The Staghound was an American designed and built vehicle - that was only used by British forces, during WW2 at least!2844 of the big, mean looking beasts were shipped to Britain, where it was dubbed Staghound, as opposed to its US designation of 'M6'.The main version was the Mark 1, the subject of this kit, and the British developed two further versions; the T17E2, armed with twin .50s in a new turret designed for AA roles, and the Staghound 3 which mounted the turret and gun of the Crusader Mk.3, but was only used in small numbers.Command variants were modified in the field by removing the turret and installing larger radio gear.The Staghound was used in Italy and Northwest Europe. Popular for its speed and heavy armour, it served with Commonwealth armies during the war and after, as well as Denmark, India, South Africa, and Britain post war.
The Kit
The kit itself is made up of 85 resin parts, and around 30 etched brass parts, with a small section of brass rod included to make grab handles etc.The resin parts themselves are very good, as is usual for AA. There are very few bubbles, (I can only find three, all on large parts) and the parts are well detailed. The Turret in particular has very realistic cast texture.I haven't tried the parts for fit etc, so this is an in the box review.No warping, or mis-shapen parts are apparent. I was surprised upon opening the box as I was expecting white metal, but it apears that AA have switched to all resin kits.Even though the Instruction Book shows many parts in white metal.The model was rather expensive, but seems very good, and compared to my references appears accurate. It looks like a Staghound anyway!One thing I have to moan about is the lack of decals or masks.This seems to be something AA don't include in all but the most expensive kits they produce.I have plenty of spare ones I can use, but at the price they ask, I shouldnt really have to dig into my spares box!But, the kit has encouraged me to order the AEC3 Armoured Car too.
in conclusion
Overall I would recommend this kit to any Allied vehicle fan, in particular anyone who likes scout cars like me.Cheers!
SUMMARY
Accurate Armour produce the only model of this mean looking armoured car I know of, and I was keen to build one of them as part of my on-going quest to build as many british army vehicles as is humanly possible!
