Just got mine today, and i can say what i see looks really nice. There are roughly 90 parts in the whole kit so this is not a Dragon 3 in 1 kit. LOL

The rubber wheels are very nicly done, with no flash or mold seams at all. Just remove it from the tree and it should look fantastic.

There are a couple of molding injector marks. On the side doors ther are two depressions each on the interior of the doors, but they are in a area that is very easy to get to and sand. The lower side doors are perfect.

The turret has some interior detail, but it also has 6 injector protrusions. 4 are easily gotten at but two would be a pain to clean up, and as they are on the top of the inside of the turret are not visable thru any of the hatches, so why bother. LOL The turret lower race has many injector marks but they are all easly gotten at and removed. The inside of the turret top hatch has two protrusions. One easily removed however the other will be a pain to remove as there is some fine detail around it. The back turret door has no detail, but is otherwise unmarked so it is a clean slate to do what you want with.

Aside from that the rest of the kit looks great, with very fine detail and no flash at all.

All in all from looking at the box thsi will build up to a fine version of a armored car we don't have right now. I would love to move this up to the top of my build list however a dragon panzer 4 E is currently taking up my time. You get decals and instructions fro 5 different versions.

Assuming this goes together well i have to give this a solid B+ effort. Since Dragon has raised the bar so high i honestly cant give it an A, but i am really looking forward to building this thing OOB.

Hope this helps, time to go work on home projects.

Well when i heard all the negative problems i had to get it out and give it a shot. Besides it only has 90 parts so it should go together quick. LOL

Well the model is together in little over 4 hours. (I build models at work, great job huh) And there are some small problems. I am no means a master modeler however i am patient and it has gone together well. Here are some things i have found to help out.

Part 1a has some raised injector pins that need to be shaved down otherwise the side frames will not fit well. I used a standard chisel blade and it took about two minutes to clean up this part.

Leave off parts 10b, the steering linkage until the chassis is fully done in step 3. The fit easily after the fact and are not in the way.

Fitting parts 9b and 8b (control arms) need to be test fitted. A little filling here made mine fit well.

Also skip ahead and remove the tires and wheels and assemble them. This will give you a chance to use them to level the chassis as you work thru it.

Each back of the wheel is composed of two pieces that hold the wheels to the model. There is a little bit of filing here to get them to fit into the control arms 9b and 8b. It is far easier to install the wheel backs first, then thread thru the drive rods (part 17b, 19b). They thread thru easily and now you can use the wheels to level the vechical. I found mine was a little topsy and a slight bit of "persuasion" on the front right wheel got me set right and true.

NOW FOR THE BODY

The body is two side parts held together by 4 rods extending the lenght of the body. These parts are #25a. The little nub on each end of them need to be trimmed down a bit to get them to fit snug.

Construction was followed exactly as it should be in step 4, however in step 5 and 6 i diviated to get an easier build. The body is made up of 7 body parts. This is where there can be a problem. In step 4 you add the back rear panel (part 26c). My advice is to glue this in, get it perfect as it will determine the fit of the rest of the model. Look at it carefully as there are two tabs on the bottom that will fit nicly into the bottom of the two side halves. Its not a perfect fit, however it is very close. Set this aside to dry for 30 minutes to reallys set up.

Next i divated from the construction in step 5 and 6. What i did was remove and clean up all the hull plates. Then i started at the front and installed part 36c. Again carefull fitting will yeild good results. After that i installed the front drivers plate (33c). It fits down over part 36c and again will require glue and you to hold it for about 5-10 minutes while it sets. Set this down for about another 15 minutes to dry.

Now you have 4 parts left to install. The rear engine deck(31c) and rear drivers plate (27c) are next up. Start with the drivers plate (27c) and install this. Again glue and hold it in place till it sets,a nd give it a fe minutes to dry. Then install the engine deck (31c). The reason for this is because part 27c HAS to be installed first, it will not fit otherwise and is the "butt" to guide where the engine deck will stop.

Part 30c is the engine louvers. This part has a "backing" that needs to be removed in order for it to fit snugly. If you get rid of the "backing" it will fit very nicly.

Now all that is left is part 32c, the top of the car with the turret hole. This fit very well, however there is a slight seam that i plan to fill with a light glue like tenrex.

So there we are. My car looks nice. The turret was nicly done and no problem. This kit is againa solid B effort. No worse than some dragon kits and very nicly detailed. I will post pictures later tonight when i get off shift at 11pm. Yes it can be a bit of a bear, but no where near difficult for the average modeler. I hope this helps you.

Bill

Thanks Crossracer. All tips for a build are appreciated. Saves us the grief when we get around to building. I bought this model recently, and will print off this text, and throw it into the box, to use when building. Cheers!

Frank,
You might find this one helpful as well:
Autoblinda AB41Pz.Sp.WG. AB41 201

Vinnie

Thanks Vinnie. I managed to miss that one somehow! Build reviews are hard to beat!

I have always wanted to do one of these - I just ordered one and I too will add your post to the box. Thanks!

Unfortunately the kit has got several little extra things to be fixed on top of what has been already pointed out like:
- the tires are the "Artiglio" type, this means that are suitable only for vehicles operating in Italy. To reproduce an AB41 in North Africa, you have to buy aftermarket tires of the Lybia type (about 11 euros). You could also move the antenna on the opposite side of the vehicle and make one from PAI (Italian Africa Police), but the decals are not provided with the kit.
- the decals provided for the Italian subjects are not accurate
- the directions for painting the Italian ones are wrong as well
- the rivets on the turret should be of the same dimensions of the ones on the hull

The wheels and the decals for the AB 41 can be purchased separately either from Crielmodel (who also carries a resin AB41 wich is much more accurate and already includes correct decals, tires, a figure and has got the interiors too at 49 euros) or from Italian kits.
Ciao
Fabio