In Box Review of Bronco 1/35th Scale
Valentine 25 pdr. SP “Bishop”
w/No.27 Limber (Special Edition)
Kit no. CB35007SP
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $88.95
Copyright: 2011
By Ray Mehlberger
MSRP: $88.95
Copyright: 2011
HISTORY:
The British were impressed by German mobile artillery encountered in the desert of North Africa. These vehicles were able to keep pace with the tanks they were designed to support, and could be quickly brought into action.
The most important British artillery piece in early 1942 was the 25 pounder field gun, and it was decided to mount this on a tank hull. Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Works had already used the Valentine as a pilot SPG and they were asked to modify the design to mount the 25 pouder.
The resulting vehicle was named the Bishop and was ready for production in mid-1942. It was simply a 25 pdr gun and 32 rounds of ammunition housed in a lightly armoured box built over the tank’s fighting compartment.
Though the idea was good, the Bishop had severe major deficiencies, slow speed, limited gun range (6,300 meter) and high silhouette. At least 100 Bishop’s were built, and saw action in North Africa and Italy until replaced by the American M7 Priest and Canadian Sexton.
The British were impressed by German mobile artillery encountered in the desert of North Africa. These vehicles were able to keep pace with the tanks they were designed to support, and could be quickly brought into action.
The most important British artillery piece in early 1942 was the 25 pounder field gun, and it was decided to mount this on a tank hull. Birmingham Railway Carriage & Wagon Works had already used the Valentine as a pilot SPG and they were asked to modify the design to mount the 25 pouder.
The resulting vehicle was named the Bishop and was ready for production in mid-1942. It was simply a 25 pdr gun and 32 rounds of ammunition housed in a lightly armoured box built over the tank’s fighting compartment.
Though the idea was good, the Bishop had severe major deficiencies, slow speed, limited gun range (6,300 meter) and high silhouette. At least 100 Bishop’s were built, and saw action in North Africa and Italy until replaced by the American M7 Priest and Canadian Sexton.
THE KIT:
Bronco is a prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China.
They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a large, fully packed, shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a Bishop and ammo trailer side views, against an all black background.
The Bishop and the trailer are in a base color of sand.
The Bishop has a wide dark green band around the turret and on it’s nose There is a square that is dark blue, with the upper right corner in red and a white letter A on it, on top of the green turret band.
Below the band to the left end of the turret is a black stenciled serial no. S32941. On the side skirt it has another square that is divided in half, with a red top and dark blue bottom. It has a white horizontal stripe over a white number 2 on it.
The trailer is unmarked.
One corner of the box art says the kit is for adult collectors and it is not a toy. It is for modelers ages 14 and over. It contains parts to make one model kit, contains functional sharp edges and parts. Actual model may vary from the image on the box.
One side panel shows illustrations of the 2 decal sheets in the kit and the 2 brass PE frets. It is said the kit is for modelers 14 to adult again in 10 languages, including English. Main material is plastic. Copyright of the kit is 2011. Bronco’s address in Hong Kong, China and their web address are shown
Bronco is a prolific model company based in Hong Kong, China.
They manufacture all manner of model subjects in the popular scales.
This kit comes in a large, fully packed, shrink-wrapped tray and lid type box.
The box art shows a Bishop and ammo trailer side views, against an all black background.
The Bishop and the trailer are in a base color of sand.
The Bishop has a wide dark green band around the turret and on it’s nose There is a square that is dark blue, with the upper right corner in red and a white letter A on it, on top of the green turret band.
Below the band to the left end of the turret is a black stenciled serial no. S32941. On the side skirt it has another square that is divided in half, with a red top and dark blue bottom. It has a white horizontal stripe over a white number 2 on it.
The trailer is unmarked.
One corner of the box art says the kit is for adult collectors and it is not a toy. It is for modelers ages 14 and over. It contains parts to make one model kit, contains functional sharp edges and parts. Actual model may vary from the image on the box.
One side panel shows illustrations of the 2 decal sheets in the kit and the 2 brass PE frets. It is said the kit is for modelers 14 to adult again in 10 languages, including English. Main material is plastic. Copyright of the kit is 2011. Bronco’s address in Hong Kong, China and their web address are shown
The other side panel repeats the cover art smaller and another side view shows the Bishop and trailer both in overall tan,
The Bishop has a dark blue square with a white letter C on it on the sides of the turret, over a stenciled black serial no. S32944.
On the sides of the skirt is another square, divided in two, with red at the top and dark blue at the bottom. It has a white horizontal bar at the top over a stenciled white C on it.
Again, it says the kit is not for kids, only adults
The Bishop has a dark blue square with a white letter C on it on the sides of the turret, over a stenciled black serial no. S32944.
On the sides of the skirt is another square, divided in two, with red at the top and dark blue at the bottom. It has a white horizontal bar at the top over a stenciled white C on it.
Again, it says the kit is not for kids, only adults
WHAT’S IN THE BOX:
The kit holds 35 tan parts trees and 2 loose tan trailer tires, a tiny clear tree, 2 brass PE frets and 3 decal sheets in 14 sealed clear cello bags. With 2 instructions.
The main instructions is a staple-bound booklet of 36 pages, printed on slick-coated paper in 8 ¼” x 11 ½” page format.
Page 1 begins with a repeat of the cover art, over the history of the Bishop in English, German and Chinese.
Page 2 begins with decal application instructions, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Mr. Hobby, Hobby Color, Humbrol and Tamiya brands of paints, in multiple languages, including English.
Page 3 has part trees illustrations. Some parts are shown crossed out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model.
Page 4 has more part trees illustrations, along with illustrations of the brass PE frets and the decal sheets,
Page 5 through 34 gives a whopping 62 assembly steps.
Steps 1 to 52 are for the Bishop. Steps 53 to 62 are for the trailer assembly.
Page 35 is a marking and painting guide. It shows a 4-view of the box art scheme (already described above). It further shows on the front view on the left side of its nose a square that is red on top and dark blue on the bottom, with a white letter A on it. On the right side of the nose is another square, divided into the same two colors, with a horizontal white bar over a white 2 on it.
The kit holds 35 tan parts trees and 2 loose tan trailer tires, a tiny clear tree, 2 brass PE frets and 3 decal sheets in 14 sealed clear cello bags. With 2 instructions.
The main instructions is a staple-bound booklet of 36 pages, printed on slick-coated paper in 8 ¼” x 11 ½” page format.
Page 1 begins with a repeat of the cover art, over the history of the Bishop in English, German and Chinese.
Page 2 begins with decal application instructions, over international assembly symbol explanations and a suggested paint color listing of Mr. Hobby, Hobby Color, Humbrol and Tamiya brands of paints, in multiple languages, including English.
Page 3 has part trees illustrations. Some parts are shown crossed out. Meaning they are excess and not needed to complete the model.
Page 4 has more part trees illustrations, along with illustrations of the brass PE frets and the decal sheets,
Page 5 through 34 gives a whopping 62 assembly steps.
Steps 1 to 52 are for the Bishop. Steps 53 to 62 are for the trailer assembly.
Page 35 is a marking and painting guide. It shows a 4-view of the box art scheme (already described above). It further shows on the front view on the left side of its nose a square that is red on top and dark blue on the bottom, with a white letter A on it. On the right side of the nose is another square, divided into the same two colors, with a horizontal white bar over a white 2 on it.
This Bishop was with the 121st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Libya, 1942.
Page 36 is another painting and marking guide. It shows a 4-view of the Bishop shown on the side panel, with the white letter C on it (already described above). It further shows on the front view a square on the left that is divided into white at the top, over red at the bottom, with a white no. 2 on the red. On the right is another square that is red at the top over a dark blue bottom with a white letter C on it.
It is a Bishop, also with the 121st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Libya, 1942.
Page 37 is a third marking and painting guide, showing a color 4-view of the trailer. It is just overall tan with no markings.
Page 38 begins by thanking Phil Greenwood and Wojciech Gawrych for assistance with developing the kit, over a color illustration of a Valentine book.
The second instructions is a single-sheet printed on both sides on slick-coated paper. It is also a color and marking guide.
One side shows a Bishop that is overall dark green. It has a cursic white BB6/25 on the sides of the turret and a white vertical triangle on the sides of the hull and on its nose. On the front of the turret there is a small square that is dark blue, with the upper left corner in red, with a white letter F on the red corner and a white letter D on the blue. A white 69/2 is in the middle.
This Bishop was with the 3rd Royal Artillery Regiment, 6th Armoured Division, Sicily, 1941.
The reverse side shows a Bishop that also is overall dark green. It has a white cursic BB6/25 on the sides of the turret. A white horizontal rectangle on the sides of the hull and on its nose. On the left side of the front of the turret is a small square that is dark blue with a red upper left corner. The red corner has a white letter F on it and the blue has a white letter D. Below this small square there is a larger square that is divided in half with red at the top and dark blue at the bottom. It has a white number 45 on it.
This Bishop was also with the 3rd Royal Artillery Regiment, 6th Armoured Division, Sicily 1943.
Trees are alphabetized.
I am going to beg off of trying to name all the part on the trees. I will identify the few that I can though. This kit holds a whopping 873 parts or more. I tried to count all the parts but may have missed a few.
Light tan letter A tree holds: the fenders, radio, driver’s compartment floor and parts etc. (36 parts) 2 parts are shaded out as being excess in the parts trees illustrations.
It is a Bishop, also with the 121st Field Regiment, Royal Artillery, Libya, 1942.
Page 37 is a third marking and painting guide, showing a color 4-view of the trailer. It is just overall tan with no markings.
Page 38 begins by thanking Phil Greenwood and Wojciech Gawrych for assistance with developing the kit, over a color illustration of a Valentine book.
The second instructions is a single-sheet printed on both sides on slick-coated paper. It is also a color and marking guide.
One side shows a Bishop that is overall dark green. It has a cursic white BB6/25 on the sides of the turret and a white vertical triangle on the sides of the hull and on its nose. On the front of the turret there is a small square that is dark blue, with the upper left corner in red, with a white letter F on the red corner and a white letter D on the blue. A white 69/2 is in the middle.
This Bishop was with the 3rd Royal Artillery Regiment, 6th Armoured Division, Sicily, 1941.
The reverse side shows a Bishop that also is overall dark green. It has a white cursic BB6/25 on the sides of the turret. A white horizontal rectangle on the sides of the hull and on its nose. On the left side of the front of the turret is a small square that is dark blue with a red upper left corner. The red corner has a white letter F on it and the blue has a white letter D. Below this small square there is a larger square that is divided in half with red at the top and dark blue at the bottom. It has a white number 45 on it.
This Bishop was also with the 3rd Royal Artillery Regiment, 6th Armoured Division, Sicily 1943.
Trees are alphabetized.
I am going to beg off of trying to name all the part on the trees. I will identify the few that I can though. This kit holds a whopping 873 parts or more. I tried to count all the parts but may have missed a few.
Light tan letter A tree holds: the fenders, radio, driver’s compartment floor and parts etc. (36 parts) 2 parts are shaded out as being excess in the parts trees illustrations.
There are 2 identical light tan letter Ba trees. They hold: more road wheels and suspension parts etc. (70 parts each) 8 parts are excess.
Light tan letter C tree holds: a shovel and other small parts I cannot identify (69 parts) 17 parts are excess.
Light tan letter Cb tree holds a shield, main gun barrel and other small parts I cannot identify (23 parts) 3 parts are excess
Tiny tan letter L tree holds the clear tiny windows (3 parts).
Tan part letter M is the hull tub (1 part).
Lettering jumps to letter Q, Which is the two individual tan trailer tires.
Light tan letter E tree holds: the fire wall with twin fans in it and more small parts I cannot identify (71 Parts) 4 parts are excess.
Tan letter G tree holds hatches and other parts for the ammo trailer etc. (39 parts).
Two identical small tan letter F trees holds: ammo rounds etc. (56 parts).
Small tan letter Fa tree holds the side skirts (2 parts).
Small tan letter Fa tree holds the side skirts (2 parts).
Two identical tan letter H trees hold: road wheels, ammo rounds and other parts for the ammo trailer etc. (97 parts).
Small tan letter I tree holds storage box parts etc. (12 parts).
Tan letter J tree holds: hull top panels, hatches etc. (20 parts).
Tan letter K tree holds: a Thompson submachine gun, some ammo racks etc.(86 parts).
There are 18 identical tan letter N trees, as long strips of individual track links (12 parts per strip, for a grand total of 216 links).
Large brass PE fret letter P holds 92 parts, that I’m going to beg off trying to name. Just look at the picture please.
Small brass PE fret letter Pb holds 38 parts. Again, I beg off naming these. Sorry!
Next is the 3 decal sheets. The largest sheet holds unit markings and the 2 smaller sheets hold stencil markings in black on one sheet and yellow on the other sheet.
There are no crew figures in the kit or clear parts.