MiniArt Bantam 40 BRC w/ British Crew (35324) 1:35

[Mike]

Bantam 40 BRC w/ British Crew (35324)

1:35 MiniArt via Creative Models Ltd.

 

 

WWII saw the increased mechanisation of war that had begun in WWI, including lighter vehicles that could transport a small number of soldiers, staff, weapons or equipment quickly across the battle-space with rugged design and good rough-field performance as well as being fast and manoeuvrable.  A specification was issued by the US War Department, with three companies vying for the contract, one of which was Bantam, who despite being in poor financial shape, designed a simple vehicle that used many pre-fabricated assemblies to speed construction and ease maintenance, while Ford and Willy’s made their own designs.  There was no clear winner initially, so a number of each design was ordered to be sent mainly to Allied forces under the Lend-Lease programme, as America wasn’t yet a combatant. 

 

As the jockeying for position continued between the three contenders, designs converged and the Bantam’s design features were pillaged to improve what ended up as the Willy’s GP.  Whether the name Jeep came from the shortening of GP, or from the Popeye character is unclear, but Ford and Willy’s ended up making hundreds of thousands of Jeeps during WWII that made it ubiquitous on the battlefield, with many of the survivors reaching civilian ownership after the war, and a ready market for them still exists to this day.  The poor Bantam however was consigned to being a footnote in the creation of the Jeep.

 

 

The Kit

This is reboxing of MiniArt's earlier kit containing the same British crew, with the original dating back to 2008.  There have also been releases with US and Russian crews, plus a Russian driver figure transporting a heavy machine gun in the cargo area at the rear.  This boxing contains three crew that were previously seen in the British Staff Car boxing from 2010.  The detail is good throughout, although there is a little flash here and there on my review samples that could have been due to the age of the moulds, or over-pressure during injection.  It’s not difficult to remove flash from such well-moulded parts though, so don’t let it put you off in the slightest, as it’s streets ahead or short-shot parts!  There are three sprues in grey styrene, one of clear parts, a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) brass in a card envelope, two small decal sheets and the instruction booklet.  The delicate grille in the corner of one sprue is protected by a small piece of foam sheet and held in place by a staple through it.

 

 

 

 

Construction begins with the ladder chassis, to which is added the four-cylinder engine, drive-shafts, transfer box and leaf-spring suspension.  The exhaust is protected by a pair of large cross-braces with slats underneath, and a control linkage is fixed to the outside of the rail connected later to the steering column.  With the chassis completed, the body is built up from an almost complete shell to which the front grille, foot well (left-hand drive) and grilles within the front wheel wells are added.  The front foot well has driver controls added, as is the dashboard, then seats and rear bench seats are fitted, with the chassis attached underneath the floor on the lugs moulded into it.  The windscreen has some nice PE fittings and two panels of clear styrene are secured into the frame by another PE frame, then clipped into the body with a tubular frame wrapping around the rear and the two-part wheels slotted onto the axle stubs in each corner.  The spare is slung onto the rear on its bracket, the bonnet/hood drops into the top of the engine compartment with a stay glued to the underside unless you want to prop it open.  The lights at the front have clear lenses with PE protective metalwork in front of them, and PE straps on each side of the front seat door cut-outs to reduce the likelihood of crew being thrown from the sides on rough ground.

 

The three crew include a driver in a cap and goggles, sergeant major-type with a map, and an officer with googles leaning toward the back seats as if in discussion with the chap with the map.  All are dressed in tropical uniform with shorts, a lovely pair of cool thick knee-high socks and low-rise boots.  Sculpting is up to MiniArt’s usual standards with each figure broken down into head, torso, separate legs and arms, plus headwear, pistol holsters and ammo pouches in addition to the goggles and the aforementioned map.

 

 

Markings

There are two colour options in the box , one in plain sand, the other with blue, pink, and green swatches of camouflage all over it.  From the box you can build one of the following:

 

• 1st Armour Division, HQ Unit, North Africa, 1942
• No.3 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force, Libya, 1942

 

 

 

Decals are printed on two small sheets by DecoGraph, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin matt carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s a reboxing, but as it has been absent from MiniArt’s line-up for a good while, there ought to be a ready market for it.  It’s still a good kit, and the inclusion of the figures is a nice bonus, as you know they’ll fit well.

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of