Cromwells 1/76 Putilov-Garford

The Russian Puilov-Garford was designed in the autumn of 1914 and was for one of the most heavily armed Armoured Cars of the war. The chassis, drive train and motor was based on an American truck, made by the Garford Company of Ohio - hence the name - with a 35-h.p. motor, chain driven on the rear wheels. On it was placed an armoured body with a MG and cannon equipped turret at the rear, and two additional MG:s in sponsons. 

The turret, facing to the rear with traverse of less than 180 degrees, mounted a short 75­mm. gun with the short barrel protected by a curious channel projecting from the turret face, and to the right of it, a Maxim water-cooled machine-gun. The two sponsons behind the driver's cab, each had a Maxim machine­gun mounted with an arc of fire side­ways and, although limited by the cab, forwards.

The armour ranged between 7 mm. and 9mm; the dimensions of the vehicle were about 19 ft long, 7 ft 6 in. wide and 9 ft high. All this added up to a pretty imposing weight of about 11 tons, and it was therefore only useable on good roads, and could not really be used in the terrain. The Putilov-Garford was also hard to maneuver and handicapped by the poorly placed armament. It was still a pretty successful design, with heavy armament impressing both friend and foe alike. (It was, for example, used with effect by the Bolsheviks against the British tanks supplied to the Whites during the Russian Civil War.) And one did go down in history as being the first Russian armoured car to be seen in Teheran, Persia, in 1915.

For more pictures, click on the thumnails below:

Contents of the kit:

Cromwells kit is made in that companies usual light-yellow resin, and comes in a simple plastic bag. The main parts are the hull, the turret and the wheels. There is also a number of smaller parts: MG:s, headlights, hatches etc - many are supplied with spares, which of course is welcome, as they are small and brittle.

(Also included are two crew half-figures, but they appear to be Brits, the same as in Cromwells Austin kit, and as this Armoured Car was never used by that nation, perhaps they are best dropped into the Spares box.) It may look a bit small, but the kits dimensions ARE accurate for 1/76. The mouldings are of excellent quality, typical of Cromwell, with only minimal amounts of flash. 

The Putilov-Garford isn't very well covered in the Literature - I've myself consulted Kaufhold-Rolls "Die Deutschen Radpanzer..." and BT White's classic "Tanks and other Armoured Vehicles 1900-1918 -but as far as I can see, the kit is accurate. Some omissions are to be found in the chassis: there are no springs for either the back or front wheels, the front of the front fenders should have a rounded front, both the front and back lower chassis should have protective plates, the upper front lights should have a slightly different shape, and there should be searchlight on top, near the turret. But these are only details. 

The kit comes with no instruction at all, which is a bit of a bother, as there are a number of parts that can be difficult to identify, like one long, thin thing, which is the fender, and some strange triangular shaped objects, which are armoured covers for the chain drive of the wheels. (See this photo.)It can be bought from Cromwell Models own site.

Cromwell is one of the best resin manufacturers, but when it comes to accuracy and moulding quality, and this kit only confirms this. It can be built straight out of the box, with no big problems at all. It is only let down a tiny by the complete lack of plans or instructions. Highly recommended!