Chinese BJ212A
w/105mm Type 75
Recoilless Rifle
1/35th Kit 02301
First Look Review
by Terry Ashley
The kit comes with 190 parts moulded in olive drab plastic with a further 10 in clear plastic and another 27 parts for the figures, five vinyl tyres with nice tread pattern and a metal rod for the rear axel, all this in a vehicle about 2/3rd the size of a HMMWV. So just where do all these parts go? The answer is 'just about everywhere'.
Not only are there a lot of parts but they are also exceptionally well moulded with many very small and delicate pieces with no flash to be seen, in fact looking at pieces on the sprues this reminds me very much of the recent "Beep" kits from Skybow such is the quality.
So let's have a look at what is exactly in the box:
Lower
chassis:
This starts with the bare
main chassis to which are added additional cross members, the front bumper
and suspension. The suspension has the leaf springs as separate parts with
the eight
U bolts holding the separate axels also as separate parts. The front wheels
have separate axels that fit into the diff and then through the U bolts to
the
wheels, which are designed to steer. The steering connecting rod is also supplied.
The rear wheels are the same only that the rear axel is a metal rod that fits
right through the diff and the U bolts on the leaf springs to the rear wheels.
The wheels rims themselves are in two halves (inner and outer) with nice rim
detail to which is fitted the vinyl tyres.
There are then separate shock absorbers, central transfer case and drive shafts,
starting to get the idea here?
Next we turn to the engine; this is made up of 15 pieces for the engine block, lower oil sump, exhaust manifold, carby, generator and oil filter. This is accompanied by a three part radiator assembly to really fill out the engine bay, about all you need to do is add some wiring and start the thing up. A full length exhaust pipe completes the engine assembly.
Interior:
The detail doesn't slow down
here either, the interior has full length dash board under which is fitted
the heater with associated piping (suitably ribbed), the foot pedals are
there as
are the three gear levers and other small fittings.
There are the two fuel tanks with filler caps that go under the seats which
in turn have the cushions separate from the seat frames. The rear crew seats
are also in two parts and the two front doors have internal handles as separate
pieces.
The spare wheel carried in the rear has a flattened 'edge' to fit into its bay
easily
Exterior:
The two doors are separate
with the handles moulded on which seems a bit out of place with just about
everything else being separate parts. The front head lights and smaller indicator
lights
are clear parts with separate windscreen wiper, four hood 'T' attachments and
smaller fittings.
You can position the windscreen up or down as you wish along with the hood which
can be positioned opened also.
105mm
recoilless rifle:
This is a kit in itself,
again with excellent details.
The breech has a separate breech block that can be shown open or closed which
is fitted to a two part barrel with the mount having many small parts to build
into an intricate assembly.
This includes the traverse wheels, two part mount with other smaller fittings.
A travel lock is fitted to the dashboard and the windscreen has the central
cut-out for the barrel when in travelling mode. The windscreen would be lowered
when firing.
The gun is fitted to a "Y" base that mounts into the rear of the
vehicle.
The
figures:
Three figures are provided,
a seated driver, seated gunner/commander and standing loader. The uniform detail
is quite nice and should come up well with painting. Additional personal equipment
is provided as well as a single AK-47 and three separate steel helmets.
Five rounds and one empty shell case are also included for the rifle.
Decals
and Painting:
The decals are sparse with
one small data panel for the dashboard and the 'airborne' insignia for the
doors on one of the given pain schemes. Three small emblems are also given
for the
front of the helmets and that's it.
Two paint schemes are shown on the instructions, one in overall dark green with
the other in a three colour cam scheme of black green/dark green/mid stone,
the box sides show this scheme in full colour. Gunze Mr Color is the only painting
references given but matching the colours to other brands wouldn't be a problem.
Conclusion:
In all an excellent little
kit just packed with fine details. Some may say all the detail and number of
parts on the undersides is wasted as most of it can't be seen, but it goes
to
give the overall appearance of nice kit.
Also if this level of detail and finesse is carried through to the larger Tank
Transporters and Ballistic Missile Launcher on the Trumpeter release
list then we are in for some very special kits indeed.
If you want to build a really nice kit out of the box just for something different
then this could be just the thing.
A full build review will follow shortly.
The
Sprues
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Page created 1 June 2002