I saw an article on the Italeri Crusader Mark II in the Perth Modeling home page. I have not seen it advertised in the US. Does anyone know if it is available? Has anyone built it?
thanks
DJ

DJ,

Squadron is showing it in stock. I believe it is either a whole or mostly reissued kit. The original made a fair looking Crusader III.

Bob--amazing that no one have come on the net telling us they made it. I assume it was not a popular kit. The Perth home site model looks very interesting. I am curious as to how it might turn out.
thanks
DJ

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/cruaaph_1.htm
Italeri produced a 1/35 scale kit of the Crusader III some years ago. It was also released under the Tomy label. The Italeri Crusader was a very nicely detailed kit - one of their better offerings. Considering Italeri's re-release strategy we might hope that this kit will be available again soon.




Hi All

I've been sent one of the new Crusader Mk II by Italeri and thought you all might be interested in a first impression. Obviously, it is based on their Mk III and you get the same three main sprues with sections of two of them made over to new parts. It's a nice little kit, pretty accurate, although there are a few bits that I'd highlight as ripe for improvement:
1 The gun is too fat and over-long. Fortunately I have an aluminium 2-pdr example left over from another kit...
2 The bulbous mantlet is about right although it could do with some roughing up to achieve a cast look. The downside is that there is no blanking off behind the gun slots so, if you have the hatch open, you'll see how much you failed to build inside the turret.
3 It does not come with sand shields. In any event, the ones supplied with the Mk III are of an incorrect pattern so you would have had some work to do anyway.

This is a kit that is crying out for some internal detail. Does anyone out there do a No.9 or No.19 Wireless set? I've built a few No.19s in the last few years and could do with a shortcut. Price of the kit is around £20 I believe - up on the £6 for the Mk III in 1992 but still fairly good value. Lots of detailing and accessory possibilities. I'm sure I'll be buying another fairly soon!

A couple of references: There's an Osprey on the Crusader and I have an article from October 1992 (Mil Mod or Airfix - not sure which) by Mr Barbic that has a few good details.

Dan Taylor
http://apma.org.au/thinktank/thinktank0087.txt

Hi All

By way of a follow up, that Italeri Crusader Mk II is well on its way to being built. One thing that I definitely got wrong was saying that the mantlet was approximately correct. In actual fact, the shape on the starboard side (where the MG goes) needs a fair amount of Milliput to put right. It is much more bulbous towards the top, with a flattened off section on top. The slot for the MG is also too wide. On the opposite side, the outer edge of the sight slot needs a bit of trimming away.

By way of additions, I happened to pick up the Eduard etch for the Crusader III, much of which is usable on the Mk II. It provides a 19 Set (although it fails to split the two parts and is therefore dimensionally incorrect).

Incidentally, having taken enormous care not to lose any of the tiny etched parts when cutting out, one of the bin latches hyperspaced after I had stuck it on. If you notice that there is an oddly placed bit of kit stowage, should you see the completed kit that is, well that is why.

Now, down to the question. I have an excellent source for information on the Crusader - a group of veterans from the 4th County of London Yeomanry. So I asked three of them what colour the inside of the tanks were. Each of them gave a different response! One said off white, another grey, and the third thought grey/metal. Do any of you know which is correct? Or indeed
if the answer is none of the above?

Many thanks
Dan Taylor
http://apma.org.au/thinktank/thinktank0095.txt

HTH

If you want more information, you could try finding the December 2001 issue of Military Modelcraft International magazine. There is an article on this tank.

Nic

Guys--great info!
Thanks very much
DJ

I HAVE BUILT THIS KIT RECENTLY, IT WAS A NICE LITTLE BUILD AND I ENJOYED THE KIT THOROUGHLY. I HAD NO FIT PROBLEMS AT ALL WITH IT. SOMEDAY I MAY GET AROUND TO POSTING SOME PICS OF IT HERE. #:-)

Chappy--thanks. I saw the vehicle in the Perth Home Page and was curious about having such a unique vehicle in my collection. Good hear everything went together well for you.
thanks again
DJ