1/72 IBG A9 Cruiser Mk 1
Hi Guys,
This is my first posting of a built model here, hope you like it. Its the brand new 1/72nd scale A9 Cruiser MkI from IBG, sold under their World at War brand. I have to say that for £9.99 here in the UK this is tremendous value for money. I'm no rivet counter (and there are lots of rivets on this kit) but it looks and feels like an A9 to me. The only deal-breaker for some will be the way the tracks are represented, and it really is a shame, considering what IBG are capable of. The wheels and tracks are moulded as a single unit as per some of the other kits they make. The problem here is two fold. Firstly the characteristic slots in the track surface are missing, and secondly there is no representation of the gap between the outer guide horns in the inside of the track. When IBG have done this on other kits I have of theirs it has been fine, as there was only a single centre horn, which is easy to represent with a two part mould. Outside guide horns would be very difficult to represent accurately without making the tracks a separate item. One could also open out the cooling slots over the engine bay. I dodged this with paint.
I painted the kit in a Caunter pattern I found on the web using AK's Real Colours, thinned with Mr Color Self-Leveling Thinner I looked and looked for a prototype to model but couldn't find anything suitable so this is the finished thing with no unit markings. Probably overdid the weathering, but it looks more restrained in the plastic, so to speak, than in the photos.
Next time, and there will be a next time, I really enjoyed building this, I will have a go at making the tracks look better. And add an aerial!
I'm sure someone will come along and tell me why this is nothing like an A9, but It went together in a couple of evenings, fit was good to excellent and with the exception of the tracks was a hugely enjoyable experience, even masking the Caunter scheme.
Highly recommended, with the caveats above.
All the best
John
John welcome to iModeler, I’m neither a rivet counter or a tank expert but your model looks very good, even more considering the scale. Bring on some more, especially these often neglected subjects
Thanks Pedro, I too love lesser known subjects. I'm now hoping for an A10
Wow looks good to me. For the scale. IBG has been doing some good ones. They did do the tracks weird but I guess for ease of building. Looks too like it might be aimed at War Gamers. This is one of my favorite tanks and it appears to be an A-9 all right. And at the time of operation Compass these were repainted in Caunter over their original all-sand scheme, and I can find little or no evidence of markings either. Their serials were usually retained, and maybe a squadron mark on the turrets, but I've seen some with neither, or sand blasted off. Same goes for their sisters A-10 and A-13.
Nice job.
Hi Bill,
Thanks. Yes there really doesn't seem to be much unit evidence photographically of unit markings for Caunter scheme A9s. I did consider using artistic licence by taking wargame lists of units involved in Compass and extrapolating some hypothetical markings. But this went against my grain just a little too much. I don't whind what if, but this is a real thing. BTW there is a great how to on hyperscale by Andy Lang showing how to fix the tracks, it's definitely something I'm going to try https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/missinglynx/viewtopic.php?p=1594728#p1594728
Lets hope IBG follow up now with an A10, afterall most of the hard work is already done.
All the best
John
Nicely done! Great paint scheme, and welcome aboard!
Thanks Robert
Great looking A9, John.
Welcome on board!
Thanks Spiros
Thanks Spiros, glad to be here.
J