August 11, 2026

Preview: 1/35th scale Challenger 3 (+ upgrade kits) from Ryefield Model

Ryefield Model's new challenger to the modelling world is indeed Britain's tip of the armoured spear. See the CAD's & features of the 35th scale Challenger 3 in CAD & the real thing in our preview... 

Preview: 1/35th scale Challenger 3 (+ upgrade kits) from Ryefield Model

Challenger 3 120mm L55A 1 Smoothbore Gun
From Ryefield Model
1/35th scale
Kit No. RM-5163
The Subject: The Challenger 3
The Challenger 3 represents the apex of modern British armoured warfare, fusing a lethal smoothbore gun with an entirely redesigned, digital backbone. Built by Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL), this main battle tank strips away the legacy limitations of its predecessor to meet the demands of high-intensity, peer-on-peer conflict. 
At its core, the platform acts as a rolling command centre, prioritising network-centric operations so crews can seamlessly share data across land, air, and sea assets.
Structurally, the vehicle introduces a brand-new turret configuration explicitly engineered to handle the brutal pressures of its 120mm high-pressure gun. To ensure maximum crew survivability, the hull and turret are wrapped in a highly advanced, modular armour system developed specifically by the UK Ministry of Defence. This passive protection is paired with an integrated active defence system (ADS), designed to intercept and destroy incoming anti-tank guided missiles and rocket-propelled grenades before they can impact the hull.
Operational readiness is rapidly accelerating, pushing the British Army towards a standardised NATO frontline posture. Following rigorous live-fire test milestones, the tank enters a critical production phase ahead of scheduled fleet deliveries. By transitioning away from bespoke British munitions towards shared alliance stockpiles, this armour platform guarantees that the UK remains a highly capable, interoperable spearhead within multinational task forces.

This new kit from RFM: 
Presented here in 1/35th scale, this Challenger 3 represents the latest in British military technology with the sharpest of moulding tooling. It promises a kit as close to the state that the vehicle is in at this point of its late development.
CAD features show off the features of this kit, with a mix of plastic and photo-etch making the contents along with copper wire for the towing cables stowed on the side of the tank...
The large fuel tanks dominate the rear of this tank; you can see plastic moulding straps for these amongst the photo etch for the finer parts in the kit shaded gold here.
From above you can see the hatches can all be posed open or closed (green in this diagram)
All hatches and imaging site covers are shown closed here in pink.
The parts layout of the kit, with sprues, photo-eth and dscal, interestingly, has just minimal marking choices of one vehicle included in the box.

Looking for a further upgrade? Ryefield model has two upgrade sets available for this kit to be released for sale in conjunction with the kit. Your choice to use kit parts or to push the envelope a little further...

Challenger 3 Upgrade Solution Series kit
Kit No:
1/35th scale
Instead of plastic, you can see in the photos above that this kit replaces these with 3D-printed parts. The main and secondary armament, including smoke dischargers, towing hooks and some other finer details, are replaced with these upgrades. 

You can see the upgraded photo-etch sheet that also comes with the printed parts of this upgrade kit.


Challenger 2/3: 3D-printed workable tracks
1/35th scale
Kit No 2041
Each of these are a peice to a track, with a jig and metal rods provided to makes sure these are fully workable and posable for your new Challenger kit.

More on this kit closer to release – until then, check out the Ryefield website for more info on their kits.