Hello my friends it´s Christmas time! Which means.. weather isn´t the best here so I had some time for further modelling.
Today´s topic is another review, this time of Revell´s 1/72 Cruiser Tank A27M Cromwell Mk.IV... What a designation... but anyways - onto the review. The kit comes in not too pricy at about 15€ as it is the typical fashion for Revells smaller AFV kits. Let´s hope the detail and fitting also goes along those lines.
The vehicle:
The Cruiser Tank A27M or the Cromwell as it is widely known was a mass produced British medium tank in WW2. It was based on the American Christie-Suspension the UK aquired in the 30s for their new generation of cruiser tanks. These vehicles, namely the A15, the Covenanter, the Crusader and the Cromwell were fast and had mediocore armour plating at best. While the earlier models quickly proved themselfes to be a little out-dated, the A27 was to be a tank up to meet the requrements of the mid to late WW2 battlefields. The first incarnation, the Cavalier, suffered from unreliability and a weak Liberty engine. Later, the Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine rated 500HP was used for the A27M Cromwell making it a fast and agile medium tank. It was armed with either a 6-pounder (57mm) or 75mm antitank gun or a 95mm howitzer and two BESA machineguns.
Serving in many of the British operations after D-Day, it was quite useful, but wasn´t up to the task of defeating the new German Tiger and Panther tanks met in Europe. It was quickly replaced by the Centurion MBT after the war.
The kit:
The kit comes in a (typical for Revell) side-opening box and everything is contained in a plastic bag. Boxart shows a green/olive vehicle with a profilic hedge-cutting device used in the Normandy in 1944.
There are three dark green plastic sprues included.
The first one contains hull parts and the drivetrain parts...
... having a nice amount of detail with finely casted rivets. Also note the double walled side of the hull protecting the Christie-Suspensions bumpers.
The tracks are link and length so there isn´t anything that has to be bent to shape. Otherwise they have all the detail necessary to replicate a Cromwell.
Upper hull and turret parts have bolts and tools moulded on, but they are reasonably detailed. Also the hull machineguns are very tiny but well detailed parts. Brushguards and lifting-hooks are seperate parts and don´t really need any replacement.
The panels are recessed and are crisp as well as the fuel ports. Note the moulded-on tools.
Well, I´m looking forwars to build this little tank.
The Build:
As always I used a clipper and a sharp knife to remove the parts from the sprues and to clean up any flash. In this case there wan´t any of that really.
I started to assemble the lowerr hull as the instructions suggest. The parts go together nicely and the space occupied by the suspension is nicely represented but will barely be visible at the end.
Here we have one lower hull. Note that I put the rear onthe wrong way (I was a little dumb there), so just follow the instructions!
The unsupported roadwheels are very characteristic for the A27M Cromwell. I will handpaint the tires after assembly. The teeth of the drive-sprocket are easy to snap so be careful to get the best possible result out of this kit!
I started the upper hull by putting the major side and frot-panels on. The fit was really tight and there are no ugly gaps to fill. Then I attached the storage-boxes and other detail...
...which needed no replacement with wire as it looks nice as it is.
Next was to build the turret. There isn´t anything special about that besides drilling out the gun-barrel, because the mantlet and side-panels went on with a tight and clean fit.
Also I like the bolts around the turret sides.
After that I joined both hull-halves together. Besides my messed-up rear (my fault) there only was a minimal gap at the front of the hull.
Attaching the tracks also went on without real problems and there weren´t any missfits. even the track-sagging looks relatively nice.
Also I decided to add the hedge-cutter to my tank which in my eyes brings some interest to it.
After that the model was completely built and I primed it with Vallejo Grey Primer, which loooked like this:
Now it just awaits painting and weathering!
Conclusion:
No WW2-era tank-collection can go without a Cromwell and suprisingly, there isn´t much concurrence to this kit on the market. PSC and Armourfast have their kits aimed at Wargamers and Airfix´s kit is 1/76. So the Revell kit really shines because of it´s nice detail and good fit (If you Follow the instructions 😑) as well as being one of only a few kits on the market. The optional exhaust-cover and the hedgerow-cutter are welcome additions, but if you want a close-support Cromwell you may have to take PSC´s newly released kit.
I would really recommend the kit, because it is easy to build and fits nicely.
Rating: 9/10 - no wonder no one challenged it on the market... But the tools look a little "soft"...
Have a nice week fellows!
Tom
Today´s topic is another review, this time of Revell´s 1/72 Cruiser Tank A27M Cromwell Mk.IV... What a designation... but anyways - onto the review. The kit comes in not too pricy at about 15€ as it is the typical fashion for Revells smaller AFV kits. Let´s hope the detail and fitting also goes along those lines.
The vehicle:
The Cruiser Tank A27M or the Cromwell as it is widely known was a mass produced British medium tank in WW2. It was based on the American Christie-Suspension the UK aquired in the 30s for their new generation of cruiser tanks. These vehicles, namely the A15, the Covenanter, the Crusader and the Cromwell were fast and had mediocore armour plating at best. While the earlier models quickly proved themselfes to be a little out-dated, the A27 was to be a tank up to meet the requrements of the mid to late WW2 battlefields. The first incarnation, the Cavalier, suffered from unreliability and a weak Liberty engine. Later, the Rolls Royce Merlin aircraft engine rated 500HP was used for the A27M Cromwell making it a fast and agile medium tank. It was armed with either a 6-pounder (57mm) or 75mm antitank gun or a 95mm howitzer and two BESA machineguns.
Serving in many of the British operations after D-Day, it was quite useful, but wasn´t up to the task of defeating the new German Tiger and Panther tanks met in Europe. It was quickly replaced by the Centurion MBT after the war.
The kit:
The kit comes in a (typical for Revell) side-opening box and everything is contained in a plastic bag. Boxart shows a green/olive vehicle with a profilic hedge-cutting device used in the Normandy in 1944.
Well, I´m looking forwars to build this little tank.
The Build:
As always I used a clipper and a sharp knife to remove the parts from the sprues and to clean up any flash. In this case there wan´t any of that really.
I started to assemble the lowerr hull as the instructions suggest. The parts go together nicely and the space occupied by the suspension is nicely represented but will barely be visible at the end.
Next was to build the turret. There isn´t anything special about that besides drilling out the gun-barrel, because the mantlet and side-panels went on with a tight and clean fit.
Attaching the tracks also went on without real problems and there weren´t any missfits. even the track-sagging looks relatively nice.
Conclusion:
No WW2-era tank-collection can go without a Cromwell and suprisingly, there isn´t much concurrence to this kit on the market. PSC and Armourfast have their kits aimed at Wargamers and Airfix´s kit is 1/76. So the Revell kit really shines because of it´s nice detail and good fit (If you Follow the instructions 😑) as well as being one of only a few kits on the market. The optional exhaust-cover and the hedgerow-cutter are welcome additions, but if you want a close-support Cromwell you may have to take PSC´s newly released kit.
I would really recommend the kit, because it is easy to build and fits nicely.
Rating: 9/10 - no wonder no one challenged it on the market... But the tools look a little "soft"...
Have a nice week fellows!
Tom
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