British Cruiser Tank A34 "Comet"

See "First Look Review" at http://www.amps-armor.org/ampssite/reviews/ReviewEdit.aspx?ReviewID=3731&Type=FL

History (from the kit directions). The A34 “Comet” was the last British tank type to enter service before WWII ended. In essence, the “Comet” was a re-design of the cruiser tank “Cromwell” equipped with the famous 17 pdr (77mm) Mk.2 OQF gun. Although the “Comet” was the first British tank to come near to matching the German “Tiger” and “Panther” in general performance, it appeared too late to play any major British tank combat in WWII. The first unit issued with the “Comet” tank was the 23 ^rd Hussars, 11 ^th Armoured Division in the Belgium theater in January 1945. After WWII, the A34 “Comet” tank continued serving the British Army and saw action to their former colonies in North Africa, Middle East Asia, and Southeast Asia until the end of the 1960’s. During the Korean War, the British Army sent a unit of A34 “Comet” tanks to Hong Kong for defense purposes. Up till now, the “Hong Kong Coastal Defense Museum” still has one “Comet” displayed in good condition.

Getting started. At first glance and inspection, I must say that I was surprised by the lack of parts to which I’ve grown accustomed from Bronco. Also, I felt that the quality of some of the molding was a bit lacking. There were some parts that had quite a bit of flash and soft details. Not that it would cause any construction issues, but not what I’ve grown to expect from Bronco. Then again, this was one of their earlier kits and we all have to start somewhere.

In steps 1 and 2, we find ourselves building the lower hull. No trouble getting this together, but ran into some trouble spots. On the side pieces A5 and A4, two rather large knock-out marks on the inside rear of each had to be taken care of. You also have bolt heads to work around. So, to speed things up, I filled the holes with Super Glue and Micro Balloons and sanded all the bolt heads with it. I found it much faster and just added the bolt heads from some hex rod. Also, the hitch attachment point was glued from two pieces that didn’t line up well. I fixed this by sanding it all smooth to get a proper alignment and adding 24 bolt heads to replace the ones that I sanded off. To finish these steps, I added weld beads to the front and rear towing pintles on the hull.

In step 3, there is a choice of idler wheels andassembly of the main drive sprocket. I found no troubles here.

Step 4 has us adding all of the running gear to the lower hull. I did have some flash on several road wheels to deal with. While at it, I drilled out the lightening holes to give a little extra detail. Also, later on I found out that it would be nice to sand down the return rollers to aid the tracks to fit better.

In steps 5-9, the upper hull is constructed. No problems here, but I did make a few modifications of my own. First, I found all the grab handles (16) to be a bit chunky, so off they came and I replaced them with some plastic rod. Another oddity that I found was an option for the shroud over the intake. You can use the single piece, none, or build two photo etch ones. Why they made the photo etch ones was odd to me. So the version I chose to build called for two shrouds. To make them easier, I cut the single piece to the correct length and simply added some plastic sheet to close them off. I found this easier then fighting the photo etch ones. You also have the option to open the driver and radio operators’ hatches, but seeing that there is no interior, I left them closed. Everything else was no trouble at all.

Steps 10-14 have one building the turret. I found no real issues here, but I did need a small spot of filler for the top edge. I replaced the gunner’s hatch grab handles with wire. I added a weld bead on the splash guard in front of the commander’s cupola. When test fitting the top, I found a rather large overhang on the stowage box cover. Nothing a little sanding wouldn’t fix, and while at it, I replaced the molded-on tie-downs with wire. You do get a nice breech assembly. I left this unfinished, seeing that I was not going to have open hatches.

Step 15 gives you options on late war or post-war details to the rear hull.

Step 16 nears the end, assembling the upper and lower hulls. Here is where I found the Bronco precision fit coming to the fore. When I first tried the fit, it seemed as though I had a warped upper hull, but with a little more muscle, it snapped right together with perfection! The tracks are assembled at this point. The instructions call for each side to be 108 links. I only needed 103. This was probably due to using the smaller idler wheel. Let me go on the record saying that these were the best individual track links that I’ve ever worked with. The detail and fit were fantastic! When I added them to the model, the fit between the return rollers and upper hull was a bit tight. I got them on fine, but either sand down the return rollers a bit or lower them (sanding will be easier).

We finish off in steps 17-20 adding some fender pieces, antenna, and tow cables. No problems with this, and when done, you have a beautiful model!

I painted the model in my usual fashion by first adding a black primer of Tamiya XF-1. For the base color I used Vallejo UK Bronze Green which I found to be almost black. I was not happy with the result, so after chatting with my Jedi counsel, I re-sprayed using Tamiya Olive Drab XF-62. Much better result. I then added some Tamiya XF-59 Desert Yellow to add some highlights. I then added a filter and a nice pin wash. I also made some mud using the Ammo line of products and – last but not least – a dusting of highly thinned Tamia XF-57 Buff.

In conclusion, I liked the final build. The assembly was a breeze and the tracks were the best part of the model. It’s the only model of a Comet in 1/35^th scale in plastic that I’m aware of. I did have a few knock-out pins and flash to deal with, but nothing that would cause trouble. I added some other details, mainly grab handles and weld beads. I also added some periscopes to the commander’s cupola, seeing that all there was were holes. You also get a nice photo etch sight to sit on top of the turret. Mine fought with me, but I finally prevailed, only to lose it! Very frustrating, to say the least.

I highly recommend this model for all fans of things British and armor historians in general. It was the most potent British design of WWII, but came too late to really prove its worth. I would also like to thank Bronco for providing this model and AMPS for the opportunity to build it.

Dragon USA  for the sample.

Reviewed by Joe Koenig, TRAMPS (Tidewater Regional AMPS)

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