Braille Scale Saladin, Saracen & Stalwart from Ace

[Kingsman]

Ace announced their Stalwart Mk2 a few months ago now.  But since then they have released the Saladin and now a Saracen.  With these and Ace's Centurions, things are looking up a bit for Cold War British subjects.  One wonders if a Ferret, a 432 and an Abbot might follow. A Salamander would be nice to complete the FV600s for Cold War aircraft modellers: we can hope!

 

I bought a Stalwart last time I ordered some stuff from Hobby.dn.ua in Kiev to see what it was like.  I don't do Braille Scale so I sold it on after having a look: hankering after an Accurate Armour one in 1/35.  I thought it was pretty good for that scale, including nice rubber tyres and a small etch fret.  It doesn't have the HIAB crane option or a load bed cover.  Fertile after-market territory, along with loads for the bed (UBRE??).

 

The Saladin is bog standard and there isn't much you can do with it as there were few variations, but does have options for other nations such as Kuwait.  Potential for a Bundesgrenzschutz variant, although the changes were few and small.

 

The Saracen is a standard FV603 APC.  Possible after market options might include the tropical FV603C with reverse-flow cooling.  The open-top 603C variant for Libya was never actually supplied, and ended up being requisitioned for use in N Ireland and re-fitted with roof and turret.  One clue to these is no rear roof hatch and gun ring.  My Airfield Damage Repair RE Squadron at RAF Leeming still had a pair of these as recce vehicles and troop CVs in 1993.  No heater in the N Yorks winter: lovely ............  Some RE ADR vehicles in Germany had a plexiglass dome over the rear hatch so that they could operate closed-down.  An FV604 command vehicle would be a simple conversion as it used the same hull.  The FV610 command variant had a completely different taller and wider hull.

Sprue shots here: https://www.hobby.dn.ua/ace-ace-72433-603b-saracen-mkii-p-86572.html

 

Sprue shots here: https://www.hobby.dn.ua/ace-ace-72435-601-saladin-armoured-p-84275.html

 

Yes, this colour scheme is fictitious, copied from a preserved vehicle in Germany.  Sprue shots here: https://www.hobby.dn.ua/ace-ace-72432-622-stalwart-mk2-p-79353.html

 

I can recommend Hobby.dn.ua as a reliable supplier (no, I'm not on commission!).  A good source of unusual and Eastern European items you either don't see in the UK or pay inflated prices for.  Prices for the likes of Ace, MiniArt, Masterbox, IBG and Zvezda are especially keen compared to UK and other EU sources.  I've ordered a lot of stuff from them over the years, so much that I now get a personal discount and I'm about to spend another £400 or so with them!  If you compare the prices in Grivna (UAH) and pay by credit card (can't pay in this currency from Paypal UK) you can usually save about 10% compared to Euros.  Of course there's no VAT as Ukraine is outside the EU and you run the risk of being charged import VAT.  But even that is still cheaper than buying in the UK.