TMN: Preview: Two new kits from Trumpeter in February...

Trumpeter's two kits of February – the 350th Italian Heavy Cruiser Pola & 35th scale British Challenger- I Mk. 3 are their latest. We have colours, decals & a built-up kit in our preview...

Preview: Two new kits from Trumpeter in February...

Italian Heavy Cruiser Pola

by Trumpeter

Kit No. 05381

1/350th scale

Product Link on the Trumpeter Website

The Pola was the fourth ship of the Italian Navy’s Zara-class heavy cruisers, commissioned in 1932. Designed under the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty, the Zara class sought to balance firepower, speed, and protection. Although the treaty limited displacement to 10,000 tonnes, the class exceeded this with a full-load displacement of over 14,000 tonnes. The ships were notable for their exceptionally heavy armour protection, including a main belt thickness of 150 mm, which was far stronger than most contemporary heavy cruisers.

The decals in the box

The colour scheme provided in this boxing...

At the outbreak of World War II, Pola served as the flagship of the Italian Third Cruiser Division, conducting escort and patrol missions in the Mediterranean. In March 1941, during the Battle of Cape Matapan, Pola suffered an engine failure and was immobilised, forcing her to fall behind the formation. That night, she was surprised by British battleships equipped with radar, which allowed them to close in undetected. Pola was struck by 15-inch shells from HMS Warspite, Valiant, and Barham and later finished off by torpedoes from British destroyers. She sank on 29 March 1941, with heavy loss of life.

Length: 522.3 mm Beam: 66.4mm

Total of 13 sprues , hull and decks

The kit contains over 520 parts

- The hull made from two-directional slide moulds.

- Deck wood pattern finely rendered

- Contains a display stand

- Photo-etched parts included

The model built up by Trumpeter's in-house model builders...

British MBT Challenger-1 (mk. 3)

by Trumpeter

Kit No. 09611

1/35th scale

Product Link on the Trumpeter Website

The Challenger 1 Mk.3 represented the most mature and refined configuration of Britain’s first post–Cold War main battle tank. Introduced in the late 1980s, the Mk. 3 upgrades incorporated a suite of improvements designed to address battlefield survivability and crew efficiency. Central to its design was the Chobham composite armour, a pioneering British innovation that gave the Challenger a formidable reputation for protection against both kinetic penetrators and shaped-charge warheads. The Mk.3 variant added enhanced fire-control systems, improved optics, and upgraded thermal imaging, allowing crews to engage targets with greater accuracy in low-visibility conditions. These refinements ensured the Challenger 1 remained competitive against contemporary Soviet armour while also preparing the British Army for deployments beyond the European theatre.

The decals in the box

The colour profiles of the kit

Operationally, the Challenger 1 Mk. 3 demonstrated its worth during the Gulf War in 1991, where its combination of armour resilience and the 120 mm L11A5 rifled gun proved decisive. The Mk.3’s reliability in desert conditions, coupled with its ability to deliver accurate long-range fire, allowed British armoured units to achieve notable successes against Iraqi forces equipped with Soviet-designed tanks. Beyond combat, the Mk. 3 standard reflected Britain’s emphasis on incremental modernization—extending the Challenger 1’s service life while paving the way for the more advanced Challenger 2. In this sense, the Mk.3 was both a culmination of the Challenger 1 programme and a transitional step, embodying lessons learned from Cold War doctrine and adapting them to the realities of expeditionary warfare.