Crusader Mk.III AA & A9 British Cruiser Tank Mk.I 1/72 IBG

After a few months I’m coming back to the Crusader theme, this time in an anti-aircraft variant, and I add the even lesser-known British tank Cruiser A9, which took part in the battles in France as part of the BEF and subsequently in the Greek and African campaigns, before being withdrawn from the front line due to its obsolescence.

As I mentioned in a previous article about Crusaders IBG had released this tank in six versions and the anti-aircraft version is the third box I purchased. Basically, I already know the model due to the previous builds very well and assembling is pure routine. I came across information on the Internet that the track wheels do not have the correct shape, or more precisely the accurate depth. There are some resin sets that contain corrected  wheels, so anyone who wants to can get them. Me personaly I am satisfied with the kit without major modifications. I only added metal barrels from Master set number GM-72-007 which I can recommend. The only thing  which caused me troubles is the application of the star to the top of the superstructure, which forced me to pick up a brush and white paint 😊 but otherwise everything went smoothly. I used favourite AK 3Gen acrylics for camouflage and AK sets for weathering. Basically in two weeks I had a finished model and the third piece in the Crusader series. Next will be Mk. II and probably Mk.ICS with a howitzer.

The Cruiser A9 was released by IBG under the World at War brand dedicated for wargaming. Don’t hesitate and buy it, you won’t be disappointed. Despite some simplifications, the model looks great. If you want, you can buy metal barrel from Master and improve and add some details based on original photographs. As the icing on the cake, I added the printed tracks from Syndicate, but the plastic ones are also acceptable. The kit offers camouflage from the deployment of the BEF in France only.  I used special set of colours for BEF tanks and vehicles from Vallejo. I added printed helmets and canisters from Firma49 to liven up the model a bit. The weathering is again created using sets from AK interactive.

I’m truly glad that IBG is paying attention to British AFVs and softskins, which is topic somewhat in the background behind the more favoured German tanks. At the same time, British tanks are atractive for their history, as well as for their construction, and they also offer interesting stories and camouflage.

D.