HobbyBoss AAVP-7A1 w/EAKK 1:35

Kit Number: 82414

Review By: Graham Thompson 

 

First Impressions

The first thing that hit me when this kit arrived in the post was the size of the box. It measures 41cm x 26cm x 8cm. I am not a fan of boxes oversized to impress but was amazed to find when I opened it, it was full to the brim with plastic. No two ways about it, this is a big kit!

Click on image to enlarge.

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I am rapidly becoming a fan of HobbyBoss kits and this one only strengthens that feeling.  The surface detail is superb and flash levels are virtually none-existent. All sprues, mainly in a traditional medium grey colour, are in eight plastic bags most of which contain two sprues.  Two small sprues of clear add to the 21 sprues in total, four of which are small triangular pads that fit onto each track link. Also included is a small Photo Etch fret. Add to that three bags of track links moulded in a silver plastic and you can see there are a lot of parts.

Instructions & Decals

The instructions come in two folded sheets covering the 17 stages of building using very clear line drawings. The small decal sheets consisting mainly, it appears,of  internal stencilling.  A two-sided colour printed sheet shows the two scheme options, although these are all the same green, black and brown camouflage paintwork with markings for a ‘KFOR’ vehicle and another one that there is no information about, so I do not know where it served.  I must admit to being slightly disappointed that there was no desert scheme or markings included but as there are very few markings anyway, I cannot see a problem doing an Iraq version.

Detail

The hull is very nicely moulded with the welded on mounting blocks for the EAA, which consisted of corrugated armour plate bolted to the mounting blocks. I have seen pictures of these vehicles serving together with the EAA left off on one and fitted to another, so you could possibly leave the EAA off although I am not sure if this would cause any issues in the actual build.

Saving the best until last, this kit has a fully detailed interior. Although this does not include the engine department, it covers all the crew positions. As there is a huge rear door/ramp and large top hatch over the rear crew compartment, a lot of this is going to be visible with the hatches open and gives plenty of opportunity for light to enter the interior so that it can be seen leaving plenty of scope for adding extra kit inside and on the outside to enhance the vehicle, should you wish to put on a scenic base or diorama. Suggestions for this would be water bottles, cardboard boxes and crew kit bags hanging on the outside.  From pictures I have seen of similar vehicles serving in Iraq, the interior was quite messy with clear plastic water bottles all over the place.

There are no figures included in the kit which is a shame but as I plan to do a desert version, they would have been little use to me and there are plenty of third-party ones available.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this looks as though it will build into a large and impressive kit. Lots of interior detail to play around with, though there is no mention of an interior colour which, from images I have seen on the internet, appears to be a pale green – similar to a lighter version of WWII British aircraft interior green – but I will research this further to see if I can find the acute colour prior to building.

I don’t think this is going to be a kit for the beginner, not because it is going to be a particularly difficult build, but because I believe it is going to be a lengthy one.

Highly Recommended.

Graham T.

Kit from http://www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/