Bronco Models

1/35 Triumph 3HW Motorcycle w/British MP's

Kit Number: CB35035

Reviewed by  Ben Guenther, IPMS# 20101

MSRP: $56.00 Website: Bronco Models Distributed by Stevens International: www.stevenshobby.com . Triumph introduced their 349cc 3H model in 1940 as a single-cylinder touring bike. With the war on, Triumph soon found themselves making a military model: 3HW. During the war the 3HW was used for communications and traffic control. With a top speed of 70 mph, the 3HW was a favorite with the dispatch riders. From April 1942 until the end of the war, 28,000 3HW’s were produced for the British Army. Two identical “A” sprues in olive drab, consisting of 118 parts, allowing the construction of two Triumph 3HW bikes. One “F” sprue, also in olive drab, has 34 parts consisting of weapons, two Lee-Enfield .303 rifles, one Thompson submachine gun, one Bren light machine gun with folded and extended bipod, one Sten gun with two types of stocks and two Vicker K machine guns. A light tan sprue of 31 parts to build three figures. Two photo-etch sheets provided for detailing the two motorcycles, each one consisting of 27 parts. A small decal sheet is provided with speedometer dial, license plate numbers and some military markings enough for the two bikes. The 8 ½ x 11 instruction sheet has six assembly steps to follow with CAD illustrations. The back page consists of four color pictures of the two paint schemes, right and left profiles, which is helpful to determine how the parts are placed - in some cases, more so than the instructions. The plastic is finely molded with no flash and very fine seam lines that will only require a quick brush of sandpaper or scraper to remove. Since I had no references on the Triumph 3HW, I did a Google Image search and came up with a number of useful photos. Step One: Assembling the PE spokes to the tires. Bronco does not show any particular way to orient the spokes in relation to each side, but if you look at the painting guide it seems they want you to line one side up with the other. DO NOT do this, as photos of the real motorcycle show that was not the case. Cut out two P1 parts from the PE sheet and use a file to remove the burr that remains. This will help in fitting the spokes to the tires. Parts A30 and A31 form a press that bends the spoke (P1) into shape. With one formed spoke, carefully place it into the small rim on the inside of the tire (P57). Use some thin CA to bond in the PE. When cured use a file to remove any protruding brass. This needs to be flush so the two tires will fit together. After the second half is done, be careful in aligning the tires halves to make sure the two halves do not align up but move one tire to make it offset. (See photo.) Now glue the parts, clamp and set aside to dry. Repeat for the rear tire. Step Two: Assembling the engine and associated areas. Word of warning: Parts A12 thru A18 are very small and are easily lost. Go slowly and be careful. Also from here on in you’re dealing with tiny parts in a congested area using really big fingers. What I did was to place all the parts on one side, set it aside to dry and then work on another step. After one hour I would go back and assembly the other side. If you keep going back and forth, the parts have time to cure and will not get misaligned as you handle the motorcycle. Part A14 is the part that connects the cylinder with the exhaust. Make sure that it is rotated slightly to the right so the exhaust can fit in. Part A20 is the oil tank and is hollow. You may or may not want to fill or cover this, and same goes for part A21, the battery. Step Three: Rear frame assembly. What I did was glue part A36, left rear frame, onto the engine frame and set it aside to dry. This helps make sure the part is firm and doesn’t move around while you glue additional parts to it. After one hour, I came back and attached parts to this frame. Part P7 fits only onto the end of part A42 and does not slide up the shaft. (It can’t and wasn’t designed to do that.) Part A37, right rear frame, has a molded-on tank that is hollow; you may or may not want to fill this. Glue on part A37 and set aside to completely dry before putting on the rest of the parts. The rear fender, part A3, needs to be fitted slowly and carefully to avoid bending part P4, the drive chain. Step Four: Assembling kick stands. Use either type kick stands or none at all; your choice. Step 5: Front fork assembly. This went together without any problems. Step Six: Final assembly - front fork to the rest of the bike. It’s a tight fit, but once together you can decide to either use no glue so the forks will turn or use glue to keep everything rigid. When you assembly the rack, make sure to keep an eye on the alignment - it can be tricky. I painted the bike with some Testor’s olive drab (small bottle) and used some .010” lead wire for the fuel line, oil line and various cables. That’s all extra and doesn’t come with the kit. Bronco provides a rear and front license plate, but none of the kit’s art work shows any of this. Since I didn’t know what to put on, I left these off for now. Step Seven: Figures with decals. The back of the kit (box bottom) has the decal and color guide for the figures. You will notice that none of the called out part numbers match what is on sprues Ka and Kb. This isn’t a big deal since it’s easy to figure out what parts goes where for which figure, but I can’t explain how Bronco let that slip by them. I assembled all three figures without any problems and with only the slightest use of filler. The poses are fairly animated and will be what is shown on the front of the box. Decals are provided for rank, badges and markings. All-in-all, the Bronco kit delivers a very fine Triumph 3HW motorcycle. With the three figures you are provided with a diorama in the making right out of the box. Just be careful on assembly and go slowly while working with so many small parts in a confined space. The results are worth it. I can highly recommend this kit for any WWII armor modeler or for those you want to make a civilian version with a more colorful finish. My thanks go to Stevens International, Bronco Models and IPMS/USA for the opportunity to review this kit.