Roden's Rolls-Royce Armoured Car Pattern 1920 Mk.I - its first 1/35 scale kit - is a mixed bag, with great engine and suspension detail but other areas (such as the interior, machine gun, shovel, and rifles) that are very basic. Sink marks, raised ejector-pin marks, and flash need cleanup, and I found parts C11 and A25 were incompletely molded.
I immediately deviated from the directions by joining the engine halves before adding the detail parts because they're small and easily broken (take care removing them from the sprue). I left the engine, radiator, and muffler off the frame until the model was painted, then slipped them in from the bottom to glue them in place.
In Step 4, I left parts C5 off C11 until the rear axle was glued to the frame to ensure their placement. In cleaning up the frame sides (C1 and C2), I left the pour gates on the frame to keep strength in the very-thin bottom of the frame; I finally sawed off these gates just before painting.
The tires are made of soft vinyl. I used brand new side cutters but was unable to clean up the nubs where they had been attached to the carrier.
The body of the car comprises seven parts. The roof (A16) is the only part of the body with locating pins; care is needed to get everything square. As soon as the glue was dry enough to move the body, I glued it to the frame to ensure alignment. Once this was dry, I added all the detail parts.
In Step 27, Part D20 is shown mounted on the side of the car body - but, in Step 24, D20 is mounted on the bottom of the running boards. I chose to mount both D20 parts under the running boards. Fill sink holes on the inside of the front fenders - they
will be seen when the tires are on.
On the six-part turret, the edges of the side plates are rounded, preventing a tight fit. I filed the edges, trying to keep them square. Removing the roof (Part A22) from the sprue, be careful of its thin edge.
The machine gun is poorly detailed. On the desert version, you could replace it with many other guns, both British and captured, as seen in wartime photographs.
The lenses for the headlights and spotlights are supposed to be cut from a sheet of clear acetate. Using a hole punch to cut out the lenses was unsuccessful. I was only able to use one of the large lenses, but gave up trying to make it work and found some in my spare-parts box. I filled the side spotlights with Micro Kristal Klear.
I painted my Rolls with Model Master acrylic European dark green. Directions call out all of the detail painting along the way. Decals are provided for two vehicles: Royal Tank Corps, Derbyshire, 1939, and No. 1 (AAC) Sqadron, Egypt-Iraq, 1940. If you choose the desert version, the red, white, and blue roundel that covers the entire turret roof is a multi-piece affair. The turret is first painted white with the red decal for the center. The outer blue decal comprises four pieces. The thick, glossy decals resisted Solvaset and were somewhat silvery.
It took me 20 hours to complete this kit. Scale compares well with 1/35 scale plans in
World War II AFV Plans: British Armored Fighting Vehicles, by George Bradford (Stackpole Books). Some fits require experience, but the kit produces an impressive model. Aftermarket companies have already come out with replacement wheels, and I am sure more details will follow.
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