I'm thinking about doing a line of british vehicles in markings for NATO service in former Yugoslavia. And now I thought I should ask you guys about the kits I have found so far in my search:

Challenger: Only once I found in 1/35 where Tamiyas, and I guess that the Challenger I mk.3 version would be the most suitable?

Warrior: Only now about the Academy offering. Have bad experiences with Academy vehicles, but on the other hand the ones I have tried all where Tamiya rip-offs... So, is it good or bad?

Scimitar: Found AFV Clubs issue. This is a company I know absolutly nothing about. Only thing I have managed to find out is that their kits are injection moldes. So, what's the quality???

Land Rovers: Only issue in 1/35 is Tamiyas old Rover Ambulance. Have built it sometime in my youth and if my memory isn't totay bad a decent kit. But is it to old? Is this version still in service, or has it been replaced by newer versions.

Well, that was all that I could find. Any kits (preferley no resins) that I have missed?

And then to the markings, I saw on Hannants that Eduard has paint masks for for I/S/KFOR letterig. But I wonder do you have to have a AB to be able to use them or can a good old brush be used???

Well, I think that is all for now. If I come up with more questions I'll be back with them later.

The Academy Warrior is, in my opinion, a very nice kit. BUT THE BUSTLE RACK IS A BEAR TO WORK WITH. Most new academy stuff is really nice, not like the old Tamiya rip offs. I think Tamiya also has a line of UN markings on one of thier decal sheets. I don't if they are still readily availble or not....

Good Luck
Nate
Wisc. USA

AFV Club kits are very nice, I have several like the M-10 Wolverine, M88A1, M548A1, both of their West German Wiesels (20mm and TOW), and the M102 105mm towed howitzer. Very good quality.

Warrior: Only now about the Academy offering. Have bad experiences with Academy vehicles, but on the other hand the ones I have tried all where Tamiya rip-offs... So, is it good or bad?

The Academy Warrior was a good kit to build. The bussle rack was figgity but works out. Overall the fit was nearly as good as Tamiya. Academys later releases have all built up fairly well. If I had to do it over the only thing that I would replace is the gun barrel. I think Jordi Rubino makes a nice one not 100% sure though.

Archer has a sheet of KFOR and IFOR markings for most vehicals.

Good luck with the search!

If you want to get good KFOR IFOR SFOR marking go to Maple Models (shameless plug :-)) and it's in Canadian money so it won't cost you much!

Thanks for the help guys, only question remaining now is weather the Tamiya Rover ambulance is to old or not.

Hi there
Have you considered either the Revell Landrover series iii or the Accurate armour Wolf TUM?I'm unsure as to whether these vehicles fit your timescale but they may be worth looking at.The revell landrover sometimes appears on ebay and i'm not sure if the wolf has been released yet.You could also look at the fv432,I know that they were out there in UN days so they may have been used under KFOR/IFOR auspices.
Hope this helps
Regards
Peter

I've built Academy's Warrior and have another one waiting on the bench. Very nice kit and I strongly suggest getting it... There are some things that need to be corrected, and there is no interior set available, so you can brush up some scratchbuilding skills.

If you need any info on Warrior feel free to contact me, I've gathered a lot...

Mario M.

Hey Thomas,

I have the AFV Scimitar just about built up for a IFOR finish. Found a cool pic of one of these lil baby's grauding a crossroads in Bosnia.

As for the Tamiya Rover, yes, this kit came out in the early seventies. I had this some fifteen years ago, but can not comment on the kit now. There is a review over at AMPS that suggest that thsi is OK. I would post a link, but as thsi is a search enging, I'll just copy the comment at the end.

Sometime, I will get the Scimitar done. if you build one, move the rear idler strut up a couple of milimeter as the track is too tight.

Dave

Military Model Kits
Listing and Mini-Reviews
Last Updated Sunday, June 03, 2001

Items in bold are unique kits. Click on the Manufacturer for more information.
Manufacturer Series Cat.No. Scale Model
Tamiya 1/35 Military Miniatures Series 35076 1/35 "British SAS Land Rover -- Very Good. An odd subject (in bright pink, no less) but has good GPMG machine guns and nice details."
Tamiya 1/35 Military Miniatures Series 35082 1/35 "British Ambulance Rover 7 (five figures) -- Very good. Odd choice of subject, this is a 1970s era subject with a stretcher party of four (doctor, bearers, and patient) included."
Tamiya 1/35 Military Miniatures Series 35106 1/35 British Stretcher Party (four figures) -- Good. The same 1970s figures from the Land Rover Ambulance kit.

As far as I know that vehicle was no longer in service, as already mentioned you would be safe going with a landrover 110 or a wolf variant.
The scimitar is only one of a large family of vehicles. These include the:
Spartan Engineers
Samaritan Ambulance
Samson Recovery
Sultan Command
There are more but I couldn't gurantee they were in theatre.
Have you considered doing the CET (Combat Engineer Tractor) these are large pieces of kit and would make an interesting dio due to the carnage in the area.
I have alot of pictures of these and other british vehicles in the Balkans, let me know if you would like some.

Robbo

Testors / Italeri did the 109 LWB Landrover in 1/35. It was kit # 859 for Testors.

Never built it. Parts looks good in the box. Not too in to Rovers, can’t vouch for accuracy.

I've posted pictures of some of the files I have in my photo album. There is one of most of the vehicles used by the British army in the Balkans. Ido have more but these are the main ones. If you let me know which file you would like I will e-mail it to you, or anybody else if they would like them.
http://groups.msn.com/armorama/remearmrswork.msnw?albumlist=2
Let me know if you want any.

Robbo