Is the British Mastiff, more or less, the same vehicle as the American Cougar - or are they two different ones?

If more or less the same, please point these out for me; if different, please point out any linkage between them.

Links to enlightenment will be appreciated, as well as hints about the availability of any kits in 1/35

The Mastiff is a british version of the Cougar 6x6, as the Ridgeback is a british version of the Cougar 4x4, very different vehicles in both case.

I Can't help with the differences.

For some reason it sticks out in my mind that the roof line on the Mastiff is six inches higher.

Hi Kenneth, the only avalible kits of Mastiff and Ridgeback as Alex mention was from Cromwell models.. I have had the Mastiff but sold it a few years ago.. We can only hope some plastic manufactor will release them.. Sorry can not help you with more.. Only that say it was many different parts in the kit from cromwell between Cougar and Mastiff.. I still have the instructions for Mastiff if you want to see them..

The Mastiffs and Ridgebacks all began life as vanilla Cougars and were converted in the UK. There were 3 "Marks" of Mastiff. The 1's had a lower roof, as presumably did the USMC vehicles as the first batch of Cougars that became Mastiff 1s were supplied as FMS directly from US stocks. The Mastiff 3s were a commercial purchase from GD Force Protection: not sure about the 2's.

The Ridgebacks were a commercial purchase and the Wolfhound was a custom version for the UK.

Some Ridgebacks had the TAK-4 independent suspension option (I believe those intended as ambulances) but most had the rigid axles like the Panda Cougar 4x4 kit. I recall that troops didn't like the rigid axles on the lighter vehicle as it rode too harshly. Although Force Protection offered independent suspension on the 6x6, all UK vehicles (and IIRC all US too) had the rigid axles as kitted by Meng.

Most of the external changes are visible in the very many photos on line. The biggies are the additional side armour and the bar armour, weapon station, ECM and radio antennas. Later the bar armour sprouted spring-mounted cameras for all-round vision.

I am surprised that there has not been a Mastiff or Ridgeback in plastic from Meng or Panda, nor any conversion kits. Seems kinda obvious, straightforward and likely to sell. With the announcement of plastic Jackal, Coyote and Husky perhaps Meng or Panda will be stimulated to do something about this.