Ordnance QF 2 Pounder (1:35 Vulcan)

[Mike]

The Ordnance QF 2 Pounder was initially intended as a tank mounted 40mm gun, but was mounted on a carriage as an artillery piece in response to a request from the Director of Artillery in 1934. Production in quantity commenced in 1936, and the gun was a great success, being more powerful than the equivalent German piece, but suffering slightly from a higher profile, making it slightly more vulnerable in theory. It was used extensively in the North African campaign, and was highly effective against the less well armoured Japanese tanks in the Far East.

When this little box landed on my desk, I didn't know what to expect, as it's a new company with its first release. I suppose I expected something a little like a short-run kit, with plenty of flash & chunky parts that would require quite a bit of work to bring them up to expectations. I was wrong. This little box contains two sprues of finely detailed plastic parts that should build into a rather nice representation of the subject with the aid of a clear set of instructions that includes Tamiya color callouts, but also has a Gunze & Lifecolor conversion table on the back of the glossy booklet.

You'll notice from the picture above that the sprue doesn't fully surround the parts, and there's a very good reason for that. Both sprues have slide-moulded parts - a high tech solution for creating undercuts that you'd hardly expect from a company's debut product. Sprue A has a nicely represented barrel, with a hollow end and very well aligned molds, so a fine seam is all you'll have to clean up. It also has 6 ammo boxes, three of which have slide moulded recesses to portray empty boxes. Unfortunately, that's where we hit the first negative, a few sink marks in the sides of the ammo cartons. Nothing that a smear of filler won't sort out though, so not a big deal

Also of note on Sprue A is the gun shield, which as well as benefitting from fine detailing, has commendably thin edges, that give it a more "scale" appearance.

Moving on to Sprue B, there are half a dozen slide-moulded spent shells supplied, with a further half dozen unused shells to help out with your diorama needs The wheels comprise of 8 parts each in order to accurately represent the complex tread pattern. The parts are held in alignment by a set of 4 pins moulded into one of the outside parts, although you will need to trim a number of ejector pin towers from the central tyre parts (parts 5 on sprue B ).

Conclusion

Based on my initial observations, this kit should build into a great little model of this long-serving anti-tank gun, which was used to great effect both by the British and foreign armies throughout World War II.

Availability

The kit is available from the Airbrush Company and has a retail price of £15.50 at time of writing. Inside the box is a free bottle of Lifecolor Black acrylic paint to get you on your way to painting the tyres, and entice you to try more of their excellent colors. There are also additional sets of Lifecolor paints that have been made available specifically for this kit, which can be bought as a bundle to save a few pounds. always good!

Review sample courtesy of:

[AnonymousFY21]

Thanks for the review Mike.

That looks like a really nice kit, and the fact that these guys are using slide moulding on their first release can only bode well for the future.

Any indication of upcoming releases, and are we likely to see more British stuff?

rich

[Mike]

I've not heard anything yet, but I'll enquire. I hope they keep it quirky myself, and fill some long empty niches

[mahross]

I agree with what Mike says. I picked this up at Tankfest and it is a nice little productions especially when you consider that the only other 2pdr is the very expensive one from Soveriegn

Just hope someone does a crew for it now.

Ross

[TonyT]

Excellent review mike and it looks a super little model.

Edited July 9, 2009 by TonyT

[foxy]

Hmmm looks good and maybe will go with the Tamiya Bren carrier for an Australian model.

Nice report Mike, and hope to have one of thease soon.