Dragon

1/72 M2A3 Bradley

Kit Number: 7324

Reviewed by  Chris Mobley, IPMS# 42891

MSRP: $14.95 Review kit provided by Dragon Models USA (www.dragonmodelsusa.com) The M2A3 Bradley continues the line of the vehicles that started production in the 1980's and has seen action with success in Desert Storm as well as Iraqi Freedom. The M2A3 is a highly digitalized version for weapons systems allowing it to be highly accurate. This version is identifiable by the Commander's Independent Thermal Viewer (CITV) mounted on the right side of the turret. The kit contains 191 parts including 159 molded in Dragon's grey styrene, 22 in DS tan and 10 photo etch brass. There is also a decal sheet for four different versions and a cardboard piece with ID numbers for two of the versions. First thing I noticed was that there was a lot stuffed in the box to be a 1/72 kit. Overall looking at the parts on the sprues the details are very nice and crisp and there is very little to no flash. Knock out marks are minimal and overall kept to hidden areas.

Assembly was pretty quick, took me around 2 hours to have the model completely assembled. The only area that gave any trouble was fitting the back of the hull to the main hull. There were gaps on both sides of the rear but a little extra cement took care of those. Hatches and the rear door can be shown in the open or closed positions but as there is no interior detail I went with closed. The TOW launcher can also be modeled in the stowed or deployed position but is not moveable. One area that looks a little dull is the molded on tools. That and there is no stowage to put in the rack on the back of the turret. Once assembled the model depicts a very detailed and great looking replica of the M2A3. This was a fun little build that results in a great looking model. I recommend this kit to any 1:72 scale fans or anyone else that wants a quick good looking build. My thanks to Dragon USA and IPMS for the review sample.

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