Challenger 1 British Main Battle Tank

[Paul A H]

Challenger 1 British Main Battle Tank

1:72 Revell

Designed by the Military Vehicles and Engineering Establishment as a replacement for the Chieftain Main Battle Tank and manufactured by Royal Ordnance Factories/Vickers Defence Systems, some 420 Challenger 1 Main Battle Tanks were produced for both the British Army and the Jordanian armed forces. Designed with firepower and survivability in mind, the Challenger 1 was armed with a potent 120mm L11A5 gun and protected by sophisticated and highly effective Chobham composite armour. Challenger 1s served with distinction with the British Army in the first Gulf War, in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. They were replaced in service by the improved Challenger 2.

Although Revell’s Challenger 1 is not a brand new moulding, you wouldn’t know it from looking at the six olive green sprues packed into the box; the level of detail is right up there with the very best in this scale. Grilles, handles, hatches and weld seams are all beautifully depicted and would be difficult to beat in 1:35 scale. There are no sink marks or flaws and no flash present anywhere.

Construction begins with the hull, the rear of which includes parts for the travel locking mechanism for the 120mm gun and nicely rendered racks for the auxiliary fuel tank. The detail on the two-part road wheels and the rest of the running gear is superb, as are the injection moulded link and length tracks.

The upper hull is very straightforward to prepare as most of the detail is already moulded in place. Whilst it would have been nice to see the pioneer tools moulded separately, they are very nicely represented nonetheless. The driver’s turret can be posed in the open position, as can the commander’s hatch on the turret. In keeping with the rest of the kit, the distinctive flat, angular turret is beautifully detailed and includes a comprehensive range of turret bins and stowage boxes. The wire baskets are simply moulded with a textured pattern, so you may wish to replace these parts with fine mesh for added realism. The 120mm gun is very nicely represented and as you would expect is fully articulated. A realistic rendition of the 7.62mm machine gun found on the commander’s cupola is the cherry on the cake.

Two colour options are provided:

• 17/21 Lancers, BOAR, Ex. Iron Hammers, 1988; and

• The Queen’s Royal Hussars, IFOR, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1996.

Both examples use variations on the Nato Green/Nato Black scheme depicted on the box artwork. The decal sheet is small but perfectly formed and appears to be well printed.

Conclusion

This superb little kit from Revell will grace any collection of small scale armour. The all-round quality is right up there with the very best in the scale and it looks as though it should be pretty straightforward to put together. Definitely recommended.

Review sample courtesy of

[Derbyeomanry]

Finished one of these OOB a while back (see ready for inspection) - great little kit and a really enjoyable build - just got the uparmoured version - will try some etch and resin bits. Make sure you check the roadwheels are parallel to the hull - if youre not careful they'll be at an angle.

Cheers

Neil

Edited May 23, 2011 by Derbyeomanry