this time as an airborne transportable version of the Royal air force paras. We have some pictures of the built up test kit here

Af35201 1/35 Valentine Mk.III W/Rotatrailer
The combo of the recently new tooled Valentine Mk.III with the unusual shaped ( and universally hated by the troops) Rota-trailer  looks like a promising release from AFV Club. We already know all about the Valentine – so more about this weird looking trailer!
The Rota-trailer was designed by the British as a storage solution that could be towed behind their tracked vehicles. They stored fuel, food, supplies and ammo. It turned out to be a little bit of a disappointment and the trailers were known to tip upside-down as they bounced along - they leaked as well which was not one of their design parameters.

Here is one towing behind a crusader tank
The kit looks a whole lot better than the real thing performed doesn’t it?
And the towing Valentine isn't too shabby either!

AF35253 British 3 inch Gun Churchill Tank
 
The Carrier, Churchill, 3 inch Gun Mk I resembled a standard Churchill Mk III tank, but without the turret. Instead, it had a large fixed box-type superstructure, which housed the main fighting compartment, with the gun mounted low down at the front to the left of the driver’s position.
Model features:
New correct tooling upper hull, track mudguard and fighting compartment.
Realistic suspension system with metal coil springs.
Mudguards with same parting structure as the real vehicle.
2 types of rivets for side armour plates included.
Photo-etched metal parts for super detailing.
Metal gun barrel with rifling.
Comes with external fuel tank (assemble in option).
Detailed flexible tracks.

The best place to keep track of AFV Club’s new items is their Facebook page which seems to be updated all the time with new and updated info – so check there or here for their latest…