Jim Rae takes a first-look at one of the year's most talked-about and welcome releases - Bronco Model's 17 Pdr Self-Propelled Gun 'Archer' in 1/35th scale.

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If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

thank you Jim! finally some info on this one...
nice PE fret, indie links (and working suspension, i believe) and nice details put this this one high on the wish list

Excellent to see this being released and it also looks like you get excellent build bits for you bucks.

I'm assuming the lower hull is the MiniArt one, is the same wheel arrangement provided?

I wonder if MiniArt will include the engine detail in their remaining Valentine series, that would be neat.

Thanks for the review.

Al

I'd really love one of these, but having done indi-link (Azimut?) Valentine tracks before I'd have to get the wife and kids some earplugs before I tackled them again. Unless AA's trackpaks could fit?

that's what i'm thinking. i'm just to figure out a break down for painting and i get stumbled

Curious... what's the problem with Valentine tracks?

Those tracks do look like they will be quite the chore, perhaps even painful, but I love the marking options and I have to admit that I have been waiting for this to be released in styrene for quite some time and am really looking forward to picking up one of these kits
Any word on pricing for North America?

VERY small links!! OK for most but for an older guy with ten thumbs and close-up specs can be a problem. My kids learnt some new words last time I tried it......

Hi Guys,

the lower hull, running gear and tracks look to be the same as the MiniArt set. If so the tracks are breeze to build once you clean up the links.

Al

Maybe it's well documented and I'm just being overly-suspicious, but the camouflage scheme they show for Option 4 just looks, well, wrong. The "Mickey Mouse" scheme was long gone for new vehicles before the Archer came on the scene, and the "horizontal" division of the colors suggests that maybe the vehicle was done in the foliage scheme (for which it's also a little late). I'll be quite happy to be proved wrong, but I'm going to guess at this one having started life in overall green and then had blue-black disruptive camo applied later, but not in the very clear "Mickey Mouse Foliage" pattern depicted. Alternatively, maybe it started out in the foliage scheme with blue-black and light mud and had the light mud cover overpainted with green later?

Of course, there are always exceptions - somebody got creative, when told to apply disruptive blue-black, or whatever.

Very glad to see this. I still plan to build my AA kit (I spent so much on all of those AA kits I'm determined to build them) but it does seem that the vehicle was widely enough used that I might find another one to do. Besides, with both Miniart and AFV Club on a Valentine kick, there shouldn't be any shortage of stuff to build. I just hope (having ditched all of my ancient Maquette/DML Valentines) that somebody does a Bishop and a late Valentine with the 75mm.

Al

Just wondering...since this is the same hull components as the previous MiniArt Valentines, could the engine/transmission be transferred to the other Valentines? A North African Valentine being repaired maybe?

The lower hull and the running gear are from the Miniart Valentine. The tracks are the Bronco links for the Valentine. I know that, because I have built the Valentine with the Bronco tracks.
One important information: You will have to sand the drive sprocket part B20 a little on the inner side, otherwise the tracks won´t fit properly. The part is a little too wide to fit between the gide teeth of the track links.

Thomas

or you can get their valentine tracks set, which (based on my use with other bronco tracks) would probably be easier / better than the ones supplied in the kit

The tracks in the Archer kit are the Bronco tracks, not Mini Art.

Hi all,

I'm not trying one up Jim's review but as I'm almost done with a full build review I'd just like to clarify a couple of things.

The Archer kit doesn't include an engine, just the rear engine bulkhead with twin fans plus the gearbox/transmission assembly with the twin radiators mounted above these with separate access hatches should you wish to expose the inner detail.

The tracks are the individual link workable track Bronco previously released seperately as set #AB3536.

The road wheels are a different pattern than those on the Miniart Valentine kits.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
Terry A

Opportunity for the AM folks then. Thanks for the clarification. I wonder if MiniArt will do a crew?

Al

My bad, and my apologies. Unfortunately, at the same time as working on this First-Look, I was also doing a similar one for Bronco's New Gaz Truck which DOES include FULL engine. So, for some reason, I decided to give the Archer an engine as well...

Went to a local shop this afternoon & heard people saying that the model was about 5mm shorter than the actual scale,can anyone confirm this??

Could anyone clarify if Friulmodel ATL-113 ARCHER Self-propelled gun tracks are the same as ATL-32 VALENTINE/BISHOP tracks?

Either one of those track sets will do, there is no difference between the two, I just assembled (25 minutes ago) the kit indie tracks, they went together really well and without any fuss! And because of that I'm 35 Euro richer!

So, anyone build this kit? Is it complex like all the other bronco kits?

David, it's not like I'm stalking you or anything, but didn't you contribute to the discussion of this kit with someone who did finish it in 2013?
Dmitri Slivkov

True that there are a few other starters but not finishers on Armorama, but Dmitri's looked pretty good.

Interior is busy but the rest is pretty standard.



Tony lee