Light TankMk. VII Tetrarch

Manufacturer:ExtraTECH (EXM7210)

This isactually one of the very first Extratech kits I bought many yearsago. It has sat on my shelf neglected for many years, so Irecently pulled it out and started cleaning up some of the resinparts, and then realized that I never posted a preview of thekit, so here it is . . .

I'vealready removed the resin blocks from the turret bottom and hullfront, as well as the gun mantle. As you can see, everything ismolded quite cleanly, with excellent detail, and noimperfections. My only complaints are the lack of rivets on thehull and turret, and the wheels could have been a bit thicker. Ascan be clearly seen on the box cover photo, the center part ofthe wheels was very convex, with very pronounced bolt heads. Thebolts are present here, though they are a little subdued, and thewheels are a bit too thin, but it shouldn't be too noticeable onthe completed model. Being a solid body kit, all hatches aremolded shut.

Thechassis is over-simplified. The bottom hull on the real tank ismuch narrower than depicted here, with complicated suspensionarms for the wheel axles. Though admittedly, this will hardly benoticeable when complete. This kit does have a few other thingsmissing however. Such as the spare fuel drum that was attached tothe rear hull, very similar to the layout of modern Soviet tanks.Also missing are the teeth on the sprocket wheels, and theframework assembly often seen on the turret rear for the antennamount (it is barely visible on the box photo). This would havebeen easy to provide in etched brass.

The brassfret is mostly taken up by the tracks, which are to be formedfrom a double layer of brass. While I think that the final trackswill look superb, and with a scale thickness, I am concernedabout the ease of bending the tracks to shape around the wheels,after the two layers are super-glued together. It may benecessary to bend them to shape before gluing the layerstogether. Also seen in the scan below is the front hull plate,because the resin mold was tapped into on the nose, so this areais sanded smooth, and the detail needs to be provided in brass.Other minor details are also included in brass. Notable itemsmissing, however, are the braces for the front fenders. The rearfender braces are included, but not the front.

Markingsare included for two versions. They are very thin, and printed inregister.

Even withthe missing details, I would still recommended this kit, as itwill look really cool when built.