Monday 10 January 2011

BW Models: Land Rover Series 3 Lightweight VPK Armoured

BW200 in the BW Models range represents the Land Rover Series 3 1/2 ton Lightweight  'locally' uparmoured with the GRP, Vehicle Protection Kit (VPK) and used by the British Army in Northern Ireland from early '70's until 1994.

The model comes in 26 parts including a piece of clear acetate for glazing. Accompanying the kit is a short history of the vehicle, a step by step guide to construction, a list of parts (very useful) and a basic exploded diagram of the model.

First thing I noticed on all three kits was the amount of cleaning up that had taken place prior to shipping. You can clearly see the marks on the body of the vehicle in this photograph.


The filing was so rough that the rear left hand wheel arch has been filed almost all the way up to the side armour - and exposes the vehicle floor when it's attached. The casting finish on this side is poor and will require filling. Especially over the front wheel arch. The door and back of the armoured passenger compartment will require sanding as both have a peeled blister appearance. Take a look at the opposite side of the body below for comparison.


I read on the MAFVA forum that you need to do a couple of dry runs with the parts on the BW Models to make sure they fit correctly before gluing anything place. Believe me, no amount of dry runs will make the back panel of this kit fit. Filing, filling and sanding are the order of the day. REME were probably able to bolt the extra armour onto the real vehicle quicker than it will take me to finish this model!


Now I could live with all that extra but completely unecessary work above. I could even forget about some of it as this is armoured Lightweight is destined to be a hands on wargame model, not a proud display piece. But with the wire mesh windscreen protector (shown above)? All I can think is, your havin' a laugh!

I contacted Barry about these issues. He noted the comments and mentioned that it was a popular kit with 100 being sold and this is the first negative comment received. A full refund upon return of the kit has been offered.

BW200: L/Rover Series 3 L/weight VPK Armoured (N Ireland) £9.50

Cheers
Mark
 

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