Introduction

Continuing with their British Airborne jeep and gun theme, Bronco has released another combination set with the jeep, trailer, and Airborne 75mm Pack Howitzer. While the Jeep and Trailer in the kit have been reviewed prior, the 75mm Pack Howitzer is relatively new.

The 75mm Pack Howitzer was developed by the US Army looking for an artillery gun that could be moved in and around difficult terrain. Also known as the M116 and M1 Howitzer, the gun was also used by other countries, including the British Airborne. The gun being light enough to transport by glider, the British Airborne equipped two airlanding light artillery regiments. It should be also noted that the gun stayed in service until the late 1950’s.

Contents

25 sprues of molded plastic, including jeep body and figures
1 small sprue of clear plastic
3 small frets of photo-etch
2 small sheet of decals
1 brass barrel end
Instruction booklet

Review

Opening the box, it is packed with parts, and your spares bin will be happy, more on that later. The kit from Bronco is very well molded, no visible flash, no sinks marks, and only a few ejector marks that will need to be cleaned up, mostly on the bottom of the jeep. As with the previous releases of the Airborne equipment, the detail is superb with great surface details and lots of fine plastic and photo-etched details.

The Jeep and Trailer are the same as the previous releases, and if you want more information on them you can find the reviews at:

Airborne Troops in ¼ Ton Truck
6pdr and ¼ Ton Truck

And a build log:
British Airborne 6pdr with 1/4ton Truck and Crew

The parts that are new to this kit are for the 75mm Pack Howitzer, which is also available from Bronco on its own with crew. As with the rest of the kit, the parts for the gun are all well detailed with photo-etched parts as well. The instructions show the gun assembly over 6 steps, and they do look well laid out, and should assist the builder in building the gun. Like the 6 pdr from Bronco, there looks to be some small and finicky bits, so care and studying of the instructions are probably a good idea. Also a nice touch is the inclusion of a brass barrel end for the gun.

As for your spares bin, the kit is loaded with extra bits of stowage and weapons. This includes the 75mm ammunition tubes for stowage on the jeep. There is also some British Airborne packs and wicker baskets. I believe these may be part of the British Airborne Equipment set released by Bronco not that long ago. You are also going to find some extra bits like tires, etc, as the kit seems to contain more tires then can be used on the jeep, trailer, and gun.

Of the four figures included in the kit, two of them are from the previous Bronco 6pdr and jeep kit, including the driver, and the other two look like they are from the Bronco Airborne troops and jeep kit. The figures are well done, nice detail and should complement the kit, if built from the box. The kit, as with the past kits from Bronco, even includes an insignia sheet of decals for the figures.

The decals for the jeep and trailer look to be very well printed, and look to represent an Airborne Light Artillery Regiment. The paint and marking scheme includes two different options for the jeep, and one for the trailer.

The instructions for the kit are almost identical to the previous releases, but for some minor changes for the 75mm included in this kit.

Conclusion

Overall this looks to be another great Airborne kit from Bronco, this time with the 75mm Howitzer. The moldings, like previous releases are very well done, with lots of detail. This kit does provide another option for Airborne fans and with lots of extra bits could lead to a big diorama if combined with some of the other Airborne kits of a large convoy heading to the target or in conjunction with the upcoming Horsa kit. As a fun kit to build or for British Airborne fans I definitely recommend this kit.