This is the third of the simple conversions from Blast Models designed for the Tamiya Renault UE (kit #35284) with this set having the large casemate over the Commander's position for the deployment of a defensive machine gun. The set consists of just 4 parts in light cream resin with the quality of the castings being excellent with well defined crisp details and just the small casting blocks plus some elaborate resin film inside the casemate hood before to be removed fitting to the kit.
Detail on the parts is very good with nice hood panel and rivet detail without any blemishes such as air holes etc. on any of the parts.
Assembly is straightforward with the casemate front panel fitting neatly in place and the machine gun barrel inserted into the mounting hole, all very easy. The fit of the gun mounting to the casemate was not very precise and I added a small plastic rod pin to the back of the mounting and drilled a locating hole in the front panel allowing for easier fitting of the gun.
No alterations are required to the Tamiya kit to fit the new resin parts, you simply omit the hull top hatches (parts B18, B26) and fit the resin casemate in their place with the fit being good requiring no additional trimming. Any small gaps remaining can be filled with cyanoacrylate as you attach to the hull and the forward kit hood (part A22) is then added to the resin hood to finish off the assembly.
You can also use the Blast Models Renault UE Update set (#BL35117K) to add additional exterior detail as well as the Azimut Renault UE Update set (#35373) to add the full interior if you wish?
Conclusion:
This is another simple update with nicely cast parts, little assembly and easy fit to the Tamiya UE for the simplest conversion for this unusual version that saw limited service.
Highly recommended 8/10.
See the Renault UE Subject page for additonal UE item reviews
