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| In 1979, GKN's Fighting Vehicle Development Division was appointed to develop a vehicle for the British Army which had: a capacity for 10 men including the driver and gunner and their supplies; be mobile enough to keep pace with the Challenger MBT; have protection against indirect artillery shell bursts, small arms fire; and have firepower in the light anti-armour, general support and air defense roles. That vehicle would later be known as the MCV 80 Warrior. |
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The Warrior's main armament is a turret mounted 30-mm Rarden cannon. It has an effective range of 1,500 meters and can destroy lightly-armored vehicles. It also carries a co-axial mounted 7.62-mm chain gun. |
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Self-contained, the Warrior carries sufficient stores and equipment to fight on the battlefield for a sustained period of 48 hours, plus a range of 410 miles, and a speed of 47 mph. I am not quite certain what kind of preventive maintenance software is used within it, but the Warrior earns huge praise from all that have fought with, and against, it. This tough APC is now the standard vehicle of the British armed forces. |
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The Warrior has served with distinction in Iraq, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Afghanistan with an impressive 95% availability rating. |
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| The Revell kit is crisply molded with virtually no flash. Parts fit together well with very little need for filler. Instructions are easy to follow with no real surprises. |
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| The tracks are molded as separate links which I prefer to rubber or vinyl single piece tracks. |
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| Detail is very nice on this kit, there are some minor inaccuracies but overall it looks like the real vehicle. |
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| I applied dry chalk powder with a brush to simulate the weathering and streaking seen on the real vehicle. |
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| Revell molded the headlights and light guards together as solid pieces so they are not as realistic as I would like. I wasn't up to the task of scratch building them so I did what I could with shading and the result is not great but acceptable. |
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| Detail on the back door is very good. |
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| Revell's smoke dischargers are terrible so I borrowed these from a Dragon Challenger kit. The IFF panels were also spares from a Dragon HMMWV kit. |
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| Revell's bustle racks are molded solid and way too thick for the scale. This problem is less obvious if you load them with stores. In hindsite I would cover up most of the racks with tarps. |
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| I tried the pre-shading method on this kit although I apparently apply my topcoat too thick to have any noticeable effect. I'm sticking with my post-shading technique which works fine for me. |
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| Here it is on the workbench with painting completed - but before pastel chalks weathering, decals, and other small details were added. |
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| I really should try to trim my fingernails before taking photos. |
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Kit: Revell # 03144 |
Scale: 1/72 |
Value:
I paid $12.50 (US) at Hobbytown USA in 2006. A reasonable price. |
Assembly:
The kit consists of 136 plastic parts on four sprues molded in tan, one decal sheet and 12-page front instruction sheet.
Typical of most Revell of Germany armor it has virtually no flash, tight fitting parts, and crisp detail.
The tracks
are molded styrene "link-and-length" and fit well. The driver and troop doors are molded shut but the commander and gunner hatches are positionable. Gun elevates and turret can traverse.
Instructions are straightforward and easy to follow.
No external stores are provided.
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Decals:
Markings are provided for 2 vehicles: B-Company, 1. BN, The Cheshire Regiment UNPROFOR, Bosnia 1993 and for Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, Operation Telic, 2003. |
Customizations:
Stretched sprue was used to create the aerials. Transparent pearlized sequins were used for vision blocks. Hand-holds were created with small gauge wire. IFF Panels were borrowed from a Dragon HMMWV kit. External ammo boxes, duffel bags, packs, etc. are from my spare parts box. |
Recommendation:
I recommend this kit for any braille-scale modeler. |
