Many modellers are compulsive hoarders. So AFV Club’s M59 Howitzer was a must-have addition to our stash some years ago. There was something about that purposeful looking gun that commanded attention.To give you an idea of how long the Long Tom has lain idle, the price ticket showed it had come from Beatties in Southampton. Many older modellers will fondly recall the Beatties chain of model shops!
Anyway, when we published our walk around of the M1 Long Tom & Mack NO, we thought a review of this model would be useful to model makers.
Inside a large box, adorned with a simply superb colour illustration, are four sandy-coloured sprues, a set of rubber tyres & a turned metal barrel component.
As this is a 1:35th scale artillery piece, inspection of the sprues, especially Sprue A with the weapon’s trailing arms, shows this will be a large model when complete.
What is instantly noticeable is the quality of the mouldings. Some parts are minute & beautifully reproduced. In fact, we recall this kit arrived at the technological turning point when manufacturers were really starting to up their game.
The turned metal barrel section – for the last half of the gun tube – is testament to this willingness to offer the modeller a more quality product. It certainly is a welcome edition.
The rubber tyres, such a feature of the gun, are the later non-directional tread versions, so World War Two modellers may wish to replace them. This is because most period photographs in the archives show the gun sporting directional or road-type tyres – often mixing different treads on the same gun.
Decorations-wise, there’s no decal sheet in this release (Ref: AFV3509) but that’s hardly surprising for an artillery piece.
