Bronco Models 1/35 Humber Mk.I Scout Car Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

The Humber scout car was a combination of Karrier KT4 artillery tractor chassis and an armored body produced by Guy Armored Car. Production of the type started in 1941, with deliveries later in the year to support the 11th Hussars in North Africa. This first variant of the Humber was with one 15mm and one 7.92mm machine guns.

The Mark IAA version of the Humber allowed for the elevation of the quad 7.92mm machine guns fitted to this variant to the near vertical for air defense.

Later Marks of the Humber were equipped with a turret to enclose the armament as well as to facilitate larger caliber weapons. The Mk.IV was the last variant which was armed with a 37mm high velocity gun.

This is the second release I've seen from Bronco, the first being the very impressive A34 Comet (reviewed here). Interestingly enough, this kit actually preceeded the Humber and despite its size, is no less impressive.

The kit is molded in olive drab styrene and presented on four parts trees, plus the car body and upper body. The kit also includes five rubber tires, one fret of photo-etched details, and a beautifully cast resin vehicle commander figure.

If you can imagine how (not) large a 1/35 scale figure is, then you can see how small that car body is next to him. Size aside, this kit features a very complete interior with a nicely detailed crew compartment and engine compartment.

The crew compartment includes crew seats, stowage containers, radio equipment, road mines (never leave home without them), personal sidearms, and applicable vehicle controls.

The kit also has a very nicely detailed engine that sits behind the crew compartment firewall and this engine is complete with intake and exhaust manifolds, starter, radiator and hoses, fan and fanbelts, and even a radiator cap. A fuel tank is also provided inside the engine compartment. The chasis is also well detailed with suspension and powertrain to represent the four wheel drive.

The instruction sheet is bi-lingual (Chinese and English) and there are a few spots where parts are identified in Chinese only. Take a few minutes and study the instructions and you won't have any problems. For instance, I noticed toward the end of the assembly process the nice steps to complete and install the top of the crew compartment, but by some miracle, the engine compartment cover was already in place. I found the missing step at the end of the instructions, so they seem to have mixed up their pages at production time.

Despite the instructions, the kit is beautifully detailed and yet not comprised of hundreds and hundreds of detail parts that hint at over-engineering.

With all of the detail inside that crew and engine compartment, you might want to see how well the covers for the engine and crew compartment fit without glue to allow you to show off your interior details at will.

Markings are provided for six Humber Scout Cars (HSC):

• HSC of Guard Armored Division, Germany, 1945
• HSC of AFV Driving School, Lulworth, 1943
• HSC of Guards Hussar Regiment, Danish Army, 1950
• HSC of RHQ 3RTR, 29th Armoured Brigade, 11th Armoured Division, Germany, 1945
• HSC of 64th Anti-Tank Regiment RA, 78th Infantry Division, Italy, 1944
• HSC of C Sqn, 4th Hussars, Malaya, 1950

This is a very impressive kit considering all of the detail that fits inside that little hull. If you're an AMS modeler, you won't lack for detail in this offering and about all you'll need is a driver and radioman figure to accompany that nice commander figure.

This kit is highly recommended!

My sincere thanks to Stevens International for this review sample!