Wasp Flame Thrower

   The Universal Carrier Wasp flame thrower,  a 28ml resin model by Warlord.

   The reliable British Universal Carrier, often called a Bren Gun Carrier, was built in great numbers and was the all-purpose all-terrain light AFV of the British Army. It was used as a prime mover for AT guns, a light APC, a reconnaissance vehicle, a tracked jeep, a machine gun carrier and a flame thrower. The latter version was called a Wasp.

   Churchill Crocodile tanks were highly successful flamethrower vehicles, one of the British siege tanks, funnies, to smooth the way on the beaches of Normandy. Churchills had the same armour thickness as a Tiger Tank and carried the fuel in a towed armoured trailer. They also had a 75mm cannon and MGs as back up weapons.

   But you had to be a real hero to charge enemy strongpoints in a light open topped AFV with tissue paper armour and no other weapons, especially when the tanks were in with the crew.

   The Warlord model comes in a one piece assembly except for the  crew's heads, which are metal add ons. The finish is perfect and requires no sanding or filling. I painted this 'out of the box', well, except for a wash. It is superb at a tenner.

   I thought it might be fun to compare the wasp with the £15 Tamiya 1:48 Bren Gun Carrier. Obviously the plastic model is lighter and more detailed but you do have to assemble it. The warlord vehicle is 1:56, slightly shorter than than the Tamiya but it is 'chunkier'. The infantry in the Tamiya kit are 28ml (1:56) Warlord infantry and they are larger than the 1:56 crew in the Wasp. Scale is a funny old thing.