HobbyBoss Landrover Defender XD ‘Wolf’ W.M.I.K 1:35

Kit No: 82446

Review By: Graham Thompson

 

Background

For years the army and Special Forces have used the Landrover variants as a world class light vehicle.  Yet the modelling world, I believe, has not given us many of these vehicles to build in plastic. They appear, apart from the venerable ‘Pink Panther’ that Tamiya brought out (which was superbly built by Neil Pepper for SMN – see Finished Now), to have been in the realms of the resin kit makers.

However, this has been well and truly addressed by HobbyBoss with their release of the Defender XD ‘Wolf’ W.M.I.K, previously I believe, only available from Accurate Armour as a resin kit. The Wolf’s official name is the Landrover Truck Utility Medium. It would appear that Landrover called it the Wolf, but the Military did not. However, the troops that use it have taken its name to heart and it is commonly referred to as the Wolf, official or not. 

The vehicle is basically a muscled-up Landrover Defender 110 with a bigger engine, strengthening all round and, in this Weapons Mounting Installation Kit (W.M.I.K) variant, the armament required to give it an Armed Patrol Vehicle status. Although I have not seen much direct reference to SAS usage of this vehicle, its appearance and tactical roll is reminiscent of the WWII armed jeeps developed and used by Colonel Stirling’s SAS ‘Originals’ to great effect in North Africa. 

To enable the firepower to be all-round and heavy, the rear of the Landrover is fitted with what looks like a roll cage topped by a heavy machine gun mounting ring enabling the standing rear gunner to operate the 0.5 Browning through a full 360 degrees arc of fire. On the left hand passenger side is a mounted General Purpose Machine gun. This vehicle has seen service in Iraq, Afghanistan, and initially, in Kosovo and the colour schemes that come with the kit are for either the Green or sand colouring. However, the decals have general markings for the vehicles but no unit markings.

What’s in the Box?

Here’s what you get in the box. (Note that some of the more delicate parts on the sprues are wrapped with a foam tape to protect them, this has been removed for the photographs and is a really nice touch by HobbyBoss). All the mouldings look relatively flash free and the surface detail is sharp.

Click on image to enlarge.

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The kit comprises seven sprues, including a small clear one for lenses (not pictured below), a small fret of photo etch and five ‘rubber’ tyres with a really nice tread pattern, though, as with all these types of tyres, a centre line moulding line which can be so difficult to get rid of. The part count is around 250 and makes into a model 138mm long by 61mm approximate wide. It has a full engine should you wish to display it with the bonnet open which is a nice touch although most will want to portray the Wolf in operational mode.  

 

Two things are missing from what is a very highly detailed kit. One is the crew figures, although Accurate Armour does a set intended for their resin Wolf and could be adapted. The other is radio equipment. I would assume that Patrol vehicles like this would carry a main radio set, but I cannot see evidence of one on the sprues. 

Instructions

The instructions consist of a 12 page booklet with a two-sided colour scheme painting guide for the green or sand options. One thing to point out – mentioned in a review I read for this kit by Chris Smith – is the mounting of the spare wheel. The kit mounts this on the bonnet, but Chris points out in his review that this is not done on the British Army ones as the weight of the spare can damage the bonnet when air dropped. In pictures I have found on the internet, they mainly have the spare mounted on the rear of the roll cage which seem to confirm this great observation.

Conclusion

I believe that this is a long-awaited kit for the fans of the Landrover and, maybe a little misplaced I am not sure as yet, a great addition to anyone building up a historical timeline of SAS vehicles from the Tamiya LRDG Chevrolet , SAS Jeep, Pink Panther and now the HobbyBoss Wolf.

I, for one, am really looking forward to building this one.

Graham T.

Kit obtained from www.scalemodelshop.co.uk/.