PMMS
Accurate Armour
AS-90 39 Calibre
Update Set

1:35 Set No.AO60
Review by Terry Ashley

Accurate Armour has release this comprehensive correction/update set for the recently released Trumpeter AS-90 kit.

Accurate ArmourThe set consists of 123 resin pieces in light grey resin and a good sized etched fret with 82 parts plus lengths of wire, plastic rod and strip and a woven brass ‘wire’ for the steel cable. All the parts are from Accurate Armour’s full AS-90 kit and benefit from the research that went into producing that kit.

The quality of the resin parts are excellent without any blemishes and only the usual casting blocks to be removed. The parts feature very nice details with weld seams around all the hatch and hull engine bay hinges as well as interior hatch details. The etched parts are also good quality and provide the engine compartment grills, front and rear mud flaps and the turret top storage bin. Other smaller parts are for around the hull and turret to provide those small detail bits that add to the overall detailed affect.

The majority of the resin parts are for the turret with a new gun mount, new correct length 39 calibre barrel with a cast metal muzzle break. The barrel features a nicely textured recoil dust cover with the characteristic sag at the bottom, but there is a sizable casting seam on the underside that will need care to remove while keeping the concertina details intact.
There are new turret side bins, new hatches with nice details inside and out, new smoke grenades, ammo bins and GPMG.
In fact the only Trumpeter turret parts used are the turret shell itself and the rear APU plus a few of the tools with all the rest from the Accurate Armour set.

For the hull there is a new rear hatch with internal details plus some internal shell storage for the inside to help alleviate the empty look.
A new correct style 39 calibre barrel travel lock is provided for the hull front plus many small details such as engine bay hinges, light assemblies, driver’s optics, side skirts and idlers wheels. Etched parts for the mud guards, head light guards and other smaller items finish of the details.

A detailed 12 page instruction booklet has photos of the model showing the placement of the parts as well as text descriptions where needed for very clear and easy to follow instructions.

The set is not cheap at £38.30 (Export) but there are a lot of parts included as well as the etched parts and the images below show the full details on the parts as well as a comparison with the Trumpeter parts to let you decide if the update set is for you.

There is also a companion update set No. AO61 for the 52calibre AS-90 version but as the 39calibre AS-90 is the version used in Gulf War 2, I suspect this will be the favoured set.

Recommended.

The Resin Bits
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Detail images of Accurate Armour parts and comparisons with Trumpeter kit parts.
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For details of this and other update sets and full resin kits, see the Accurate Armour web site.


Page Created 15 April 2003

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