The package
Three vehicles are included covering 3 important versions of the type. Sprues are moulded in dark green plastic – not ideal in my opinion as I find the dark green plastic hard to work with as you can’t see the detail and especially joins and prep work. Light grey would be much better.
We reviewed the basic Ozelot kit back in February 2011 and you can see Neil P’s short review here
In addition, Graham T. looked at the follow-up release for the AFF and you can see that here
Some of the highlights include
The detail on the hull top, range of small detail equipment accessories and fittings and simply the subject are all positive features of the kit. You’ll see from the images attached of the completed manufacturer’s kit that it will look impressive when completed. The inclusion of stowage is a nice touch.
The tracks are supplied as one-piece rubber items and moulded detail is good – at least you won’t have to assemble lots of tiny individual track links but again, I know rubber tyres and accessories are not everyone’s cup of tea. They do still look and feel good though, so I think they are OK.
There’s no flash or excess plastic on any of the parts, so this will help build time greatly although on the flip side some round ejection pin marks inside the rear storage box will be visible if this is opened as intended and need to be removed.
Metal aerial wires are included and if you look at the above video it’s interesting how these are located when the vehicle is travelling as well as the restraining chord when the aerials are raised.
Decals
There’s a small sheet with the respective number plates and unit badges for the German options contained in the kit. The quality looks good overall, although there is carrier film visible around most of the items, but applying them to a glossy finish should ensure that doesn’t show. I might be tempted to trim the excess away.
Instructions
These follow the usual Revell format with Revel colour references, parts and sprue layout diagrams followed by multiple stage build sequence and finishing options. The sequence looks to be logical to me but of course you will want to leave off all the small, delicate parts like the aerial until near the end of the build to avoid damage.
To sum up
This is an impressive package and I reckon that plenty of these models will make it onto birthday present wish lists! The multi-kit package is a nice option over and above buying each individual kit that should bring a small saving on cost too. Most of the mainstream manufacturers are releasing plenty of current AFV models and this can only be good news for us modellers! Levels of detail are excellent for the scale and fit looks to be clean and pretty trouble-free.
SMN Quick summary SMN Star Rating out of 5
| FEATURE | STAR RATING (out of five) |
|---|---|
| Quality of moulding | **** |
| Accuracy | **** |
| Level of detail | **** |
| Instructions | *** |
| Decals | **** |
| Subject choice | **** |
| Overall | **** |