Model: Mk. VIII Cromwell IV
Publisher: Maly Modelarz 1-2/2002
Scale: 1:25
Format: A4 Booklet
Designer: Pawel Mistewicz
The Cromwell was nearly the end of the evolution of the British cruiser tank. It had a relatively short service life from 1944 until the end of WW2.
Although the Cromwell had good mobility and speed it was under armoured and had too small a main gun (57mm) to take on the later Panzers.
I guess most AFV modellers have seen Maly Modelarz kits from various eras - however, the 2002 Maly Cromwell model is nothing like the crude efforts of earlier times. There was another Maly Cromwell in 1971 - I'd
guess this was no better than other models of the time. Let's hope the 2002 Cromwell represents a turning point in Maly design and production values of AFv models. I guess it would be instructive to compare the 1971 and 2002 Maly Cromwell's but I can't think of any legitimate way to get the old model.
Eight pages of A4 cardstock, 1 1/2 pages of frames and other parts on 80gsm, 1 page of vehicle history (in Polish) and 5 pages of construction diagrams and Polish text. The instruction diagrams are superb there seems to have been a lot of thought in the presentation of how to build this model. Unlike many other Polish kits this is not a disconnected series of components but very detailed exploded views of part assembly. Perhaps there are modellers that prefer solving endless intellectual puzzles in the construction of a model- personally I find this is just irritating after a while.
If I have a complaint it's that Maly doesn't put centre marks for circular parts - there are something like 3 pages of circular parts to cut out - I can see it becoming very tedious with a circle centre finder.
Print quality is qute good, although my copy had a few blemishes in the colour. The print has very fine lines and accurate colour registration as we have come to expect with computer assisted designs.
I think the model represents a Cromwell restored at Bovington Museum.
There is no modelled interior or weathering on the model. The model is overall a bronze/green colour which I think is accurate for 1944 in Europe.
There is a considerable amount of fine detailing of unit badges and advisory notices on the hull - this alone adds considerably to the credibility of this model.
The Cromwell used Christie suspension (like the T-34) and the swing arms for this are modelled. This means the hull sides are doubled with the suspension arms inside the space between the hull sides - could be interesting to get that right. The roadwheels look reasonably straightforward and should be pretty convincing. The track is modelled as two bands with additional external bars - there is no option to build with individual links. This mightn't be too much of a disadvantage for the Cromwell since the track was fairly narrow and it driven by the external bars on the links rather than the usual slots in each link.
The hull top seems to be well designed and captures the usual clutter of British tanks of the period. The turret design captures the complete ignorance of ballistic design which went into the Cromwell's turret. The design for the gun elevation paper mechanism is well thought out and looks as if it will work well and be quite robust.
I think if you've built a couple of models then you should be able to tackle the Maly Cromwell.
Instructions: A (superb diagrams)
Paper quality: B
Level of detail: A
Printing quality: B (a few blemishes on coloured parts noted)
Artwork: B (weathering would be nice)
Value for money: B
Skill level: Beginner to Intermediate
Publisher: Maly Modelarz 1-2/2002
Scale: 1:25
Format: A4 Booklet
Designer: Pawel Mistewicz
The Cromwell was nearly the end of the evolution of the British cruiser tank. It had a relatively short service life from 1944 until the end of WW2.
Although the Cromwell had good mobility and speed it was under armoured and had too small a main gun (57mm) to take on the later Panzers.
I guess most AFV modellers have seen Maly Modelarz kits from various eras - however, the 2002 Maly Cromwell model is nothing like the crude efforts of earlier times. There was another Maly Cromwell in 1971 - I'd
guess this was no better than other models of the time. Let's hope the 2002 Cromwell represents a turning point in Maly design and production values of AFv models. I guess it would be instructive to compare the 1971 and 2002 Maly Cromwell's but I can't think of any legitimate way to get the old model.
Eight pages of A4 cardstock, 1 1/2 pages of frames and other parts on 80gsm, 1 page of vehicle history (in Polish) and 5 pages of construction diagrams and Polish text. The instruction diagrams are superb there seems to have been a lot of thought in the presentation of how to build this model. Unlike many other Polish kits this is not a disconnected series of components but very detailed exploded views of part assembly. Perhaps there are modellers that prefer solving endless intellectual puzzles in the construction of a model- personally I find this is just irritating after a while.
If I have a complaint it's that Maly doesn't put centre marks for circular parts - there are something like 3 pages of circular parts to cut out - I can see it becoming very tedious with a circle centre finder.
Print quality is qute good, although my copy had a few blemishes in the colour. The print has very fine lines and accurate colour registration as we have come to expect with computer assisted designs.
I think the model represents a Cromwell restored at Bovington Museum.
There is no modelled interior or weathering on the model. The model is overall a bronze/green colour which I think is accurate for 1944 in Europe.
There is a considerable amount of fine detailing of unit badges and advisory notices on the hull - this alone adds considerably to the credibility of this model.
The Cromwell used Christie suspension (like the T-34) and the swing arms for this are modelled. This means the hull sides are doubled with the suspension arms inside the space between the hull sides - could be interesting to get that right. The roadwheels look reasonably straightforward and should be pretty convincing. The track is modelled as two bands with additional external bars - there is no option to build with individual links. This mightn't be too much of a disadvantage for the Cromwell since the track was fairly narrow and it driven by the external bars on the links rather than the usual slots in each link.
The hull top seems to be well designed and captures the usual clutter of British tanks of the period. The turret design captures the complete ignorance of ballistic design which went into the Cromwell's turret. The design for the gun elevation paper mechanism is well thought out and looks as if it will work well and be quite robust.
I think if you've built a couple of models then you should be able to tackle the Maly Cromwell.
Instructions: A (superb diagrams)
Paper quality: B
Level of detail: A
Printing quality: B (a few blemishes on coloured parts noted)
Artwork: B (weathering would be nice)
Value for money: B
Skill level: Beginner to Intermediate