PSA: This review has a number of pictures.

Note, this review is continued here: Review Pt2

In order to beef up the support for my FJs, I took advantage of Warlord’s 3 for 2 resin vehicle sale and bought:

• Sdkfz 222
• Pz II Luchs
• Tiger II
• Opel Blitz Truck
• Sherman V
• Humber Armoured Car

The allied armour is to support Lucius’ Paras and also to start to build up towards an Italian Campaign Canadian force.

These kits are resin and metal, and there is an important thing to note: resin, just like plastic injection miniatures, needs to be cleaned with mildly soapy water and then rinsed before doing anything. This is to remove the mould release agent that coats the model. Warlord did a great job with the leaflet in the Sherman V that described some of the reasons for the cleaning and trimming that is needed. Sadly, this only came with the boxed vehicle, and yes, only one of these six came with a box. That means, that if you ordered a non-boxed vehicle, you could be disappointed with the castings and have issues assembling and painting. Warlord should include the leaflet with every vehicle. Also note, that unlike the plastic kits, these vehicles do not come with damage markers or marking transfers. This is a really minor point, but the buyer should be sure to acquire necessary markings elsewhere.

After doing a bit of washing up, I laid out the kits to get my initial impression.

Sdkfz 222

This light vehicle kit is excellent. It came with very little trimming or clean-up required, and all pieces fit well.

Panzer II, Luchs (Lynx)

This light recce tank looks great. It comes in four main pieces: hull, left and right track assembly, and turret. There are of course the hatch, gun barrels, commander and some stowage.

This kit only goes together one way, but to ensure that there are no mistakes, the pieces are even labelled!

The kit is very clean, but the turret, like many of the turrets for the other vehicles I bought, has really large pieces of resin left over. I’m surprised at their size, based on the size of the turret, but I’m not a resin caster.

The only other issue with this kit is, unlike the other armoured vehicles, there is no pre-drilled hole for the main armament. I overcame this with a pin vise, but this is a simple fix and is a little disappointing considering the strength of this kit.

Tiger II

Having a Tiger just isn’t enough, so I purchased this beast. The model is excellent. The resin does a good job showing the zimmermit, and the casting is very clear. This is an excellent model overall.

The detail on this tank is great and the pieces fit together well. I am hoping to have 2 or 3 vehicles ready to be primed by tomorrow.

Opel Blitz Truck

In contrast with the great kits above, this one was a disappointment and I will purchase plastic versions of this in the future.

There was an excessive amount of trimming and cleaning to be done and when dry-fitting, it became clear that I would need to do some modifications to make the parts fit. Annoyingly, the back of the cab simply cannot fit. This is not a trimming aspect, but seems to be a mould problem. This vehicle will be assembled last, and hopefully my opinion on it will change.

Sherman V

This model looks great. It is cleanly cast and all pieces fit together well. The detail is more than good enough for a wargame table, but perhaps not as crisp as the Luchs or Tiger II.

The tracks are in separate pieces, which can make painting easier for those that wish to paint the hull entirely before worrying about the tracks.

Humber Armoured Car

This kit is tiny but good. The detail is crisp and clean, but some instructions on to what goes in the various parts of the turret would have been great. I have had to do some digging around online to figure things out, which is a pain. I’m still trying to work out what goes in the space to the left of the main hatch as I cannot find anything that works. If I can’t figure it out soon, I’ll simply have to fill it in.

Overall Impressions

I have only begun to assemble these vehicles, but I am impressed with most of the kits. I have some resin terrain from a few manufacturers that comes with far less cleaning and trimming to do, which begs the question as to why Warlord’s products come less finished, but that can be looked past. The kits look good, fit together well, and should be fairly quick to get onto the table top (with the exception of the Opel).

Warlord should include the resin information leaflet with all the resin kits, and if instructions are too much to put in, having assembly information available on their website (much like Warbases does for their terrain) would alleviate some of the difficulty.

At this point, I think that five of the six kits above are worth the money and will be fun and easy to put together and paint. I will post an update as these vehicles move towards being ready for the tabletop.

Note, this review is continued here: Review Pt2