Wasp Mk.I
Resicast 1:35 Set No.35.175
Review by Terry Ashley

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As Peter Brown noted in his review of the Wasp Mk.II (set #35.173) the full title was "Flame Thrower, Transportable, No 2" or the simpler form "F.T. Transportable, No 2" with appropriate Mark to tell the different types apart. These are -

• No 2 Mk I had two internal fuel tanks and large fixed flame gun mounted over the front Bren-gunner's barbette. These as far as I can tell were used for training.
• No 2 Mk II used the same internal fuel tanks but with a traversable flame gun mounted in the front compartment. This type was first used in Normandy in July 1944.
• No 2 Mk IIC had a single, larger fuel tank external on the rear of the Carrier and the barbette-mounted flame gun. It was more vulnerable as the tank was not under armour, but the rear compartments could carry one or more men with suitable weapons which increased their offensive and defensive capabilities. This type replaced the original Mk II in service in 1945, apparently some II were converted to IIC standards but with only one fuel tank.

The three conversions produced by Resicast are:

• 35.136 Wasp IIC - No 2 Mk IIC
• 35.173 Wasp II - No 2 Mk II
• 35.175 Wasp I - No 2 Mk I

It is set #35.175 Wasp Mk.I we will look at here and it too has numerous parts in common with the other Wasp kits and the 3” mortar carrier (Set #35.129)

The kit has 74 parts in light grey resin which are cleanly cast without any blemishes and just the usual casting blocks to be removed, there is also some fine resin film on some parts but this is very easy to remove. Also included are two frets of etched metal parts and three short lengths of plastic rod. Some of the parts are quite small and care will be needed during cleanup but nothing out of the ordinary for resin sets.

Etched parts

Metal track links

The new parts are the rear driver's compartment bulkhead with cut-outs for the cooling intakes, seat backs and front compartment armour panel with cut-out for the weapon carried as well as a new glacis with very fine bullet splash strips.

At the back are two new rear hull panels plus a new engine compartment and radiator coaming and while cast solid the rear upper intake grills has very finely cast mesh effect and should look okay when painted. At the lower front of the radiator is a few air holes after removing the casting block but this area is completely hidden after assembly so don't get worried when you see these appear.

Other parts provided are the older type head lights for this version and a good selection of fire extinguishes, driver's foot pedals, gear shift quadrant and lever as well as the usual British style water cans and storage boxes all cast perfectly cleanly.

The two large internal fuel tanks are cleanly cast and are perfectly round in profile with the casting block attached at the bottom and so hidden after assembly and there are also additional gas bottles and the larger sections of piping included as well as the large multi-part flame gun and support.

There is some minor alterations required to fit the tanks and piping but again nothing too difficult and the instructions are fairly clear on what goes where.

Externally there is the large storage box at the back and a nice set of pioneer tools plus new drive sprockets with the correct number of teeth but extreme care is needed when removing the casting block from the sprockets as it is easy to remove one or more drive teeth as well.

To go with the new drive sprockets is new white metal track sections with nice detail but there is a little metal flash which isn't really that noticeable and you could quite easily leave as is. The metal tracks bend easily around the drive sprockets with the resin teeth fitting perfectly into the track guide hole cut-outs but take care and only bend these tracks once. They are thin metal and a couple of bends in opposite directions will see them break apart as any metal will do when bent in the same spot a few times.

Numerous etched parts are provided but as the etched frets also apply to other UC conversion sets quite a few are not used with this conversion which means you have some fine parts for the spares box which I'm sure will come in handy.

The 12 page instruction booklet includes a parts list for easy identification with all resin parts clearly numbered on their casting blocks and the instructions are in the form of progress photos of the kit during construction showing the location of the parts. I found these quite easy to follow but as with any update/conversion set you should carefully study the instructions to fully understand the sequences before commencing.

Conclusion:
Another excellent conversion for the Tamiya Universal Carrier that will require a bit of work on the donor kit to accept the resin parts but will produce a very detailed model the early version which has a very different look to the two Mk.II Wasps with large flame gun extension. It will make a very good comparison piece to go along with the other two Wasp kits previously released as if any British armour fan needed an excuse.

Highly recommended.

Resin parts
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	Universal Carrier 1936-48 The 'Bren Gun Carrier' Story New Vanguard No.110 Osprey Publishing ISBN 1 84176 813 8 Good overall coverage of the Universal Carrier.
	Universal Carrier Mk.I/II Military Vehicle Workshop Series MV-12 Allied Command Publications Includes many images from the technical and workshop manuals to privide excellent external and interior details.
	Ground Power Magazine No.90 11/2001 GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd
	Ground Power Magazine No.91 12/2001 GALILEO Publishing Co.,Ltd

Page created September 7, 2005