Scale Plastic & Rail

1/76 Lanchester Armoured Car and BEF AFVs (1) Decals from Dan Taylor Modelworks

1/76 Lanchester Armoured Car and BEF AFVs (1) Decals
Dan Taylor Modelworks
Items Number DTM-T-76021 and DTM-T-76022
Available direct from Dan Taylor Modelworks for £3.50 and £6.95 respectively

Recently, I reviewed a pair of decal sets for a variety of small scale British softskin vehicles and the Matilda II tank from Dan Taylor Modelworks. This was a new manufacturer to the site and I found the sheets interesting and well produced. Now, we have a further 2 sheets, again for early WW2 British vehicles, but this time we have a much different selection of types.

Only 35 examples of the Lanchester Armoured Car (below), a curious 6x4 vehicle, were built in the late 1920s, but for such a short production run, it was a vehicle that served across the globe. From the home front to the Saar, from Egypt to Singapore (where they saw their only combat action), the Lanchester gave solid, if not spectacular, service.

http://www.nam.ac.uk/microsites/war-horse/explore/legacy/mechanisation/attachment/93191/

Lanchester were chosen to build the vehicles when Rolls-Royce, the preferred provider, showed no interest in the work. The 6x4 format was chosen because its cross-country ability was thought to be better than a 4x4 set-up. The Lanchesters proved too large for true reconnaissance work and were also extremely expensive, hence the short production run.

The first decal sets reviewed covered the most famous of the BEF's tanks, the Matilda II. However, it is often forgotten that no less than 9 other tank types actually saw action in Belgium and France in 1940; my beloved Vickers VIB and its sister, the VIC; the A9 Cruiser I as a standard tank and a close support (CS) vehicle; the A10 Cruiser II; the A13 Cruiser III, IV and IVA; and, strangest of all, the tiny 2-man A11 Matilda I (below).

http://www.free-images.org.uk/military/matilda-l-tank.htm

The Vickers proved to be a useful reconnaissance vehicle as long as it did not meet anything armed with a weapon heavier than a machine gun; the Cruisers were underdeveloped and suffered from poor mechanical reliability; and the Matilda I could only manage a walking pace at top speed and had just a single machine gun, but frustrated the Germans on several occasions because their heavy armour made them immune to the standard 37mm Pak 36 anti-tank weapon, unless the vehicle was hit in the tracks.

Most of the vehicles discussed above are covered in these two decal sets. The Lanchester sheet is small and is designed for the Milicast kit. It is well printed as before (below).

A photo of one side of the instruction leaflet (above) shows three of the four cars featured on the sheet, including one of the 2nd Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders cars based in Singapore in 1941.

The second decal sheet is the first of presumably 2 sets for BEF AFVs (below) and is much larger. This gives the modeller markings for no less than 3 x A9 CS tanks, 13 x A13 Cruiser III and IV tanks along with 9 Matilda I tanks. The sheet shows excellent colour density in its printing.

As with the Lanchester set, all of the vehicles are available as Milicast kits. The photo above shows one of three sides of instructions and features a selection of Cruiser IV and Matilda I tanks of units such as the 10th Hussars and the 4th Royal Tank Regiment.

Presumably the Vickers VIB, VIC, the standard Cruiser I, Cruiser II and Cruiser IVA will feature on the second decal sheet, which I look forward to being released.

So What Do We Think?
Another quality offering from Dan Taylor Modelworks. For small scale modellers, these sets really are a blessing and offer excellent value for money.

A good choice of subjects

Our thanks to Dan Taylor for the review samples.

Robin Jenkins.