Bronco Cruiser A10in 1/35

British Cruiser A10...

...a new kit from Bronco Models, set for May 2017 release

Part of the May release schedule from Bronco Models is their British Cruiser A10, which will have parts for 3 different build options. Their information tells us -

CRUISER TANK Mk.II/IIA/IIA CS BRITISH CRUISER TANK A10 Mk.I/IA/IA CS

Cruiser Tank To meet the requirement of modern tank concepts, in 1936, the British War Office designated two different categories of tanks for future development. The first category is a fast mobile cruiser tank designed not only to perform reconnaissance and patrol tasks, but also capable of making forays deep into enemy territory. The second Category is an armoured infantry tanks designed to be used in close co-operation with infantry during attacks.

Tank, Cruiser, Mk. II (A10)
Tank Cruiser MK. I, code A9 was the first ever built cruiser tank in the United Kingdom. But while the A9 was still a prototype type in 1934, the British War Office had requested the production firm, Vickers Armstrong Limited, to develop a more heavily armoured vehicle for better infantry support role.
On September 1937, a soft steel prototype Tank Cruiser MK. II, code A10 was produced. The armour thickness has been increased from 35/64 inch (14mm) in the A9 to 15/16 inch (24mm). To reduce weight, the two front single man machine guns turrets were removed. The increase in protection was achieved by bolting extra armour plate to the exterior of the hull and turret. This is the first practice of the application of additional steel plate design ever in British Tank.

Tank Cruiser MK. II according to their own weaponry can be sub-divided into three variants.

1. Tank Cruiser MK. II (A10 MK. I)
Equipped with a QF 2-pounder cannon and two 0.33-inch Vickers water-cooled machine guns.

2. Tank Cruiser MK. IIA (A10 MK. IA)
Equipped with a QF 2-pounder cannon and two BESA air-cooled machine gun.

3. Tank Cruiser MK. IIA CS (A10 MK. IA CS) The CS (Close Support) version had a 3.7 inches (94 mm) howitzer in the turret assigned for infantry support role.

The production run A10 tank has turret, engine and suspension identical to A9, but the thickness of bolt plates has been increased to 1 and 3/16 inch (30 mm) and weighs has been increased to 14.3 tons. The maximum speed on road however drops to 16 mph, while off road only 8mph. As a result, the A10 tank is too slow to perform the cruiser tank duty such as forays deep into enemy territory. This shortcoming self-explain although the A10 tank saw combat in most of the early battles, such as France, North Africa and Greece, the final production number was only 175 and phased out very quickly when new type of cruiser tank enter into service.

More to look forward to for the British armour fan.

Thanks to Bronco Models for the news.

Robin