Gecko Models 1/16 Universal Carrier MKII (Bren Gun Carrier) - 16GM0016

[tr1ckey66]

roll off the bench and it is an hour with nose to the carpet...

That happens every build, right?

[Peter Gillson]

I've opened it! tina returned yesterday, a couple of hours late due to her flight being delayed- the joy of living on an island!.

a big box, full of plastic and some etched brass.






the individual track links are small - even in 1/6th scale!! The pen gives an idea of the size:



looking at the instructions, it looks very much like a big version of the Riich kit.

there are a couple of things which could be improved:

1 - It would have been nice to have a wiring diagram for the radio, - does anybody have one?
2 - some painting details for the radio and the drivers instrument panel would have been useful.

one thing to note, parts Df5 - see photo below - are brackets used to support the deep wading screen which were used as part of the D-Day invasion. As far as i know these were not on vehicles used other than ax part of the invasion of Normandy So depicting one in Italy will need theses parts being ommitted.


Really looking forward to starting it - but, alas, that has to wait until I finish my ECW diorama.

Peter

[Peter Gillson]

For anybody else who has one of these, I found this reference on the Armorama website for the no19 radio:

[Jim R]

Looking forward to seeing one or both of these built. We rarely see military vehicles larger than 1/35 scale. It will be interesting to see how much extra detail there is.

[Tworrs]

I get the feeling that we are about to be amazed.

[Ian M]

This looks like a great kit.
Those brackets around the top of the hull, could they also have been used to hold the canvas roof up over the very open hull. I know the Lloyd had them and Universals nearly always had the canvas cover rolled up across the back.

[Peter Gillson]

Realistically, I don't expect to make a start until after the Telford show. i think that I may start with what will be the most tedious - those tracks. the links are pinned together with little plastic pins!

[Peter Gillson]

This looks like a great kit.
Those brackets around the top of the hull, could they also have been used to hold the canvas roof up over the very open hull. I know the Lloyd had them and Universals nearly always had the canvas cover rolled up across the back.

Possibly, but if so I think that it would have been as a field modification rather than issued equipment. As you say they often had tarps rolled at the rear (as with this kit) but I have not seen any references relating to the support frames being part of the equipment of any carrier variant; other than on the short-lived Cavalry Carrier and some in the Far East.

Peter

ps - having posted this I would not be surprised for somebody to post a dozen photos proving me wrong!!

[papa 695]

Look’s like a great kit Peter, looking forward to you starting it.

[scottie3158]

Peter, count me in given your skills this will be an excellent build.

[Peter Gillson]

For anybody else who has one of these, I found this reference on the Armorama website for the no19 radio:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n1231233[/ATTACH]

It seems that the file size is very small as a result of the file transfer so here is a larger version: