Cruiser Tank A9 Mk.I - 1st Royal Tank Regiment
Comments
John HughesI've had my eye on a few of these eary war Gecko British tanks, but never got around to getting one as the company is a bit of an unknown to me. Have you found it a good kit to build? The results are certainly impressive!
gvizbi AuthorThank you, guys.
This was my first Gecko kit, and I can say that I am absolutely impressed! One of the best kits I have ever built. Dragon's kits are the most similar, but the instructions are much better (no errors at least) and maybe a bit better engineering. The only issue with this kit was the exhaust, which was unnecessarily complex (it took me 25% of the time to assemble the damn exhaust 🙂
Also, I see that some reviews are complaining about the tracks, but except for being a bit time-consuming, I didn't have any issues with them. And they look fantastic.
Overall, strongly recommended. At least this kit 🙂
David TaylorJust got my Scimitar 2 looks well detailed and thought out.If it turns out as good as your cruiser I will be chuffed.
F MatthewsLooks fantastic! Like you, I found the tracks to be fine. A lot of work, sure, but they look great and are workable. I've built three full sets (A10 and two A9s) and still here. Your camo looks perfect.
Villiers de VosVery nice work, especially the restrained weathering came out top notch.
gvizbi AuthorThank you guys. F Matthews, I have a few more in the stash as well. I will probably build A10, in the Greek campaign next.
Eddy MarshallGorgeous mate... Well done... I've heard mixed reviews on this kit... Lots of tedious and fragile assembly... How'd you find it...?
gvizbi AuthorThank you, Eddy. I liked this kit very much. Yes, it is a bit tedious to build, especially the muffler and the tracks, and more complicated assembly than needed, but it has no major problems. Fit is great, details are fantastic, and I didn't do any measurements, but other people say it's very accurate.
Eddy MarshallGreat to hear mate... I was rather impressed with Gecko Models after building their GS 4x2 Truck, but it seems tedium is commonplace with their kits.. None the less you've done a cracker job mate...
Album info
A9 was quite an interesting vehicle. It was not very reliable and was prone to breaking down quite often. It's recognizable by two auxiliary turrets housing Vickers MGs. However, they were rarely used, because turrets were extremely hot in desert conditions. They were used to stow additional ammunition instead. It was also plagued by the underpowered AEC bus engine. Overall, it was the beginning of the long and troublesome way to find the successful cruiser tank design that ultimately lead to great designs by the end of the war.
This model should represent 1RTR, 'A' squadron tank. The photo I used as a reference was taken in April 1941 in Derna Pass. It's interesting to me that this photo was probably taken at the same time and at the same place as the photo of Panzer III Ausf. G that I was building a few months ago. However, A9 was probably abandoned earlier this year, during Operation Compass, because the 1RTR was not present in this area after February 1941. The abandoned tank was probably moved to the side of the road to clear the passage for the advancing columns.
