British Anti Tank Gun Archer Self Propelled

This is a mostly new tooled kit from Tamiya that comprises 391 parts. It does share sprue A with their Valentine kit, #35352, released earlier this year. Sprue A is the link and length tracks and suspension. The road wheels are a late war design, so they are newly molded for this kit. The other six sprues are also new tooling for the Archer. A five-piece clear part sprue is included, but only the spotlight lens is used. The small decals sheet has options for two vehicles plus marking bands for the four 17 pounder rounds. Interestingly the decals provide marking of only a Canadian or Polish unit vehicle, which is most unusual. The foot-long piece of string will be used for the two towing cables attached to the front. Poly caps are added for the drive sprockets and gun cradle. The rest of the roadwheels and idles will be glued in placed which is unusual for Tamiya kits since most use poly caps. The 20-page instruction sheet has 41 assembly steps with two black and white color/decal guide on the last two pages. There are only a few tasks per step and the drawings are very clear as to placement. There are three crew member figures included. The tracks are link and length with the one-piece upper part have a slight sage over the return rollers. There is a straight bottom piece, individual pieces for around the drive sprocket and rear idler wheel, with some five track link pieces for the connection to the bottom track run. There are some tiny injector pin marks on the outer edge, but are not too noticeable. The fighting compartment has loads of details. The driver’s compartment is located right behind the gun breach, so it very visible. There are crew seats, bags, bren guns, ammunition and much more to fit into the open topped compartment. The two crew figures will take up about the only open areas and the commander is molded in a nice, action pose with him standing outside, but leaning in. The gun is well detailed and is molded in one-piece with one part of the muzzle break already attached. The gun has a full range of movement up and down along with left and right.