British Cruiser Tank A10 Mk. IA/IA CS Cruiser Tank Mark IIA/IIA CS

Ron Garcia
I have both Broncos versions of this kit, but I'm not sure why I bought both. I may have forgotten I had one in my stash already. Anyway, since I'm building all the British tanks I have in my stash, I built this one and the CB35150 version back-to-back.

I can pleasantly say there are enough differences between the two that I don't feel like a have the same kit twice with just a different gun.

Since I already did a quick review of the first kit, here are some of the major differences:

1) Two of the PE pieces behind the running gear are solid with no holes

2) Two new mud/dust flaps(?) for the front of the lower hull. My advice is to add these after attaching the upper hull as the directions are a little unclear about how they are attached. I used the box cover art to help me.

3) The port side of the tank adds a side skirt that runs the length of the running gear

4) Two new PE parts for the rear of the engine louvers(?) (which probably should also be in the original kit)

5) A fuel drum for the forward port side of the tank. The PE to secure this drum is fiddly! I added this before painting and I'm glad I did. I had a heck of a time super gluing the upper PE pieces to the lower. Since it wasn't painted, I had no worries about manhandling the tank over and over to secure them. I think plastic would have been a better choice. The PE is so flimsy that I'm lucky the front lower PE piece never stress snapped by my constant adjusting of it. Plus, the drum sits at a slight angle because the PE keeps pulling the front of it towards the center of the tank no matter how many times I tried to angle it straight.

6) A rear stowage rack complete with jerry cans. The rack was a bit tricky to attach as I don't think the kit was originally engineered with it in mind. I say that because the rivets on the rear caused a lot of finagling of the PE rack to sit nicely. I thought the tiny PE handles on the jerry cans would be a pain to bend and attach but I was wrong. Nice folding bends on the pieces made them a snap.

So, that's about it. A bit more difficult than the first kit due to the additional PE pieces so I'd say this kit is for the more experienced modeler. I now have a 2-pounder and a CS version adoring my shelves, but do you need both kits? Not really. They are different enough sitting side-by-side to make them unique, but if I were to do it again, I'd just get this version as it is the same as the original with the new additions mentioned above.