A history of Airfix HO/OO AFV kits - part 15 - 1973

Another three-kit year!  And what a trio.  First up is the RAF Recovery Set.  This contains two vehicles - a lengthy 'Queen Mary' trailer hauled by a (rather underscale) Bedford tractor....

...and a Coles crane mounted on a Thornycroft chassis.  Both are candidates for many conversions and bodges.

Speaking of bodges, here are some Soviet Komintern artillery tractors.  These use the Thornycroft cab (except the one on the left which is from a Roco Faun lorry) and Roco Panzer IV running gear

It may not be 100% accurate but these comrades seem happy enough!

Next - the Matilda infantry tank.  Really rather a nice kit - though the (largely unseen) wheels are a bit fiddly.

This pair were completed a couple of years ago.  Bendy gun barrels aside they are very solid little models.

And finally - the SA-2 'Guideline' missile kit.  One of many kits I made a real mess of back when it was (as the box claims) 'new' (well around 1978...).  The kit contained a ZIL tractor unit the missile and a semi trailer for the latter, as well as a launcher unit.

I don't have this kit built as god and Airfix intended, but a pair of modified ZILs lurk in my boxfiles.

This one has been adapted to mount the Katyusha rails from another (truly horrid) kit.  Behind can just be glimpsed it's ammo-carrying comrade.  And yes, I know the ZIL is a postwar vehicle but it was based on and bears a striking resemblance to the lend-lease Studebaker.  And that's good enough for me.