Darren Baker takes a look at the re-issue of the British Cruiser Tank A34 Comet in 1/35th scale from Bronco Models to see just what has changed.

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Thanks!

The tracks are a most welcome addition since the rubber band ones in the previous release were horrible. The decals look nice too. And that is all there is in the aspect of improvement.

The gun manlet has remained the same, the horrible horrible molded on handles are there to make replacing them a major chore , the tools could use some work too, as well as the fit of the engine deck. And the gun barel comes as a toping.

Come on Bronco, you can do better than that...

Well, that's about on a par, or even better, than recent Black Label releases!

Yea I agree this kit is better than dragons black and you know what I even welcome that they put less PE parts on this kit. love the workable tracks.

Just received two in the post, missed them the first time round and a Comet or two is welcome here.

Darren, thanks for the review!

Comet kits are always welcome.

I do feel, though, that Bronco could have put a little more effort into this. They have come so far in kit detailing and quality since this kit was first released, it could have been a real masterpiece if they had brought it up to their current standards.

Still welcome, but after my previous attempt at detailing the model, I was hoping it would be retooled and improved/corrected so it would require a little less work this time. I'll most likely still buy one.

I agree with a number of the comments here. Yes Bronco could have done a better job. I forgot to mention the gun barrel as I would change that aspect of the kit due to it being split down its length. With that said I still feel if the model is realistically priced then it is still a good model to pick up.

But since I've already got the 1st edition, resin mantlet & tracks, that should mean a replacement barrel should become more readily available.

Jon as you have the items listed I would get aa alternate barrel and get building.

i did the other boxed Bronco A34 Comet kit, very nice indeed.

Sadly despite the comments on this site and other sites the bronco Comet does not appear to have moved on from the accuracy issues it had when first released a while back which is a great shame as their kits have come along way since then. As this is the only plastic kit of this tank amongst the dozens of Tigers, panthers, Abrams , merkavas etc its frustrating that there are so many errors mostly around the turret that it makes it difficult to sort out.

The most obvious issue is the front of the turret mantlet. Its angled horizontally right along its length, this is wrong. The mantlet effectively is a flat plate with two recoil bulges in the centre and a beefed up cast area in the cast mantlet for the gunners sight. (See the image )
There are a number of other issues with it, but the gun mantlet is the worse. The casting that the mantlet sits in should have a well in which when the gun is depressed the mantlet drops into. I get the idea that Bronco did not notice this.

The turret height is also a little to low and the loaders hatches should have curved corners , not 90 degree angles.

The turret bin is also wrong. The bin is not part of the turret but fitted to the back end.
The gun breech is also made up and bares no resemblance to the real thing which fills the turret .
I noticed all these when I made the master for Resicast limited addition kit. So It vexes me how this company has missed these issues. I had looked at using some of the Resicast turret to amend these issues but it would mean so much work it would mean scrapping nearly all the kit turret.
The rear drive sprocket is nice but the road wheels area bit hard on the edges. The road wheels are in fact identical to Centurion road wheels. You may be able to swap AAs wheels for these. The track return rollers are OK but the armour plate is slightly amiss in accuracy.

I would be glad to share the information with bronco should they wish.