Review: M7B1 PRIEST WWII ALLIED 105MM HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE
M7B1 PRIEST WWII ALLIED 105MM HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE
Designer - Brickmania Team
638 LEGO, BrickArms, and custom Brickmania elements.
Howitzer Motor Carriage Commander minifigure.
Full-color printed building instructions (saddle stitched).
Sticker sheet.
1/35th scale.
$260usd (Paid $221usd with 15%-off coupon).
PRO'S:
- Excellent design and shaping by Team Brickmania.
- Very sturdy chassis.
- Sturdy body.
- Excellent printed parts.
- Chock full of exterior details: .50cal MG and pulpit, shovel, hatchet, pick-axe, headlights, taillights, track adjusting wrench, storage w/printed lids, printed small bedroll, printed markings/vehicle numbers, printed drive sprockets, also extra track storage, gas cap covers, K-rations printed crate, vents.
- 105mm cannon. Elevates up and down.
- Treads roll nicely, smooth on almost any surface.
- Excellent highly detailed Commander minifigure with custom Brickmania helmet/goggles and M1 Thompson submachine gun weapon.
- Interior detailed with drivers compartment, and ammo/shell storage.
- 8 excellent BrickArms gunmetal and bronze 105mm shells. They look great.
- Storage compartments can hold weapons and equipment. Fits the Thompson nicely.
- Fits 3 minifigures (commander in pulpit - included, one driver and one gunner - both not included).
- Excellent display model.
CON's...
- Certain areas single point connections (front left and right mud covers loose).
- Pulpit with the .50cal is not as sturdy as can be.
- Pulpit without gun fits minifig nicely but with the gun can't fit Commander fig properly - the figure is loose and can't man the gun. This should've been redesigned.
- Design of pulpit prevents .50cal from aiming up.
- No connection point for extra track. Falls out easily.
- Also the BrickArms shell's have no connection point either. Can fall out if not careful.
- For an expensive model, not enough printed elements. Uses stickers for large insignias, vehicle names, serial numbers. Uses a Lego no-no, having stickers over multiple parts.
- Possibly ok for play, but the shells and track piece you'll lose. The tracks can be replaced (you get 2 extra), but the shells seem to be exclusive and not sure if BrickArms sells these separately.
Final thoughts:
I can see by the lack of more printed elements for the price, they tried to make up for it with a good amount of tools, printed k-rations crate, submachine gun, and those beautiful BrickArms howitzer shells.
The stickers do enhance the look but for the price, and I get it to give options for vehicle names, but I feel we should get all printed elements at these price points. Especially for the large front and side stars.
The pulpit bugs me, not fitting the commander figure properly with the .50cal. That really needed a redo there.
Like before, having these rare WWII brick built vehicles out there with this attention to detail, shape and this scale I'm very partial too. Even with the cons, I still give it a 4 outta' 5.
Review: M7B1 PRIEST WWII ALLIED 105MM HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE
M7B1 PRIEST WWII ALLIED 105MM HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE
Designer - Brickmania Team
638 LEGO, BrickArms, and custom Brickmania elements.
Howitzer Motor Carriage Commander minifigure.
Full-color printed building instructions (saddle stitched).
Sticker sheet.
1/35th scale.
$260usd (Paid $221usd with 15%-off coupon).
PRO'S:
- Excellent design and shaping by Team Brickmania.
- Very sturdy chassis.
- Sturdy body.
- Excellent printed parts.
- Chock full of exterior details: .50cal MG and pulpit, shovel, hatchet, pick-axe, headlights, taillights, track adjusting wrench, storage w/printed lids, printed small bedroll, printed markings/vehicle numbers, printed drive sprockets, also extra track storage, gas cap covers, K-rations printed crate, vents.
- 105mm cannon. Elevates up and down.
- Treads roll nicely, smooth on almost any surface.
- Excellent highly detailed Commander minifigure with custom Brickmania helmet/goggles and M1 Thompson submachine gun weapon.
- Interior detailed with drivers compartment, and ammo/shell storage.
- 8 excellent BrickArms gunmetal and bronze 105mm shells. They look great.
- Storage compartments can hold weapons and equipment. Fits the Thompson nicely.
- Fits 3 minifigures (commander in pulpit - included, one driver and one gunner - both not included).
- Excellent display model.
CON's...
- Certain areas single point connections (front left and right mud covers loose).
- Pulpit with the .50cal is not as sturdy as can be.
- Pulpit without gun fits minifig nicely but with the gun can't fit Commander fig properly - the figure is loose and can't man the gun. This should've been redesigned.
- Design of pulpit prevents .50cal from aiming up.
- No connection point for extra track. Falls out easily.
- Also the BrickArms shell's have no connection point either. Can fall out if not careful.
- For an expensive model, not enough printed elements. Uses stickers for large insignias, vehicle names, serial numbers. Uses a Lego no-no, having stickers over multiple parts.
- Possibly ok for play, but the shells and track piece you'll lose. The tracks can be replaced (you get 2 extra), but the shells seem to be exclusive and not sure if BrickArms sells these separately.
Final thoughts:
I can see by the lack of more printed elements for the price, they tried to make up for it with a good amount of tools, printed k-rations crate, submachine gun, and those beautiful BrickArms howitzer shells.
The stickers do enhance the look but for the price, and I get it to give options for vehicle names, but I feel we should get all printed elements at these price points. Especially for the large front and side stars.
The pulpit bugs me, not fitting the commander figure properly with the .50cal. That really needed a redo there.
Like before, having these rare WWII brick built vehicles out there with this attention to detail, shape and this scale I'm very partial too. Even with the cons, I still give it a 4 outta' 5.