¹⁄48

Staghound Mk. III

introduction

The same day I wrote the In-box review for Bronco’s Mk.III Staghound I started to build it. Since this is my first 1/48 kit build I decided to go without any aftermarket photo-etch (now released by Hauler) but I did purchase a replacement barrel for the BESA MG.

the build begins

The hull of the vehicle consists of 9 parts and the fit is excellent. There are location points and almost no putty was required. I have compared the size of the hull according to plans in Armored Car, A History of American Wheeled Combat Vehicles by R.P Hunnicutt and there are no dimensional issues with the model.

The suspension is extremely detailed for 1/48 scale and one must be very careful during the assembly. Thanks to Bronco there is no flash on the tiny parts. The leaf springs are 1-piece and the only thing you need to do is to remove the seam lines.

The Hull’s top plate has, again, excellent detail with a turret ting, traverse teeth and intake grills. The brackets require drilling holes in the top plate; the same is required to fit the exhaust mufflers on the rear plate. The engine access doors have some handles to be glued and one should be very careful during removal of the parts from the sprues since they are very thin. The exhaust mufflers have PE protective covers and I formed them to shape, without annealing, with the help of a rolling device from The Small Shop.