Review: 'Total System Scenics' 1915 Lanchester Armoured Car (15mm)

Hey Internet,

Its been a little while since I last did a 'review' on here, but a little something came in the post the other day, and I feel like writing somthing about it.

For a while now, I've been after some Great War era British Armoured cars for my 15mm British 'Scientific Romance' project - which surprisingly are in very short supply.

Both Minifigs and Quick Reaction Force do a Rolls Royce, but to be honest - they are horrible. Battlefront do one too, but its circa 1940, with a completely different turret, so is no good for my current project.

So, when TSS (Total System Scenics) put out a 15mm Lanchester, I thought I'd go for it.

A Lanchester Armoured Car

When I ordered them their webstore did not have a photograph of the product, but since then they have uploaded one - although it is low-res, out of focus and only shows an unpainted casting.

Ordering it was simple enough online, and it arrived well-wrapped in newspaper a short while thereafter.

Now, I don't give 'bad reviews' as a rule, but I must say that this model was a bit of a disappointment.

Why? Mold Lines. Real nasty ones running right down the middle of every hull panel, and a nice big pair of them marking out the circumference of the turret.

Now, this wouldn't be all too bad a thing normally - you'd just grumble and grind the panels down; but unlike most badly cast models, the detail work on this one is just superb.

Just look at all the tiny little rivets and surface details.

Its just such a shame. Clearly some talented fellow has gone to a great deal of trouble to produce a superb master for this model. I'd guess that it was a 3D printed affair in order to achieve the level of detail present - and that would mean that its had to be printed on top of all the other cost and effort. But then at the last hurdle all that hard work has been wasted by some shoddy mold-making and casting.

The above photograph is post-'grinding down'. For an indication of the mold off-set, just look at the front. It was maybe a full 0.5mm out of alignment!

I hope to get the one that I've already put together painted up before too long, and will post up the results. I hope to be able to finish it to a good standard - but the effort involved in getting this far has put me off even starting its partner.

MM.