British Cruiser Tank A9 and A9CS

Bronco, 1/35 scale

Reviewed by Luke Pitt

FirstLook

We are indeed living in the Golden Age of armour modelling. Only a few short years ago a mainstream 1:35 scale kit of a British A9 Cruiser tank would have been unthinkable. German armour ruled back in the day, but thankfully manufacturers have turned their attention to other subjects often neglected in the past. I for one welcome the trend as the German flavour has somewhat lost its appeal for me.

Bronco’s new 1:35 scale A9 Cruiser Tank is presented with a fairly average illustration adorning the box top lid. I must confess, I’m a fan of good box art and  this  one just doesn’t grab me.

Opening the box however, is a totally different story. Presented over seven medium yellow sprues with an upper and lower hull tubs together with two small and one large turret mouldings, things start to brighten up. 300 plastic  parts make up the kit with five more in clear.

Two photo-etched frets are included that include 42 parts. 

The level of moulding on this kit is top shelf as is the fit of the upper and lower hulls. It is so good that they almost click into position.

Three marking options are included:

• A9 Mk.I (Arnold)  from the 1st Battalion  7th Armoured Division in overall light stone 
• A9 Mk.I (Antelope)  from the 1st Battalion in Caunter camouflage
• A9CS Mk.I from the 3rd t Battalion  in France 1940 in a two tone green camouflage 

A well-drawn and precise instruction booklet is included covering assembly in 21 steps.

The upper hull has surprisingly few parts but has a huge number of rivets. The good news here is that they have been masterfully done in both shape and form.

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

Thumbnail panels:

The model scales out almost exactly compared to the drawings in the “Armour Photo History” by Peter Brown. To be honest I  could not find any missing nick naks on the hull, turrets or road wheels  when compared to this reference. The track guards are very pleasing as Bronco have  moulded them so finely that they are almost scale in  thickness. 

The lower suspension has a nice level of detail present, but the suspension spring seam needs to be cleaned up almost perfectly as it very much seen on the final build. The tracks are link and length tracks and are done very well in both ease of assembly and detail present. I really don’t think an individual track option would add anything  to the model -  the kit provided tracks are perfectly fine the way they are.  

The exhaust is a combination of plastic and photo etched parts. The photo etch has to be shaped into a cylinder and once done is accurate and quite pleasing to the eye. The storage bins, tools and extinguishers are all supplied as separate parts and are all nicely represented. 

Conclusion

95% of modellers will be pleased with this rendition of the A9 Cruiser as it is, as am I . It is refreshingly different and quite well done.

Thanks to Bronco for the sample http://www.cn-bronco.com/en/index.php