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Vehicles / Sci-Fi - 6mm to 49mm
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Displaying Reviews: 1 - 1
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Average Reviewer Rating:
 
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Finally - a Tank That Looks Like a Tank!
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Reviewed by Antar (info@totalmodel.com) October 09, 2005
From the Tigers of WWII to the Merkavas and Challengers of today, nothing commands more respect on the battlefield than a tank. It's hard to believe that the modern tank has been with us for almost 90 years. During that time the original concept has been continually developed and re-developed to such an extent that the sleek lines of modern tanks bare little resemblance to their lumbering ancestors. Even so, the fundamental design principles - balancing armour, mobility and firepower - still remain the same.
Just how these principles will shape the hi-tech tanks of tomorrow remains to be seen. It's only a shame we won't be there to witness the end result in person! Then again, maybe we don't have to. The model industry already boasts a neat selection of futuristic AFVs and perhaps it is to these we should look when trying to conjure-up a vision of the Shermans of the 22nd century.
Many sci-fi AFV kits are produced for wargamers. Visit a show like Salute and you will see them on sale all over the place. Gamers, it seems, can't get enough of them. Unfortunately, and despite more than a casual interest in all things tanky, non have yet caught my eye sufficiently to warrant any cash changing hands. For some reason, the current crop just don't spark my imagination. The trouble is, I suspect, the design in the head doesn't always translate well to the model on the workbench. What looked great on paper sometimes looks a bit awkward in 3 dimensions. The result is that some of the futuristic AFVs on the market today look a bit unbalanced and, in truth, a bit ropey.
Another problem which appears to afflict many of the models on sale is that they don't have any caterpillar tracks! Most of them are described as "hover tanks" - equipped with some spurious levitation device which allows them to glide across the battlefield. What the designers are actually trying to say is that A) Tracks are too difficult to model, B) Tracks are too difficult to cast, C) Tracks are too difficult to turn into components or D) All of the above. In my book this is just cheating. As far as I'm concerned, a tank without tracks just doesn't look like a tank!
Perhaps the very best exponents of sci-fi AFV design around at the moment are Forge World. Of course, they've got an entire back-catalogue of Games Workshop blue-prints to work from. The finished products also command big price tags. Some of their larger tank kits, for example, retail for over £100 - which puts them way out of reach of many model makers and gamers alike.
Thankfully, you no-longer need to consider re-mortgaging your house to afford such luxuries. Simon Jackson of Pig Iron Productions has developed a range of futuristic AFVs which will suit your pocket and your taste buds. The SL1 Ironside was the first tank off the production line. It trundled into view about a year ago and I've been hankering after one ever since. Luckily, a few weeks ago, Simon popped one in the post for me. I was very glad that he did!
The SL1 is a multi-part resin kit (hull and turret) with additional components cast in white-metal (hatches, rear panel and stowage). The first thing you notice is the size of the thing. It's like a house brick and weighs about the same! The second thing you notice is that it's going to be really easy to assemble. The hull is cast in one complete lump. The turret - including the main gun - is also a single casting. Simply place one on top of the other and you've got the makings of a really tasty tank. Fix the white metal accessories in place and you're ready for the paint.
The best thing you can say about this model is that it really looks like a tank - or what a tank may look like in about a hundred years time. The hull is boxy and encased in plates of armour - which are themselves decorated with innumerable bolt heads. The turret has a low profile and sports a whopping cannon. There are also secondary armaments, smoke launchers and a host of other external features. The detail on both castings is amazing. Rarely have a seen so much crisp definition reproduced to such good effect. The edge of each piece of armour plating is as straight and sharp as the edge of a steel ruler. Best of all the resin is as clean as a whistle. There are no air bubbles, barely any blemishes and hardly a hint of a mould line.
Did I mention it has tracks?
If I were a grunt in the 41st millenium, this is the tank that I would want to drive. None of your fancy levitation systems, thank you. Give me something that rips up the ground as I rumble towards the enemy line. I want a gun that's got more hitting power than iron Mike's right hook. I also want the kind of armour that's going to cover my assets when the goons dug into the position up ahead open up with their own hardware.
The SL1 Ironside appears to have all this and more. If you're interested in the sci-fi genre then I recommend you take a look at it today. Priced at only £20 it's an absolute steal. Better still, the main hull can be "accessorised" with a small selection of additional components and weapon systems - including a completely different turret assembly - which Simon is expanding all the time. Buy one hull plus a few extra accessories and you'll have an AFV that's ready to tackle any situation.
NB: Click the thumbnail at the top of the page for more pictures.
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10
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people found this review helpful
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