Post by mshackleton on Oct 1, 2013 11:47:52 GMT -5
AFV Club Norwegian NM-116 Tank Destroyer
Kit number AF35S82
Reviewed by Mike Shackleton
Scale 1.35
The model for this review was kindly donated by AFV Club.
Background
In 1972, the Norwegian Army decided to convert fifty-four of their 123 M24s to reconnaissance vehicles after a thorough modernisation programme. The resulting NM-116 used an improved power-pack based around the 6V53T diesel engine used in the M113 armoured personnel carrier mated to an Allison MT-653 transmission. The original armament was replaced with a French D-925 90 mm low-pressure gun, with a co-axial .50-calibre heavy machine gun. The hull gunner position was eliminated in favour of ammunition stowage and a new fire control system was installed complete with a Simrad LV3 laser rangefinder. Norway also converted eight M24s into light recovery vehicles to support the NM-116. They were retired from service in 1993.
The Model
Upon opening the box you are presented with a dozen or so cellophane bags with twelve sprues containing the majority of the parts. All of the sprues have identification letters and part numbers.
Two prints are included – one of the box top artwork and a further special 1st Edition print of a very leggy young lady complete with MG standing on an NM-116 showing off her ample cleavage:-) Go to the end of the review to bring a smile to your face.
The contents are:
A – the hull tub
B (two off) - parts for two types of road wheel, sprockets (not used), idlers, return rollers, swing arms, torsion bars, various small fittings.
C – hull top, trackguards, side skirts (not needed), hull rear, engine access panels (not needed), front hull hatches, transmission access plate, headlights and guards.
D – tools, jerrycans, .50 cal ammo box, rear lights and small fittings.
D - a second Sprue D from AFV35054 (M24 Chaffee) – more tools, float mounts.
F – turret base and front, mantlet, turret top, gun breech parts, commander’s and loader’s hatches, various small fittings.
G – brass etch for engine grilles, track guard supports, etc.
H – clear parts for commander’s cupola, periscopes, headlight lenses.
I – rear hull rack parts specific to NM-116.
J – decal sheet and string for tow cable.
M – turned aluminium gun barrel and O – four brass sleeves for the shock absorbers.
N – sprockets, laser rangefinder, tool boxes, plastic jerrycan, mud flaps, spare track, smoke launchers all specific to NM-116.
P – rear deck parts specific to NM-116.
T – vinyl tracks.
X – .50 calibre MG parts.
No crew figures or stowage accessories are included.
Instructions
The instructions are presented as a 16-page, BW, A4 stapled booklet. Each step is illustrated in a logical order with clear and large black and white line drawings. There are 28 steps in the construction process.
The instructions are online here:
modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/5842/afv-club-116-chaffee-instructions
First Impressions
As you might expect from AFV Club, the overall quality of the parts is very, very good with excellent moulding including some items being slide-moulded. There is a complete absence of ejector marks anywhere they can be seen including the undersides of hatches. The walls of the track guards and side skirts (though not needed here) are commendably thin as are the track guard mounts. Flash is almost non-existent. There is no sign of warping and no sink marks at all. This is state-of-the-art moulding and is far and away a much better product than the old Italeri kit, good though that was for its time (nearly thirty years ago!).
I can't help but compare this to the recent Bronco kits, having reviewed it in detail over three different versions. There are far fewer steps in this kit – though the AFV Club instructions cram more into each step – and far fewer parts, but that is mainly down to AFV Club supplying one-piece vinyl tracks as against Bronco's individual links. There are also far fewer brass parts.
The most obvious difference with the AFV Club kit is that the hull is wider and longer than the Bronco kit. The AFV Club turret is also slightly longer. More on this later.
Construction
Construction is broken down into 28 steps (Bronco has 41 steps for the original WW2 US Army release).
The hull and running gear
We start with the hull tub which I would say shows the details more delicately than the Bronco tub. The hull tub is beautifully moulded as a floor complete with the angled hull sides and the lower front in place, negating any problems with getting the hull sides correctly angled. It also has return roller and main suspension mounts moulded in place. The spacing of the return roller and main suspension mounts is identical on both kits. The escape hatches are treated completely differently (AFV flush, Bronco protruding). Weld lines are nicely defined. The main suspension mounts are deeper for AFV Club and have more casting numbers. Drain covers all have water guards in front of them (Bronco missed some). The biggest problem will be to clean up the pour points which are on 6 out of the 10 suspension mount plates.
The first steps deal with the hull bottom and the running gear. Independent torsion bars are supplied so the suspension can be realistically articulated, though glueing the arms – through the hole in the hull – onto the arms inside the hull, could prove a challenge.
The transmission bulges on the hull front actually have casting numbers moulded on, unlike Bronco who expect you to add very, very tiny figures in brass! The suspension dampers are telescopic thanks to the use of brass sleeves, so they help in realistically portraying suspension movement. The four dampers are held in place (on the hull and the rear of the trailing arms) by quite delicate pins, so I am not sure how workable the suspension will be before something breaks! The idler mounts could be made adjustable to get the track tension correct.
The sprockets for the NM-116 are on a separate sprue (N), so don't use the standard M24 sprockets on the main sprue (B). The tracks won’t fit! The idler rims are each made of two parts allowing the lightening holes to be depicted, but some careful clean up might be needed to remove the joint line.
Two types of road wheels are included in one kit, unlike Bronco who supply each of their M24 kits with whichever – early or late type – road wheel is appropriate. AFV Club give you both on one sprue. Each wheel is made of five parts with different rims mounted on a common wheel disc, plus the hubcap. The hubcaps are noticeably flatter than Bronco’s domed hubcaps. I have checked photos and I can see that both types exist. However, I would say that domed (Bronco-style) hubcaps were used on the later road wheels, and the flatter (AFV Club-style) hubcaps were used on the early wartime wheels. Therefore, the AFV Club supplied flat hubs (part B2) can be used with the early (part B16) rims, but not with the later (part B19) rims which will need Bronco-style hubcaps. Have a look at the NM-116 walk-around photos referenced at the end of the review – where both types of wheel are on the same tank – and you will hopefully see what I mean.
Older wartime version
Post-war version
The hull is a much simpler affair than Bronco's multi-piece version. AFV Club give you a complete hull top minus only the two main engine hatches and a hull rear plate. That's it – three pieces altogether as the lower hull front is part of the tub. Bronco gives you eight pieces for the equivalent parts! This is where the dimensional discrepancies occur:
Bronco width of the upper end of side engine deck plate with the fuel filler cap: 10.5 mm, AFV Club 10.5 mm, real 10.03 mm (36.2 cm actual);
Bronco main engine deck hatches 36 mm, wide AFV Club 38.5 mm wide, real M24 38.5 mm (134 cm actual);
Bronco's hull length (along the edge from corner of glacis to front edge of engine deck – not overall length) 64.5 mm; AFV Club 67 mm; real M24 67 mm (236 cm actual);
Bronco hull bottom width 47 mm, AFV Club 48.5 mm, real M24 48.3 mm (169 cm actual).
The actual measurements above were given to me by my contact in Germany, Michael Lembo, who has restored an M24 at Hohenfels. As you can see, the discrepancy comes in the width of the engine deck hatches which AFV Club have done correctly. AFV are also more accurate on the length of the hull.
Added to the hull top are the transmission cover on the glacis and the NM-116 specific engine hatches. Not used here is the raised grille plate for the M24. This is moulded with the slats open! It is a shame it cannot be used on this version.
It is also a bit of a shame that the slats of the rearmost grille and the 116's extended side grilles were not moulded open like this.
The NM-116's machine gunner's position is closed off with a false hatch and a blanking plate over the MG opening. The front and rear lights are slide moulded so you don'y have to drill them out before adding the transparent lenses (supplied). The headlight guards are moulded fairly thin but could do with some very careful scraping once they are safely fitted in place. I wouldn't attempt it on the sprues. No brass alternatives are supplied (as Bronco do). Various hooks and hatches are added to complete the hull top before the final step of adding the one-piece vinyl tracks (though not strictly necessary at this stage) and brass etch wire grilles over the extended side engine deck slats. At first I thought this wire grille was too coarse, but on the real thing it really is quite crude.
Almost the last part of the hull build are the track guards. These have slots in the hull sides to give them a positive position and five brass supports have to be added along each side. A large stow box goes on each track guard, an infantry telephone box, spare track links, two modern plastic jerrycans with DRINKEVANN moulded on them, and tools on the right hull side. There are no fiddly brass tie-down straps like those Bronco supply, so you might want to check references for these – though I don't know where from as in-service NM-116 photos are very, very rare. The tow cable is a piece of nylon string to which the eyes have to be glued. Not called out in the instructions is a distinctive rail/brushguard (part N5) to protect the infantry telephone box. It is shown fitted in Step 15, but it is not numbered.
Finally, to finish off the hull, rear lights are added and a folding rear stowage tray. This can be stowed up flat against the hull when not in use or, if in use, is held flat with chains. The plastic chains in the kit are not too good, so source some real miniature chain for a much better look.
Turret
The turret construction starts with the main armament which includes a spring – a little unnecessary as this kit is definitely not a toy – already slid onto a turned aluminium barrel. The breech can be modelled open or closed, though this is not called out in the instructions. A breech guard is included and a .50 calibre browning co-axial MG with slide moulded muzzle. However, this is as far as the turret interior detail goes, giving us much less than Bronco did with alternative radios, seats and elevation and traverse mechanisms.
To the gun, a distinctive T-shaped muzzle brake is added along with the Simrad laser rangefinder – very useful if you want to make a Norwegian Leopard 1A1NO as well:-) The turret front and mantlet both have a subtle cast texture, casting numbers are present on the mantlet and the correct snap points for the co-ax dust cover.
Now for the turret itself. This is much, much better than Bronco's. As has gone down in M24 model folklore by now, Bronco made a hash of their original turret. See my review here: modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/1155/bronco-m24-chaffee. Granted, they did make amends, but it still wasn't right.
Once again, I asked Michael Lembo for measurements. He says, “From the roof weld seam in front of the cupola to the weld seam behind the mantlet is 52.5 cm measured from the front edge of the roof weld to the back edge of the mantlet weld, measured along the centre-line of the turret. The width of the weld seam varies a little bit across the turret, so I also measured from centre to centre of both weld seams and got 55 cm.” The forward slope of the roof is virtually the same from both manufacturers but, as you see from the comparison photo, the overall length of the AFV Club (green) turret is longer than Bronco's.
The second line from the bottom is the datum line and follows the line of the fold in the forward turret roof. As you can see, the positioning of the hatches is slightly different, and also the AFV Club turret is slightly longer, but nothing anyone is going to notice. Which one is more correct? This time I can't tell you but as AFV Club have got the hull more correct, I'll leave the conclusion to you.
Another aspect of the Bronco turret I was not happy with in my Bronco review was that the turret sides were higher than the turret roof. They are SLIGHTLY higher on the real thing, but only to the depth of the weld bead around the edge. The Bronco kit had a definite taller edge all around the turret. Wrong! Thankfully, AFV Club have got this right. I wonder if they read my original Bronco review?
The commander's cupola is supplied as a transparent part (as are the periscopes), so some careful masking will be needed here. There are quite a lot of small parts that need to be added to the turret – hatch handles, ventilator coaming, hinges, aerial mount, aiming device, lifting eyes, etc. Also on the sides are modern smoke launcher rails not normally seen on a Chaffee, but specific to the 116.
The turret-top .50 calibre machine gun and its tripod is quite a complex affair. The tripod itself is seven parts and the body of the gun is slide moulded so the cooling holes are open. The barrel slides inside as per the real thing. Nicely done. The gun itself is eleven parts! The .50 calibre ammunition box can be modelled open (with an etched cartridge belt) or closed.
One final addition is a nine-barelled battlefield simulator that mounts on the left front of the turret, though this wouldn't have been a permanent attachment.
A personal gripe of mine to all model companies - not just AFV Club - is that aerial mounts should have holes (or at least guide dimples) moulded in to avoid having to drill a tiny hole to glue the aerial itself in - and possibly damaging the mount when the drill slips.
Decal options cover four alternatives, two of which are in a distinctive four-tone splinter camouflage, one in a slightly (but not much) simpler three-tone camo, and one in plain olive drab.
The Competition
Bronco! More on this in the conclusion. AFV Club have produced a very, very fine model of a tank that has been neglected for nearly thirty years. Granted, the old Italeri model has been available as a post-war version (and later rehashed as a wartime version), but though it was good for its time, it cannot hold a candle to this brilliant piece of modern plastic engineering. Moulding techniques have overtaken it and the AFV Club kit is much crisper with far more detail.
Conclusions
Ace - a very fine model indeed is all I can say. I think this eclipses the Bronco offerings because it will be simpler to build (though the AFV Club parts count is always high), but mostly because of the inaccurate dimensional issues with the Bronco kits. I was very pleased with the Bronco kits when they appeared, but having compared the two directly and reviewed them fairly thoroughly, the AFV Club kit is that much better.
The only small mistake I can see are the road wheel hubs as two types should be provided, not just one. However, I willing to be proved wrong on this.
The hardest thing about this kit is going to be finding reference for it. I haven't been able to find very much on the internet other than a Prime Portal Walk-around and I only know of one reference in print – see below.
I am particularly excited by this one as it comes straight out of left-centre. From what I understand, AFV Club were more than a little disappointed when Bronco beat them to it and released their series of M24 Chaffees.
AFV Club have shown a lot of imagination by releasing a fairly modern-day upgrade to one of my favourite little tanks. I never thought I'd see this in plastic. In fact, I don't even know of any conversion on the market, so this model is very unique. AFV Club should be applauded for doing something different to avoid any clash with Bronco, though they do promise a Second World War M24 at some point, and I am sure more will follow.
References
Hunnicut Stuart
Osprey New Vanguard No.77 Chaffee 1943-85
WWP M24 in Detail
Armor of the West by Yves Debay, Concord, 1992, ISBN 962-361-704-6. Thirteen photos of NM-116 though most are covered in foliage!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M24_Chaffee
Prime Portal Walk-arounds
NM-116: www.primeportal.net/tanks/erik_torp/nm_116/index.php?Page=2
M24 Chaffee: www.primeportal.net/tanks/m24_chaffee.htm
Some great reference from Kjell Arne Randen
modellnorge.no/copper/index.php?cat=25
modellnorge.no/nyheter-mainmenu-2/forbildenyheter/402-panserjager-nm116-historie-og-kamuflasje?start=1
To cheer you all up!
Kit number AF35S82
Reviewed by Mike Shackleton
Scale 1.35
The model for this review was kindly donated by AFV Club.
Background
In 1972, the Norwegian Army decided to convert fifty-four of their 123 M24s to reconnaissance vehicles after a thorough modernisation programme. The resulting NM-116 used an improved power-pack based around the 6V53T diesel engine used in the M113 armoured personnel carrier mated to an Allison MT-653 transmission. The original armament was replaced with a French D-925 90 mm low-pressure gun, with a co-axial .50-calibre heavy machine gun. The hull gunner position was eliminated in favour of ammunition stowage and a new fire control system was installed complete with a Simrad LV3 laser rangefinder. Norway also converted eight M24s into light recovery vehicles to support the NM-116. They were retired from service in 1993.
The Model
Upon opening the box you are presented with a dozen or so cellophane bags with twelve sprues containing the majority of the parts. All of the sprues have identification letters and part numbers.
Two prints are included – one of the box top artwork and a further special 1st Edition print of a very leggy young lady complete with MG standing on an NM-116 showing off her ample cleavage:-) Go to the end of the review to bring a smile to your face.
The contents are:
A – the hull tub
B (two off) - parts for two types of road wheel, sprockets (not used), idlers, return rollers, swing arms, torsion bars, various small fittings.
C – hull top, trackguards, side skirts (not needed), hull rear, engine access panels (not needed), front hull hatches, transmission access plate, headlights and guards.
D – tools, jerrycans, .50 cal ammo box, rear lights and small fittings.
D - a second Sprue D from AFV35054 (M24 Chaffee) – more tools, float mounts.
F – turret base and front, mantlet, turret top, gun breech parts, commander’s and loader’s hatches, various small fittings.
G – brass etch for engine grilles, track guard supports, etc.
H – clear parts for commander’s cupola, periscopes, headlight lenses.
I – rear hull rack parts specific to NM-116.
J – decal sheet and string for tow cable.
M – turned aluminium gun barrel and O – four brass sleeves for the shock absorbers.
N – sprockets, laser rangefinder, tool boxes, plastic jerrycan, mud flaps, spare track, smoke launchers all specific to NM-116.
P – rear deck parts specific to NM-116.
T – vinyl tracks.
X – .50 calibre MG parts.
No crew figures or stowage accessories are included.
Instructions
The instructions are presented as a 16-page, BW, A4 stapled booklet. Each step is illustrated in a logical order with clear and large black and white line drawings. There are 28 steps in the construction process.
The instructions are online here:
modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/5842/afv-club-116-chaffee-instructions
First Impressions
As you might expect from AFV Club, the overall quality of the parts is very, very good with excellent moulding including some items being slide-moulded. There is a complete absence of ejector marks anywhere they can be seen including the undersides of hatches. The walls of the track guards and side skirts (though not needed here) are commendably thin as are the track guard mounts. Flash is almost non-existent. There is no sign of warping and no sink marks at all. This is state-of-the-art moulding and is far and away a much better product than the old Italeri kit, good though that was for its time (nearly thirty years ago!).
I can't help but compare this to the recent Bronco kits, having reviewed it in detail over three different versions. There are far fewer steps in this kit – though the AFV Club instructions cram more into each step – and far fewer parts, but that is mainly down to AFV Club supplying one-piece vinyl tracks as against Bronco's individual links. There are also far fewer brass parts.
The most obvious difference with the AFV Club kit is that the hull is wider and longer than the Bronco kit. The AFV Club turret is also slightly longer. More on this later.
Construction
Construction is broken down into 28 steps (Bronco has 41 steps for the original WW2 US Army release).
The hull and running gear
We start with the hull tub which I would say shows the details more delicately than the Bronco tub. The hull tub is beautifully moulded as a floor complete with the angled hull sides and the lower front in place, negating any problems with getting the hull sides correctly angled. It also has return roller and main suspension mounts moulded in place. The spacing of the return roller and main suspension mounts is identical on both kits. The escape hatches are treated completely differently (AFV flush, Bronco protruding). Weld lines are nicely defined. The main suspension mounts are deeper for AFV Club and have more casting numbers. Drain covers all have water guards in front of them (Bronco missed some). The biggest problem will be to clean up the pour points which are on 6 out of the 10 suspension mount plates.
The first steps deal with the hull bottom and the running gear. Independent torsion bars are supplied so the suspension can be realistically articulated, though glueing the arms – through the hole in the hull – onto the arms inside the hull, could prove a challenge.
The transmission bulges on the hull front actually have casting numbers moulded on, unlike Bronco who expect you to add very, very tiny figures in brass! The suspension dampers are telescopic thanks to the use of brass sleeves, so they help in realistically portraying suspension movement. The four dampers are held in place (on the hull and the rear of the trailing arms) by quite delicate pins, so I am not sure how workable the suspension will be before something breaks! The idler mounts could be made adjustable to get the track tension correct.
The sprockets for the NM-116 are on a separate sprue (N), so don't use the standard M24 sprockets on the main sprue (B). The tracks won’t fit! The idler rims are each made of two parts allowing the lightening holes to be depicted, but some careful clean up might be needed to remove the joint line.
Two types of road wheels are included in one kit, unlike Bronco who supply each of their M24 kits with whichever – early or late type – road wheel is appropriate. AFV Club give you both on one sprue. Each wheel is made of five parts with different rims mounted on a common wheel disc, plus the hubcap. The hubcaps are noticeably flatter than Bronco’s domed hubcaps. I have checked photos and I can see that both types exist. However, I would say that domed (Bronco-style) hubcaps were used on the later road wheels, and the flatter (AFV Club-style) hubcaps were used on the early wartime wheels. Therefore, the AFV Club supplied flat hubs (part B2) can be used with the early (part B16) rims, but not with the later (part B19) rims which will need Bronco-style hubcaps. Have a look at the NM-116 walk-around photos referenced at the end of the review – where both types of wheel are on the same tank – and you will hopefully see what I mean.
Older wartime version
Post-war version
The hull is a much simpler affair than Bronco's multi-piece version. AFV Club give you a complete hull top minus only the two main engine hatches and a hull rear plate. That's it – three pieces altogether as the lower hull front is part of the tub. Bronco gives you eight pieces for the equivalent parts! This is where the dimensional discrepancies occur:
Bronco width of the upper end of side engine deck plate with the fuel filler cap: 10.5 mm, AFV Club 10.5 mm, real 10.03 mm (36.2 cm actual);
Bronco main engine deck hatches 36 mm, wide AFV Club 38.5 mm wide, real M24 38.5 mm (134 cm actual);
Bronco's hull length (along the edge from corner of glacis to front edge of engine deck – not overall length) 64.5 mm; AFV Club 67 mm; real M24 67 mm (236 cm actual);
Bronco hull bottom width 47 mm, AFV Club 48.5 mm, real M24 48.3 mm (169 cm actual).
The actual measurements above were given to me by my contact in Germany, Michael Lembo, who has restored an M24 at Hohenfels. As you can see, the discrepancy comes in the width of the engine deck hatches which AFV Club have done correctly. AFV are also more accurate on the length of the hull.
Added to the hull top are the transmission cover on the glacis and the NM-116 specific engine hatches. Not used here is the raised grille plate for the M24. This is moulded with the slats open! It is a shame it cannot be used on this version.
It is also a bit of a shame that the slats of the rearmost grille and the 116's extended side grilles were not moulded open like this.
The NM-116's machine gunner's position is closed off with a false hatch and a blanking plate over the MG opening. The front and rear lights are slide moulded so you don'y have to drill them out before adding the transparent lenses (supplied). The headlight guards are moulded fairly thin but could do with some very careful scraping once they are safely fitted in place. I wouldn't attempt it on the sprues. No brass alternatives are supplied (as Bronco do). Various hooks and hatches are added to complete the hull top before the final step of adding the one-piece vinyl tracks (though not strictly necessary at this stage) and brass etch wire grilles over the extended side engine deck slats. At first I thought this wire grille was too coarse, but on the real thing it really is quite crude.
Almost the last part of the hull build are the track guards. These have slots in the hull sides to give them a positive position and five brass supports have to be added along each side. A large stow box goes on each track guard, an infantry telephone box, spare track links, two modern plastic jerrycans with DRINKEVANN moulded on them, and tools on the right hull side. There are no fiddly brass tie-down straps like those Bronco supply, so you might want to check references for these – though I don't know where from as in-service NM-116 photos are very, very rare. The tow cable is a piece of nylon string to which the eyes have to be glued. Not called out in the instructions is a distinctive rail/brushguard (part N5) to protect the infantry telephone box. It is shown fitted in Step 15, but it is not numbered.
Finally, to finish off the hull, rear lights are added and a folding rear stowage tray. This can be stowed up flat against the hull when not in use or, if in use, is held flat with chains. The plastic chains in the kit are not too good, so source some real miniature chain for a much better look.
Turret
The turret construction starts with the main armament which includes a spring – a little unnecessary as this kit is definitely not a toy – already slid onto a turned aluminium barrel. The breech can be modelled open or closed, though this is not called out in the instructions. A breech guard is included and a .50 calibre browning co-axial MG with slide moulded muzzle. However, this is as far as the turret interior detail goes, giving us much less than Bronco did with alternative radios, seats and elevation and traverse mechanisms.
To the gun, a distinctive T-shaped muzzle brake is added along with the Simrad laser rangefinder – very useful if you want to make a Norwegian Leopard 1A1NO as well:-) The turret front and mantlet both have a subtle cast texture, casting numbers are present on the mantlet and the correct snap points for the co-ax dust cover.
Now for the turret itself. This is much, much better than Bronco's. As has gone down in M24 model folklore by now, Bronco made a hash of their original turret. See my review here: modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/1155/bronco-m24-chaffee. Granted, they did make amends, but it still wasn't right.
Once again, I asked Michael Lembo for measurements. He says, “From the roof weld seam in front of the cupola to the weld seam behind the mantlet is 52.5 cm measured from the front edge of the roof weld to the back edge of the mantlet weld, measured along the centre-line of the turret. The width of the weld seam varies a little bit across the turret, so I also measured from centre to centre of both weld seams and got 55 cm.” The forward slope of the roof is virtually the same from both manufacturers but, as you see from the comparison photo, the overall length of the AFV Club (green) turret is longer than Bronco's.
The second line from the bottom is the datum line and follows the line of the fold in the forward turret roof. As you can see, the positioning of the hatches is slightly different, and also the AFV Club turret is slightly longer, but nothing anyone is going to notice. Which one is more correct? This time I can't tell you but as AFV Club have got the hull more correct, I'll leave the conclusion to you.
Another aspect of the Bronco turret I was not happy with in my Bronco review was that the turret sides were higher than the turret roof. They are SLIGHTLY higher on the real thing, but only to the depth of the weld bead around the edge. The Bronco kit had a definite taller edge all around the turret. Wrong! Thankfully, AFV Club have got this right. I wonder if they read my original Bronco review?
The commander's cupola is supplied as a transparent part (as are the periscopes), so some careful masking will be needed here. There are quite a lot of small parts that need to be added to the turret – hatch handles, ventilator coaming, hinges, aerial mount, aiming device, lifting eyes, etc. Also on the sides are modern smoke launcher rails not normally seen on a Chaffee, but specific to the 116.
The turret-top .50 calibre machine gun and its tripod is quite a complex affair. The tripod itself is seven parts and the body of the gun is slide moulded so the cooling holes are open. The barrel slides inside as per the real thing. Nicely done. The gun itself is eleven parts! The .50 calibre ammunition box can be modelled open (with an etched cartridge belt) or closed.
One final addition is a nine-barelled battlefield simulator that mounts on the left front of the turret, though this wouldn't have been a permanent attachment.
A personal gripe of mine to all model companies - not just AFV Club - is that aerial mounts should have holes (or at least guide dimples) moulded in to avoid having to drill a tiny hole to glue the aerial itself in - and possibly damaging the mount when the drill slips.
Decal options cover four alternatives, two of which are in a distinctive four-tone splinter camouflage, one in a slightly (but not much) simpler three-tone camo, and one in plain olive drab.
The Competition
Bronco! More on this in the conclusion. AFV Club have produced a very, very fine model of a tank that has been neglected for nearly thirty years. Granted, the old Italeri model has been available as a post-war version (and later rehashed as a wartime version), but though it was good for its time, it cannot hold a candle to this brilliant piece of modern plastic engineering. Moulding techniques have overtaken it and the AFV Club kit is much crisper with far more detail.
Conclusions
Ace - a very fine model indeed is all I can say. I think this eclipses the Bronco offerings because it will be simpler to build (though the AFV Club parts count is always high), but mostly because of the inaccurate dimensional issues with the Bronco kits. I was very pleased with the Bronco kits when they appeared, but having compared the two directly and reviewed them fairly thoroughly, the AFV Club kit is that much better.
The only small mistake I can see are the road wheel hubs as two types should be provided, not just one. However, I willing to be proved wrong on this.
The hardest thing about this kit is going to be finding reference for it. I haven't been able to find very much on the internet other than a Prime Portal Walk-around and I only know of one reference in print – see below.
I am particularly excited by this one as it comes straight out of left-centre. From what I understand, AFV Club were more than a little disappointed when Bronco beat them to it and released their series of M24 Chaffees.
AFV Club have shown a lot of imagination by releasing a fairly modern-day upgrade to one of my favourite little tanks. I never thought I'd see this in plastic. In fact, I don't even know of any conversion on the market, so this model is very unique. AFV Club should be applauded for doing something different to avoid any clash with Bronco, though they do promise a Second World War M24 at some point, and I am sure more will follow.
References
Hunnicut Stuart
Osprey New Vanguard No.77 Chaffee 1943-85
WWP M24 in Detail
Armor of the West by Yves Debay, Concord, 1992, ISBN 962-361-704-6. Thirteen photos of NM-116 though most are covered in foliage!
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M24_Chaffee
Prime Portal Walk-arounds
NM-116: www.primeportal.net/tanks/erik_torp/nm_116/index.php?Page=2
M24 Chaffee: www.primeportal.net/tanks/m24_chaffee.htm
Some great reference from Kjell Arne Randen
modellnorge.no/copper/index.php?cat=25
modellnorge.no/nyheter-mainmenu-2/forbildenyheter/402-panserjager-nm116-historie-og-kamuflasje?start=1
To cheer you all up!
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