One of the first of the 'new' 1:48 Tamiya that I've got my hands on, at first glance the Cromwell looks complicated but it is infact a very well put together kit with only a few minor inconviences.

The Diecast hull really helps for putting it together and giving it a good start off for both veteran and beginner modellers (I consider myself a beginner as most of my experience is with GW kits which have far less 'bits' to them). And the kit is very very detailed, yet not quiet as fiddly as I had suspected. My main complaint, and its only a personal one, is the individual track links. I always preferred the Airfix style 'rubber' track links as they were far easier to put onto the model itself but thats in the 1:72 range. With the 1:48 it is a little easier as the tracks are that bit bigger. There are, however, a lot of them so for someone not used to this, it was a bit daunting. The rest of the model was simple yet time consuming to put together.

Once complete the model looks the best, sticking particularly well with 1:48 figures. The fully movable turret and gun mechanism are a nice touch (especially when wargaming, my main reason for purchasing the model in the first place).

all in all, well worth the purchase just set aside the time to complete and very good for those collecting british 1:48 scale wargaming armies who want a bit more variety on the field to go along with the standard shermans.

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