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Bronco Models
Humber Scout Car Mk.I
Bronco Models Kit No. CB-35009
1:35 Scale
Review by Terry Ashley

Bronco Models

Introduction:

Bronco Models first announced the release of a Humber Scout Car last year and in the meantime SKP Models slipped their kit (#SKP011) onto the market for those eager for a taste, but now the Bronco kit is about to hit the shelves so we can see if the wait was worth it?

As you would imagine this review of the Bronco kit will include comparisons with the SKP kit to see not only what the Bronco kit offers but how the two stack up together to help with your choice of model. Where the specific kit is not mentioned it should be taken as referring to the Bronco kit.

There are a number of substantial differences between the two not only with the Bronco kit offering a full interior but in the exterior details as well, most notably the suspension layout front and back. Overall the two kits measure up well against available data with the hull dimensions being almost identical apart from some minor differences but not enough to get excited about. There is one substantial difference in that the Bronco wheel base is 4mm longer at 68mm than the SKP kit with a 64mm wheelbase. The actual HSC wheelbase is 7 foot, 6 & three quarter inches which equates to 65.859mm in 1:35 and if rounded to 66mm sees the Bronco wheelbase 2mm too long and the SKP 2mm too short. Given this means each wheel is just 1mm out of place and the overall hull dimensions are okay on available info it's probably something you wouldn't lose too much sleep over with either kit.

The kit:

The Bronco kit has 239 parts in olive drab plastic, 5 vinyl tyres, a fret with 75 etched parts with a small clear part for the windscreen and a short length of tubing for the engine plumbing plus the decal and instruction sheets. As a bonus there is a full resin Commander figure posed standing in the open top hatch and anyone who has seen the movie “A Bridge Too Far” will feel a tinge of nostalgia on seeing the figure and pose.

Etched parts
Bronco Models
Vinyl tyres
Bronco Models

Quality of the mouldings is noticeably crisper with finer definition than on previous Bronco kits and any pin marks and flash are kept to a bare minimum, there are a few pin marks in places that are unavoidably but these are quite shallow and easy to deal with.

Detail on the kit is excellent with fine weld seams on the hull and good definition overall as well as things like the fenders edges being moulded extremely thin. The weapons in particular are very well done and are not over scale with excellent detail on the top mounted Bren Gun and the additional .303 Lee Enfields, Thompson and Sten Mk.2 which comes with alternate stock for the initial Mk.2 and the later Mk.2 second pattern.

Chassis and suspension:

The main chassis is separate from the hull and is moulded perfectly without any warping and no cleanup required other than the usual sprue attachment points with the front and rear suspension units added to this, you can assembly this before or after attaching the chassis to the hull as it makes little difference but I left it separate for easier handling.

The front suspension is made up of 12 parts with the leaf springs in two halves which means the side spring detail is perfect but there is a join seam down the middle of the spring which may need attention. The parts here are quite fiddly and care is needed during cleanup and assembly with the outer hub mounting allowing you to position the wheels at an angle if you wish.

The wheels are not actually movable after assembly but it wouldn’t be too much work to make them so as all the wheel hubs and steering arms are separate parts to begin with and this provides and option for those wanting to add a bit extra.

Detail in the Bronco parts is a lot better than that on the plain SKP suspension with the fit of the parts making assembly a breeze but take care with the join of the outer wheel hubs as this is rather delicate.

At the back the rear suspension also sees the leaf springs in two halves as is the large differential axle with separate diff hounding and the good fit of the parts resulting in a very small join seam to be easily cleaned after the glue had dried.

It should be noted that the Bronco kit has the rear differential housing on the correct side (left when looking from the back) while the SKP kit has this incorrectly on the right side and the detail on the Bronco parts is again far more detailed than the plain SKP parts.

The fit of the chassis to the main hull is spot and, in fact it is so good it will hold in place without glue which is useful when test fitting but of course you would glue for final assembly.

Wheels:
Bronco give you separate plastic wheel rims and vinyl tyres that have excellent tread pattern as well as the Dunlop embossing on the sidewall for tyres that look better than the SKP all plastic wheels which have oversized treads especially around the shoulder.

The wheel hubs have good detail and include the different hub caps for the front and rear wheels as they should so take care here, the front and rear wheel rims are also different so take note of the instruction numbering so you don’t mix these up. The SKP wheels on the other hand have the same hub caps front and rear and they are also too shallow while the Bronco hub caps are the correct height. The only thing to be added is the small valve stem to finish off the wheel rims.

The fit of the vinyl tyres to the rims is very snug and you can fit the rims to the axles stubs at this point or leave off until later for easier handling with the same going for fitting the tyres but leaving them off till later would be easier.

Bronco also included the lower chassis pan cover fitted over the front suspension which is missing from the SKP kit and this fits easily in place after the chassis and suspension is attached to the undersides of the hull.

Main Hull:

This is a single large moulding that includes the floor, hull sides and lower front plate with the rear plate and side entry door as separate parts and has the locating points for the interior parts as well as an engine bulkhead and full engine at the back.

The most notable thing is the lack of pin marks on the inner hull side walls and those on the floor sees some partly covered by other parts but those exposed may take a bit to remove but are fairly shallow.

The interior is quite comprehensive with the transmission hump being nicely contoured and is in two main parts, the floor section and curved section that extend up the rear firewall and the gear lever extension out the front. The fit of the rear transmission and the firewall is a little flaky in getting it even with the back of the transmission hump and the locating ridges on the sidewalls but any minor miss-alignment will not be seen after assembly so is not a big issue.

The driver’s station has a finely moulded steering wheel, the three separate foot pedals which are hidden after assembly but you know they are there and the three two part crew seats with the other main feature being the No.19 Radio and mounting rack on the right sidewall. This has nice details included but you will have to add the two side lifting handles from wire and you are also provided on the etched fret the front wire guards sometimes fitted to the radio set. It will be a bit tricky to get the correct bends in the etched guards and making up a jig would be the best option. These also have the perennial problem of being flat etched when the real things were round in profile but the guards are quite thin for this application.

No.19 Radio Set with etched guards
Bronco Models

Other items added to the sidewalls are various boxes, Bren drum magazines and the Thomson mounted on the left wall, this has a choice of drum or straight magazine.

The large side entry door is a separate part with detail on both sides and a separate hinge and again you can show this open or closed as you wish and there are no pin marks to contend with.

Moving to the back is a detailed 6 cylinder petrol engine and radiator made up of 26 plastic and 1 etched part and builds into a detailed replica of the Rootes engine. There is also thin tubing provided for the radiator pipes but this is not identified in the parts list or in the instructions other than the piping included in the diagrams so be careful when unpacking the parts as the clear tube is easy to miss.

There is also a two part petrol tank for the left side of the compartment with locating lugs on the floor for precise location of the engine, radiator and fuel tank and there weren’t any problems fitting these in place.

The rear hull plate has separate intake louvers and lifting eyes with nice weld seams added and also includes the lower intake cover missing from the SKP rear panel. The fit of the rear panel to the hull tub is spot on not requiring any trimming or filler.

The engine deck is made up of six parts, the two access doors, the front cross member and the upper intake cover with additional inner covers for the side intakes on the doors to eliminate the see-through look with the fit of these parts being straightforward and you can also show the doors open to expose the engine if you wish. The upper intake cover is a little longer than the available plan drawings indicate but doesn’t look out of place when fitted to the engine doors so may not be an issue.

There is inside detail on the doors as well as a few shallow pin parks easily removed and you should also watch the instructions as they are a little disjointed with the actual engine deck assembly shown on page 15 but the deck shown in place in earlier illustrations on page 12 which is a little confusing.

The front hull section includes the upper hull plates with excellent weld seam detail and the tops of the fender cover storage boxes which eliminates many of the fit problems in the area on the SKP kit with additional side panels for the storage boxes and fenders.

The fit of the front hull plate to the lower hull and the side sections is very good with large locating lugs in the insides that make sure everything sits snugly and at the right angles, these lugs may look a little daunting at first look so don’t be tempted to remove these as they work well in fitting the parts together without any misalignment or gaps.

At the back the two side fenders are moulded in one piece with the edges commendably thin and don’t require any thinning at all and they also include the top ribbing and inside support brackets for excellent plastic fenders, no need for etched parts here.

Other equipment added to the hull and fenders included a couple of nicely done fire extinguishers with etched brackets, oil cans with etched brackets on the rear fenders while at the front are finely moulded head lights, rear view mirrors and lifting eyes. The tools added such as the shovel, pick axe and crow bar have their brackets supplied as etched parts for added detail and there is the spare wheel mounting for the right side to use on the applicable vehicles as not all HSCs carried this spare.

Superstructure:

The superstructure is a separate shell with nice surface details on the outside and inner roof rib detail although there are quite a few pin marks on the inner roof but unless you can actually get inside the model after assembly these will not be seen.

The front driver’s plate and all the side vision ports are separate parts that can be fitted open or closed as you wish but each vision port has a single pin mark on the inside which should be easy enough to remove.

The Driver’s plate includes the instrument panel on the lower edge with nice engraved details and again there are some pin marks which are actually raised on my panel making them easy to deal with. The large driver’s visor can be shown open or closed with a fine etched support bracket and a small clear windscreen included to use if the visor is open but this is not identified in the instructions other than it being shown in the diagram so again take care not to lose this along the way.

The roof hatch covers are also separate and you can fit these open or closed and as they are quite large they will allow some of the interior to be seen after assembly if left open and include the inside grab handles.

The large side entry door is also a separate part with separate hinge section that allows you to position this open or closed and there are no pin marks on the inside.

Added to the insides are the weapons mount controls and sidewall storage of Bren magazines and small equipment boxes and there are also additional small plastic and etched details added to the back of the driver’s plate which are quite fiddly so take care while fitting.

The fit of the superstructure to the lower hull is quite good although you may have to squeeze in the lower hull sides at the back edge slightly for a flush fit but other than this the fit is again excellent not requiring any trimming or filler.

Weapons:

As mentioned the weapons supplied with this kit are excellent and are perfectly cast apart from some minor sink marks in the butt ends of the Lee Enfields and you will have to be careful removing these from the sprues and removing the fine moulding seams.

The top PLM mounting is nicely detailed with five plastic parts and two etched parts, one for the rear circular fitting but this is not identified in the instructions other than it appearing in one illustration. It is in fact etched part 6 but some additional reference will be needed to bend this correctly and in fitting as the instructions are rather vague with this feature. The excellent Bren Gun has the mounting posts included but you may want to drill out the muzzle for a better appearance and there is also an etched shell deflection plate to add to the mounting.

The other weapons are also nicely moulded with excellent details and include the Thompson SMG with a choice of drum or straight magazine as well as two nicely detailed Lee Enfield 303s and lastly a superb little Mk.2 Sten with a choice of initial rod stock and second pattern rib stock as well as having a separate magazine and you can use these either stowed in the vehicle or separate.

Bronco Models

Decals:

The decal sheet is printed by Cartograf of Italy with very thin carrier film copped extremely close to the printed images and has a colourful selection of unit insignia and TAC signs for 6 HSCs that are also finished in a variety of paint schemes for good choice of finish.
  • 1. Guard Armoured Division, Germany 1945
    Overall SCC British No.15 Olive Drab
  • 2. AFV Driving & Maintenance School, Lulworth 1943
    Overall SCC2 Brown
  • 3. Garde Hussar Regiment, Danish Army 1950
    Overall Dark Green
  • 4. RHQ 3RTR, 29th Armoured Brigade, 11th Armoured Division, Germany 1945
    Overall SCC British No.15 Olive Drab
  • 5. 64th Anti-Tank Regt. RA, 78th Infantry Division, Italy 1944
    Overall SCC5 Light Mud with SCC14 Blue-Black cam pattern and White undersides
  • 6. C Sqn, 4th Hussars, Malaya 1950
    Overall BSC 225 Deep Bronze Green
Bronco Models
Resin Commander Figure
Bronco Models

Bonus Figure:

This is a one piece figure cast in light cream resin with virtually no cleanup required other than some very fine resin film between the arm and body and depicts the Commander resting forward out of the top hatch.

Detail on the uniform detail is very crisp and well defined as are the facial features and don’t need much of an imagination to see this as Michael Caine in his Humber Scout Car from the movie “A Bridge Too Far” and is a nice touch to finish off the excellent kit.

There is also a selection of personal gear included on the weapons sprue such as ammo pouches, backpacks, water bottles, helmets and trenching tools to use as required.

Conclusion:

Overall this is a superb little kit and as mentioned is a marked advance in quality over previous Bronco kits and the level of detail, minor cleanup as well as the excellent fit of parts makes for a fairly complex yet easy to assemble model of the Humber Scout Car which is clearly superior in all areas over the SKP kit.

There are fine details everywhere from the very busy interior and engine to the suspension with the front wheels able to be positioned as required to the finely rendered surface details and topped off with the excellent selection of weapons.

The only thing to watch is the instructions which are a little confusing in parts with some items shown fitted in the early drawings but the actual assembly sequence does not come till later in the steps and a few parts are not called out in the instructions but are included in the drawings which can have you scratching your head.

This kit is certainly worth the wait and should make Allied modellers very happy and bodes well for the forthcoming Staghound Armoured Car.

Highly Recommended 8.5/10

The Sprues:

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Detail images
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References:
On the Web

Tanxhaven
War Wheels.net


Thanks to Bronco Models for the review kit.




Page created June 13, 2007