"Airfix 25 Pounder and Morris Quad" Topic

Does anyone have this product? At 1/76 scale I am curious how it looks compared to your other items? Also, how is the kit in general? At around $8 USD per model, it is a very nice price. I just want to make sure I'm going to be happy with it before I buy.

Thanks for any input!

John

Nice modelo.

If you have ever seen one on a wargames table I suspect there is a pretty good chance it was the Airfix model…

Hang in. Will try to post some pictures this afternoon.

I had this kit as a teenager in the 1960s. It was fairly easy to assemble and, to my inexperienced eye, made a very nice model of the Quad, limber, and gun. Even came with crew figures.

Jim

I have one built in the 1970's for my 1:72nd Desert
forces. I thought it matched quite well, as did the
Airfix German 88mmm and towing vehicle (SdKfz 7).

It is a fine (if elderly) model, I have made several. The only other plastic kit 25pdr was the Revell(?) one – a much more detailed model but correspondingly harder to put together and no more useful as a wargaming piece.

The Quad has open windows, if that bothers you, and the crew figures are bit indistinct but OK. Being hard plastic they are ideal to saw up into turret crew for M10s etc al though. ahem.

IIRC the Revell limber allowed it to be modelled with the doors open. There was then some detail including trays of shells and charges…..think one of the crew figs was depicted pulling/ carrying one of these trays

The Italliara kit which I thing became Revell
link

If you scroll down you will find a 25pdr, limber, Quad and crew as I remember them!
Chris

Might have originally been Esci?

Thanks for all the responses! Italieri was another choice. Kits seem to bounce about between revell, Italeli and Esci. At least, that is what I've observed from PSR. So I would not be surprised if all three had the same kit at one time.

I have done some googling and it looks like the same spues just different colours of plastic. Note the Italeri et. al. kit has crew in shorts, rolled sleeves, no shirt etc, fine for the desert but not so good for Europe

The Italieri kit is 1/72, some heftier than the 1/76 Airfix kit. The Airfix kit is excellent, even though quite old. Crew figures are in NW Europe battledress.

Here are some quick photos: The first is the gun, quad, limber and a Sherman. I made these models over 45 years ago and don't remember who produced the tank. Pretty sure it isn't an Airfix Sherman. The other two photos are with AB's Desert 25lb crew. These days crew are easy to come by so you shouldn't have a problem in that aspect. When this kit came out we were thrilled to see a crew we didn't have to convert from infantrymen.
link

OK remembering that the Airfix kit is around 50 years old it's a good kit for the price. If I read your OP right you are concerned about the size of the kit with the more common 1/72nd scale kits. While it is smaller it should be OK, as long as you don't use any 1/72 kits as well. You might want to replace the crew with better models AB and S&S minis are both fine with the old Airfix stuff. For $8 USD you should go for it, if you don't like it you can always sell/donate it

Fatman

+1 Fatman

Just ordered 4 of these beauties. Thanks for the pics genew49. It does look like a fine model. Even after 50 years, it still looks the part.

I am slowly building a collection for Rapid Fire. Most of the desert scenarios call for 4 25 pounders. Sometimes a couple of 18 pounders. It is a lot of artillery considering the German and Italian Orbats sport less and sometimes with smaller caliber guns.

Also ordered a box of German 105s from Armourfast. Another good choice since it is 2 models plus supporting crew. A bit more pricey at about $22 USD for the box but still inexpensive compared to metal or resin.

Thanks again for the help all!

My late Father used to say that no matter how bad the British army stuffed things up you could rely on the "long range snipers" to get it right. Pretty high praise from a career Infantryman/Para.

Fatman

It's the Allied way of getting things done Fatman. Artillery will hit you whether you are hiding behind a wall or not. More accurately, it will first make short work of cover and then of you!

Does anyone have a side by side comparison of the airfix and italeri kits?

I was planning on getting the italeri one due to the 1/72 scale vs the 1/76 scale of the airfix, but I'm beginning to wonder if there's even a real scale difference.

I found this blog with pictures, which makes them appear near identical in size: link

genew49 – your Sherman is a Matchbox Sherman Firefly.

Richard Humm- I believe you're right. I have several Matchbox Humbers in the same box. Thanks for jogging my memory.

@joker

I recently assembled 2x Airfix 25pdrs and limbers and they are basic but went together fine. I already had enough Quads but just for the heck of it I also assembled one of these.

I must say, the fit was pretty awful. Can't remember whether it was always so or if the moulds have worn badly. I would recommend "dry" fitting everything on the Quad part of the kit and adjusting accordingly before gluing. Also note that the centre strut of the windshield also needs to be extended as it won't meet the bonnet – this was always a problem with the kit – and is best done before attaching the roof.

weirdly I seem to remember a lot of Airfix kits being 1/72 when I was younger that now seem to be 1/76.

They have always been 1/76. There was a very ill-considered campaign to market the kits as 1/72 when that became the 'go to' scale. (Their planes were 1/72 in actuality anyway)

Thanks for the tips Hornsqoggler. I'll be on guard for these problems you mention.

I've got 4 of the Italeri/Esci one & 4 of the Airfix but I need to keep them apart as there's a significant size difference
Having said that, in our (house) rules they both hit with a D12… I just pretend that the Airfix ones are a little further away & hence look smaller :-)

Here are some of mine.
Very pretty easy and quick to build.

I just love the ugliness of the tractor!

link

Beaumap, years ago a mate who is more deeply involved with kits than I've been (and I've been quite deeply into them) told me that the Airfix Bf 109 was 1/76 scale, not 1/72.

Yes, I have both kits and there is a considerable size difference. There is also a big error in the Italeri model as it has the large cast iron counterweight molded on to the breech; this was only added when the muzzle brake was adopted in qi43 so it is wrong for the desert. Sadly it is a pig to try and cut away neatly.

And what's the crewman with the binoculars supposed to be looking at? The target is 5 miles away!

The 25pdr was used as an atg in the desert. And of course a lot of the desert was pretty flat. It wasn't unusual to fire directly on targets.

well Fatman,

when you consider the brilliant shooting 64 Medium Regiment did from Nijmegen into the streets of Oosterbek it was downright superb

As far as 25 pounders are concerned I have the SHQ gun and limber with AB crew and a mix of tows from S&S and Milicast.

The Airfix kit is a venerable old soul and can be made into a great little diorama with a bit of work.

The crew are meant for NWE but AB now have a desert crew that would work well
link

Did I hear that PSC are running a kickstarter for a 25lbr in 1/72?

Did I hear that PSC are running a kickstarter for a 25lbr in 1/72?

I did. been following it.