Bill Cross reviews Resicast''s beefy 6 inch Howitzer for BEF and North Africa campaigns.

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I don't think it is any more expensive to print outline instructions than photo ones nowadays is it? In the end for me it comes down to the resin kits being way too expensive for me. Looks nice from the photos but not AU$100 (approx) worth to me.

There is a build blog of the gun here:

http://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/199056#1665561

and a photo feature of the finished article here:

http://armorama.kitmaker.net/features/4823 [email protected]

Just for clarification. The mortar carrier kit that Bill had the issues with was the OOP 35.123 kit and not the kit I reviewed and is linked to in his article which is was the upgraded 35.1207 kit.

Al

I hope to build this one when I return from a trade show in a week's time.

Warren, you make an excellent point about resin kits being expensive, but we often get what we pay for: many vehicles are not popular enough to elicit styrene makers to release them, so resin is our only option. And there is no question that some resin models are just more-detailed and of a higher order of accuracy than most styrene kits, where shortcuts are taken to reduce mold costs. Some of that has to do with manufacturing technique, whereby resin makers can get better detailing than all but the most-advanced styrene molds, but I think at least as much of the difference comes from the "loving care" they put into their kits.

After all, we've seen dedicated amateurs release resin products, yet fall down in the management, shipping and other sides of the business. As one oft-criticized resin maker told me "I just want to release really high-quality kits."

Resicast strike me a nice balance between the dedicated amateur (in the true sense of the word of someone who is passionate about the hobby) and a smart business that can release quality kits and keep up with the demands of servicing their accounts. My understanding is they plan on releasing updates of their famous line of upgrades and conversions originally meant for the ancient Tamiya Universal/Bren Carrier, now aimed at the new Riich line of UCs that are just now appearing on the market. It's a smart move, since Resicast has excellent stowage sets, as well as conversions like the 3" mortar carrier that will be popular for Riich's base kits.