1/35 Challenger A30 Late Version

The A30 Challenger cruiser tank was the British army's attempt at mounting the potent Tiger-killing 17-pounder gun on a Cromwell chassis. To accommodate the larger turret, the Cromwell chassis also had to be enlarged, resulting in the addition of an extra road wheel on each side. Armor was sacrificed in order to keep the weight of the enlarged hull and turret within reasonable limits. Challenger production stopped at 200 units, when it was decided that the Sherman-based Firefly was the better choice to continue carrying the 17-pounder.

SKP's kit of the A30 Challenger late version features sharp injection-molded parts, some nicely cast resin parts, two frets of photo-etch, a metal main cannon and machine gun barrel, and some nice metal/clear parts for the lights, plus lengths of braided metal cord for the tow cables. The indy-link tracks appear to be made of resin, and a quick trial shows that they pretty much snap together, although glue is recommended. They'll need just a bit of clean-up, too. Markings are provided as dry transfers. A great kit of an interesting British tank!