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Bandvagn BV 206S with Interior (2083) 1:35 Takom via Pocketbond Originally developed as a replacement for the Volvo Bv202 for the Swedish army by Hagglunds, which are now part of the global Bae Systems conglomerate, the Bandvagn is a segmented tracked vehicle that was initially designed for troop and equipment transport, with the crew cab in front, and an adaptable rear cab that can be reconfigured to a number of specific tasks. All four tracks are powered and have very low ground pressure to help it travel over both arctic tundra and boggy conditions during the Swedish thaw, with an additional amphibious capability making it almost unstoppable. It has been so successful that dozens of countries now field them, with the United Kingdom amongst them, (a larger variant named the Viking) using them to good effect in the desert during recent actions in the Gulf and Afghanistan. The S variant is armoured to withstand small-arms fire, and can carry 12 fully equipped troops spread between the two compartments, which improves survivability in the case of a hit from a larger calibre round or IED. While the British BvS 10 is similar in form, it is substantially larger with a more powerful Steyr engine to pull its added bulk along. The Kit This is a brand new tooling from Takom, and it seems fitting that it's the (likely) more popular armoured variant that has led the way, although I'm sure that other variants will follow. Whether this will extend to the Viking is uncertain, as I would imagine it would require an almost complete retool, given the dimensional differences. This variant is fielded by Sweden, Spain, Germany, France, Netherlands and Italy, so there should be plenty of options to go at amongst those operators. It's not a huge vehicle, so the box is commensurately compact, with six sprues and two hull parts in grey styrene; four rubberband-style black flexible tracks and a small sprue in the same material; a clear sprue; decals and of course the instruction booklet, which has a correction sheet included for step 21. The booklet is around a5 in size in portrait form, with a glossy fold-out at the rear containing the decal and markings options. Detail is good, with some slide-moulded parts at the edges of sprues to improve it further, and the main compartments are moulded as individual shells, again using slide-moulding to obtain superior detail on the sides of the parts. There may have been a bit of groaning at the inclusion of "rubber" tracks, but as the real things are made of just that, it's entirely accurate and having seen the larger ones coiled up at the Tank Museum, they're very chunky, not to mention incredibly heavy, which doesn't really carry through to them in 1:35 as you can imagine. The inclusion of an interior is useful due to the large ballistic windscreen in the forward compartment, which would look a bit odd otherwise. Construction begins with the large beam-mounted running gear, with four road wheels, idler and drive sprocket on each one. The front and rear suspension is identical but handed, so you end up with four subassemblies, which each have their boat-like mine resistant hull fitted with slightly different drive-shafts and mounting struts, both of which are well-detailed. The tracks wrap around the suspension and are glued at the ends using standard cement, with a large contact patch and four shallow pins making this task a little easier. Once on the road wheels, the outer half of the drive sprocket locks them in place and the finished subassemblies fit on pegs to their mounts. The rear compartment has a complex umbilical as part of its drive assembly, which is linked to the front compartment via a recessed back panel that keeps the gap between parts small. At this point the lower portion of the vehicle(s) is/are complete. In the crew cab the driver and co-pilot's seats are installed on the sponsons, and the engine compartment cover slips between their chairs, while a pair of jump-seats attach to the rear wall. The pedal box and other controls are fitted before the upper hull is detailed with exterior parts, separate front and passenger doors and the thick glazed panels, with an overhead console and sun visors added inside. The rear compartment's details are all fitted to the upper hull part, including jump seats, stowage locker on the roof, and the obligatory fire extinguisher. At this point it is worth mentioning that if you are going for accuracy, you will need to shave off the copyright and kit details from inside the roof of each compartment, as well as some ejector-pin marks that simply couldn't be avoided in these large parts. There is sure to be some additional detail missing from the rooves too, which you'll have to scratch-build yourself although who will ever see it? That's entirely up to you though The upper and lower are now ready to be brought together with the addition of mudflaps front and rear, running-board on the forward compartment, and rear doors on both parts. The rear compartment's door has a window included, as well as the usual windscreen wiper (very thoughtful for the troops), light clusters etc. The rear door of the front compartment covers up the linkage and what looks like the heat exchanger on the roof mounted air conditioning unit. Markings You get three possible schemes in the box, with the decals mostly consisting of number plates and unit markings. Two of the options are Spanish with one Italian, with the Spanish in Khaki green all over, and the Italian in NATO camouflage. You can build one of the following: Regimiento de Montaña 66 2002 – Khaki Green Regimiento de Cazadores de Montaña 66, 2009 – Khaki Green 9th Reggimento de Alpini, 2008 – NATO Green, Brown & Black camo As the profiles cover less than two pages you might need your magnifying glass to read the print, but usefully the interior colours have been provided next to the final profiles to assist you with painting. The decal sheet is small, but is reminiscent of Cartograf's style, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas. A couple of instrument dials are included at the bottom of the sheet, which will improve the realism of the dashboard. Conclusion It's awesome to see the sheer volume of modern and near-modern armour being kitted now, and this is one of those instances. Clearly, there's more mileage in the Bv206S due to the number of operators, but as a British modeller, I'm now hoping we'll get the Viking at some point down the line. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for