Dystopian Legions, Kingdom of Britannia: Terrier Ironclad

I've been awaiting this mini for a while now, but I have finally received my Terrier Ironclad. From now on, my Kingdom of Britannia army can be fielded with full Ironclad support (theoretically, full Ironclad support would be two of these, but let's not get carried away here).

This is a heavy box, full of great chunks of resin, and my first kit like this, so let's see what we get in the box.

Here's all the parts laid out, as they came out of the packaging. For ease of casting, the two sets of treads are identical,  and therefore interchangeable. There are two metal parts, which plug the gap in the back of the treads, which are presumably a fix for the issue we had with the Bassets, where there was a large chunk of metal to deal with where the treads were joined to the casting sprue.

The rest of the parts are pretty self explanatory and well cast. I had to run a craft knife over various bits to get rid of some flash, but there were no problem parts to deal with. 

As well as the tank parts, the box included 3 game cards. 1 specific to the Terrier, and 2 generic to all KoB Ironclads. There is also the compulsory activation card. There is no base included in the pack. Indeed, I am unsure as to what size such a base would be, and indeed if it is necessary.

When it comes to putting this beast together, all the parts go where you would think, and there are no bits leaving you scratching your head as to their placement. The only thing you need to watch for is the orientation of the crew compartment and the headlamps, but a quick glance at the picture on the box will tell you which way round they go.

There is one issue with the Terrier tank, that has been mentioned on previous reviews, and on the forums, and that is the way the treads connect to the main body of the tank. They don't.

Well, that's maybe a little harsh, the point of contact of the treads to the main body of the tank leaves no issues with their placement lengthwise, as there are little nubs on the side of the tank body that place into holes in the treads, and there is likewise a small shelf on the treads for the bottom of the tank body to sit on. This all works out rather nicely, but then there is no support for the top of the treads, and they then sit badly, leaning towards the top of the tank, and making the treads splay awkwardly at an angle. (The individual parts of the tank, and how they interact are better shown here. I was too keen to build the tank, rather than take more pictures). 

This can be remedied with a pin from the back of the tank tread, to the main body, and some putty to fill the gap between the tread and the tank body, but it is still rather unimpressive from a kit that otherwise fits really well together.

When put all together, this is a rather impressive tank, and I look forward to getting him fully assembled and onto the table.

One other niggle I have is with the pricing for Spartan tanks. The Terrier is not the most expensive of the 4 currently released ironclads, that honour goes to the Ke-Ho, but it is still more expensive than either the Prussian or FSA Ironclads (by about $20CAN), whilst still looking to be the same number of parts. I'm sure there's a technical reason for that.

Yes, the hatch has been glued open. More on that soon...