Regarding HM's Cromwell Mk.VI, which was announced months ago, here is what seems to be the first picture of a production-run sample, borrowed from The Flying Mule as usual.
To me this is something of a let-down, if anything for the sole reason that its inaccuracies were reported in this forum long, long ago, and Hawkonevoodoo kindly pointed them out to HM... who in turn did nothing about it! This is - I'm afraid - the shape of things to come, so we all better expect a Pershing with wrongly shaped track guards, those unacceptable blobs in their upcoming T-55, etc. Am I being pesimistic? Well, pictures of the recently announced Polish IS-2 can now be seen in the Hobby Master Collector website, and the redundant periscope may still be seen on top of the turret!
Anyway, this will only affect collectors who, like me, are concerned with accuracy and the like, the "nitty-picky" guys in this forum with their fastidious remarks. To all those who do not really care much for this sort of thing, the ones who just want a nice-looking mini-tank on their shelves, this Cromwell seems a good choice with its short-barreled 95-mm howitzer, and striking camouflage scheme. The model is beautifully assembled (see those perfectly pinned-down tracks) and painted, even if the latter attribute entails a showroom look with no weathering at all.
What is wrong with this tank then? First, it has a "C" hull, which was at least uncommon for Mk.VIs (most sources state that VIs only had D/E or F hulls; however, one source [New Vanguard's Cromwell] considers that also C hulls were used. The pictures I've reviewed show F and D/E hulls [where hull type can be discerned], with the later type of diagonally-split hatch forward right). Second, it has those over-intrusive tyres already reported for a previously released sibling in the Cromwell-Centaur line. Third, as reported in my prior review of a pre-production sample, it has a sand-on-olive scheme that is false - no sources I know of show that scheme (a well-known British expert has never heard of it either!) in the Western European theatre of operations; moreover, British specs did not include such scheme for this type of vehicle in said theatre of operations. The scheme has been copied from a Corgi Cromwell model, and no unit is quoted by the manufacturer.
Oh, but it looks great, some of you will say. That's right, so get yourselves one. I myself won't.
