PMMS
Academy
Warrior MCV "Iraq 2003"
1/35th Scale
Kit No.13201
First Look Review by Terry Ashley

Acadamy
The Kit:
AcadamyAcademy has followed other manufacturers in releasing existing kits with minor updates to depict vehicles used in the recent Iraq wars.

The kit has the same 304 parts in light beige plastic as the first MCV kit released in 1996 plus a new sprue K with an additional 88 parts for the “Iraq 2003” version and a new decal sheet.

The basic kit is quite a nice rendition of the Warrior with well defined and crisp details with the separate axles that can be animated if you wish.

All the hull and turret hatches are separate with internal detail but there are some pin marks on the inside details to be removed first. The driver and hull top hatches have workable hinges to easily show open or closed and the internal structure of the rear door is well represented with two internal layers again for good detail definition.

Almost all of the external hull fittings are separate parts for good detail definition such as all grab handles, lifting eyes, periscopes, head lights with separate guards and tools as well as separate engine louver panels on the right hull again for good definition. The large rear storage boxes are also included with six parts each plus other storage boxes.

The passive add on Chobham armour packages are also provided for the sides and hull front and the side panels feature nice details to represent these panels. One problem with the first kit was the front armour package ended up in the wrong position due to the hopper being too small and new parts for the front package are included on sprue K (see below).

The turret also has all details as separate parts for good detail definition with workable hatches, periscopes and the two main sights made up of nine parts each, multi-part smoke grenades plus the long slender 30mm Rarden L21A1 cannon with separate flash suppressor. The rear turret basket is quite delicate and has mesh supplied as does the large rack on the right rear side of the hull.

The track is the same rubber band type as included in the first kit and as you can only see the bottom section of track the details are okay for this type of track.

The new Iraq 2003 parts (Sprue K)
AcademyAs mentioned there is a large additional sprue included with the new parts and the main item is the new hull front add-on armour package which is made up of 8 parts instead of the two in the first kit. The size and detail of the package appear better this time around and also include the large towing hocking now added to the front of the package but this appears to be slightly too far to the right extending out from the armour package more than it should and as it fits into a indented channel this may be a bit of work to remedy if in fact you find it an issue?

There are also four large bolt heads missing for the right side of the package that will need to be added, I used hex bolts and washers from the CMK set #007 for this and also thinned down the edges of the hopper for a better scale appearance.

The crew step is also provided as this was also missed the first time around.
One ‘small’ problem is the two oil drums included for the front hopper simply do not fit by a big margin which would indicate the hopper is still too narrow or the drums are oversized, but I don’t have exact dimensions of the package and hopper to tell for sure but from photos it would appear to be the former.

Another issue with this and the original kit is that the large mesh side bin on the right hull side and smaller left rear hull side bin were replaced with solid metal bins (most likely armoured) on the up-armoured Warriors that also formed part of the side armour supports. The new small left side bin had a flat top without the X stamping of the thin metal bin on the ‘normal’ Warrior while the kits only have the original bins.

Other items included are new fire extinguishers for the turret and hull, wire cutter poles first added to the Warriors in Bosnia, the bad weather driver’s screen with clear sheet for the glass, four CIP panels for use in Iraq, two infantry individual weapons and an extra spare road wheel often seen carried on the hull front in Iraq.

The remainder of the new items are numerous storage boxes of different types, extra plastic ‘jerry cans’, a couple of oil cans for the front hopper plus two folding chairs, an essential item for Iraq service. All the storage boxes are made up of multiple parts for good detail and can be added to the vehicle as you see fit or according to photos of the vehicle being modelled?

The Decals:
The new decal sheet has markings for two Warriors, one from Bosnia in 1995 and one from Iraq in 2003 but no information is given on the actual units depicted.
References indicate the Bosnia vehicle is from the 2nd Bn, The Light Infantry which deployed to Bosnia as part of the IFOR in November 1995.
The Iraq markings consist of just the number 08 on the turret boxes and the black chevrons on the rear storage boxes and possibly is from the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers but no other markings are provided apart from a small Union Jack for the aerial.

Academy

Conclusion:
The original kit built into a nice model of the Warrior as does this kit and the new front armour package is an improvement on the first kit with the extra accessories offering some additional bits for the Iraq vehicle and will form the basis for a good Iraq Warrior.

Recommended.

The Sprues:

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Academy

References:

This and other Academy kits are available worldwide from Lucky Model.com


Page created 13 September 2004

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