Unboxing and kit review of Airfix’s newly tooled Cruiser Vk. VIII Cromwell Mk. IV tank in 1/35 scale. Product Ref A1373.
Unboxing and Kit Review
To say this is a “new” kit is an understatement – I had this on pre-order from Airfix last year and yesterday I received an email saying my order had been dispatched. Less than 24 later I have a box containing Airfix’s brand new kit in my hands.
The Cromwell Mk.IV is a variant of the Cruiser Mk.VIII A27M main battle tank used by the British in World War 2. Airfix have also released the Cromwell Mk.VI (Product Ref A1374) which has a different barrel – though fundamentally much of the main build is the same and uses the same mouldings.
Once again Airfix have commissioned some lovely box art showing the tank firing it’s main gun whilst bullets ricochet off the armour. The box itself is quite sturdy and less flimsy than the type Airfix regularly use.
The instruction book is clear, and the build does not look too complex. In fact, for anyone who is looking for their first 1/35 scale tanks I would recommend this kit – I think Airfix have struck a good balance detail versus ease of build.
Being a brand new tooling I was expecting the moulding to be crisp and clean, and this was exactly what I got. The plastic feels solid and is thick in areas – but this is to give the scale thickness to the armour and the completed model should have a solid and weighty look to. But finer detail has not been compromised. There are plenty of bolt heads and rivets – some so fine in recess areas they almost look like they have been attached afterwards.
If anything some of this detail looks almost too perfect – with everything so crisp and clean and perfectly lined up. I’m sure that most modellers will be building their Cromwell tank in a worn state so will be added wear and tear to some of these parts prior to painting and weathering.
I was also surprised to find a small fret of photoetch in the box. This has a very fine grill as well as some other finer parts. A very pleasant find and something I was not expecting, but will again add depth to the build.
There were also two options for the track, and again this was unexpected. The first option is the standard plastic track. This consists of long straight pieces with some shorter parts, but where the track must loop around the sprockets and drive wheels the track must be built up one link at a time. This looks quite daunting and will not doubt be fiddly trying to hold it together and get the angle correct to have a flowing curve without gaps. (This was an area I – and other modellers – had issues with on the recently released Airfix Tiger 1 in 1/72 scale).
The second option Airfix have provided is rubber tracks. These join together at the ends to essentially make two large rubber bands. Looking at the moulding I have to say I am very impressed. I assumed the rubber mouldings would be lacking detail, but as far as I could see there was no real difference in detail between the plastic and rubber options. The only major drawback is that type of rubber doesn’t like being painted, so a serious modeller will want to use the plastic tracks.
There was only a small decal sheet, but these look really nicely printed, and very thin will lightly carrier film. If they are like the decals in the Tiger 1 they should conform nicely around contours and achieve a painted on look after a couple of applications of MicroSol.
With an RRP around £30 it represents good value, especially when the little sprue of photoetch is included – though no doubt aftermarket suppliers will soon be offering upgrades.
I plan to build this kit soon and will be filming my progress so please Subscribe. Once complete I’ll do a final review to discuss the build process – though I am not expecting an major fit issues.