The second of 4 reviews to come from the Rubicon tanks that I received from Jamie. Speaking with Jamie about it, it seems that this kit is at the behest of the community. Something that had a bit more variety than the ones that exist from other companies today, and Rubicon listened!
I will preface this one with.. I love this kit. But let me go into detail on why.. and understand that now I am looking at how to put more of them into my lists moving forward :D
Am also going to say that this is the only kit that I do not have from Warlords already to compare against.
Right away we can see this to be a simpler kit as there are only 2 sprues, the instructions, and transfers.
Right away for some reason I switched up to build the turret first. I had the option for a closed hatch,but decided to keep it open. I like the idea of a commander sticking out of it. Something of the light tanks having someone popping out of them is always fun, and you see them a lot in the photos.
The gaps though on the top there will be needing some filling. Probably the only part I am not the happiest about to be fair. But a simple fix all the same.
The tracks were pretty straightforward to assemble as well. I like that there is so much details even on the inside sections which will never be seen, but add so much to the kit. It is why I love this kit the most out of the 4 ( shhh forget this point when I write up the next 2 :) ). But I will explain on why I love it the most after the next parts are shown..
But seeing each section of the track undercarriage, with each going together really easy. Hardest part is probably the end spoke gears, and that was based on how they were attached to the sprues. But a sharp knife can cut them clean.
The parts for the lower half of the tank fit like a glove, and the lower section is there for if you want to take it as a kangeroo recce instead of the turret variety. Allowing you to put some models standing up perhaps there?
But at this point I was seeing that I could keep the tracks off for a bit until I got the top part done and if I could paint it in sub-assembly pieces.
All together... many little pieces requires for the front of the hull there. Everything was a bit snug overall, but fit nicely overall.
But this is what I love about this kit so much is that the pieces all are able to work separately, allowing for the chance to paint each section with greater detail. Something that the other kits might take a liking to actually and make it so that some truly great paint jobs can be made from them ( not mine, but maybe Jamie's? ). But also means that you can paint the inside sections for the variants easy enough, and enhance the quality of the piece quite a bit!
The only thing I have not assembled so far however is the Kangeroo variant ring that consists of an HMG and 3 MMGs. Might have to check the rules on how that might work out, and if it is any good in game.
Here it is sitting beside the Crusader from the same company. However if I were to do a comparison to the Warlords version I would have to say categorically that this one will win out.
Why? Well cause with, again, the variants of it gives it more flexibility. But when looking at the costs of it, you can get it for 18 gbp at North Star Figures or get the static resin copy from Warlords for 21 gbp. Seems like a no brainer for me here.. and one that I suspect you will see more of these gracing my desk in the near future. Just have to figure out how to use these vehicles, and where to use them in a tank wars list ;)