Cromwell Mk. IV

Manufacturer: Revell AG.(Kit #03123)

By Till Huber

List of contents:

• 3 Sprues

Sprue 1

Sprue 2

Sprue 3

• Instruction sheet
• Decal sheet with two options

This is the firstinjection molded 1:72 Cromwell kit in history and fortunately itseems that it's up to the same standards as all the other Revellreleases. I'm not talking about the recycled Hasegawa Crusaderkit, because this kit has nothing to do with any released modelbefore as speculated. This is the first decent, Revell-producedBritish WW2 vehicle and I think our British braille modelers willbe cheering to have this important tank as plastic kit. I have toadmit that I know very little about English tanks, I think theywere always underestimated and maybe under-represented in ourscale. I strongly agree with Doug's point that the Britishvehicles seem to be the nicest models that ESCI ever made.

The kit's shape is verygood, at least the width is exactly 1:72, I couldn't measure anyother parts without starting assembly.

FUTURE EXPANSION?

I'm not sure in what wayRevell will setup a Centurion or Cromwell series based on thiskit but let's be patient. The boxart shows a double barrelledantiaircraft version based on the Cromwell gear, a hidden clue ofwhat is coming next?

It is also imaginable tomake a Comet tank, I wonder how the kit can be converted. I'd bevery grateful if somebody can make comment on a Cromwellconversion.

SPECIALS ABOUT THECROMWELL

The turret has the nicelymolded bolted armour plates and the commander's hatch is moldedopen.

The kit does have thehedgerow cutting device. It's one piece and can be eitherattached or left off. I think it can be also used on American orother Allied tanks serving in the area of north France. Note thatyou also have options with the exhaust grates on the back of thetank. You can choose to cover it with some kind of canopy orleave it open.

To my biggestdisappointment the viewport for the radio operator on the fronthas been molded shut. The loader's hatch on the turret and allother hatches placed on the hull have been molded shut as well.Engineer tools are very little, and they've all been molded onthe left side of the nice hull.

DECALS AND CAMO

The decals are great;they're much better then they appear to be on the scans. Firstversion is for the 11th Armoured Division, in Flers 1944. Thesecond version is for an artillery observation tank of the"5th Royal Horse Artillery" (regiment?), June 1944.

I was searching for anycoloured references because Revell suggests to mix their colours,(70% Rev 65+ 30% Rev 48), which I really dislike, because you cannever find the right colour that way and it's impossible to meetthe same tone again if you run out of paint. Interestingly, Ifound in Jean Restayns "Tanks of World War 2" a colourprofile of exactly the first version with the "Jean"graffiti. You can hardly see it on the scans but it is there.Revell must have used this book for research I guess :-).

RECOMMENDATION

It looks like we're beingoverwhelmed by good kits, next month it is Bradley time. I hopethat Revell won't hurt competitors and smaller manufacturers toomuch as they are flooding the market extremely.

Kit availability, qualityand accuracy is great; it's a must buy not only for Britisharmour fans.