Review: Zvezda M-3 Scout Car #3519

It is very important and responsible job to write a review for a specific kit. It might turn the opinion from or to particular model, and change market tendencies without real reason. Sometimes, there are totally
contraversial articles about one and the same model. That’s why I tend to avoid writing reviews for the kits I get or I like, but some of those I just cannot pass by.
M-3 scout car is Armored Personal Carrier designed and produced by American company “White”. It was used in WWII and it was popular by the name “White Scout Car” and it was used in various roles: patrol, ambulance, scouting, command vehicle etc.

The kit:
Well, that’s a long story. And by long, I mean really loooong. The kit is a tooling from 1960s. Yes, Jimi Hendrix, Woodstock and Vietnam War years. Old. Not only that, but from then, until 2012, which was the last tooling, there were a number of different companies that sold this kit reboxed, and they still do it today.
Peerless Max started and then Airfix, Italeri, Zvezda, TOMY, Testors and Revell reboxed and sold different versions of it all around the world! The last /so far/ released version of it, was Zvezda #3519 kit, released 2012. I only can speculate, but I assume that this is not the end of it. There is a great chance that there will be more and more reboxing of that car.
Russians did a fair job with the box. It looks like a regular model kit box, but once you pick up the upper part, you discover cardboard box, closed from all sides, not showing the model. It looks more like a modem packing than a plastic kit.

Once you open the cardboard box, you find three sprues of green plastic, one front window made from clear plastic /not a sprue, just the window/, instruction sheet and a decal sheet.
Instructions are one A3 sized sheet, with some short explanations about the APC and assembly guide on the front page. Then, 15 build steps, once you unfold the A3 sheet, and on the back, sprue description plus pixelized drawings of the vehicles, which should be its paint scheme. Decal placing guide and painting guide are in Russian.

There is a small decal sheet from Zvezda, which in my particular case looked old and yellow-ish, but I can assume only that the quality standards for decals for most Zvezda kits are not as high as the competition’s.

Three versions are opted:
US ones:
82nd Recon. Btn., 2nd Armored Div., Belgium, December 1944

HQ 3th Army ,G.S. Patton, Falaise Operation, August 1944

and Russian one:
5th Guards Tank Corps, Russia, Kiev, November, 1943

The sprues:
For kit made sometimes during the sixties, this car looks amazingly well done. There are small details, rivets,  texture and many pleasant surprises. There are flash here and there, minor defects and so on, but come on – this is 50 years old kit!

The floor is corrugated, the tires have some Good Year markings, and I might say, that me, personally – wasn’t expecting quality of that kind to be found in that kit.

The amount of parts is relatively small, especially according to the new headbangs of 1000+ parts per kit. It might be improved with Eduard’s PE set or even seriously altered with other aftermarket stuff like stowage, resin wheels and engine set, which are available out there. But overall, even OOTB – the kit stands fine enough, especially for the price that I see online – around 20$ plus shipping. And, as I’ve said already – its AGE. 50 years! Wow!

Anyway, if you want to dig into that vehicle, Black Dog, Panzer Art, Eduard, Hussar, Tank Workshop and Plus Model provide some goodies for it, so the decent old kit to be transformed into state of the art model.
There is another model concerning that subject – a Hobby Boss one, which is a lot newer, and eventually more crisp than that one. I cannot comment on the proper dimensions, but if I decide to build that one /Zvezda/ I will make some comments and probably an article about it.

Instead of conclusion:
I cannot advice on do or don’t get that kit. Nor compare it with Hobby Boss, since I haven’t got one to compare it with. I can say only, that considering how old this thing is, and how many different and proven aftermarket companies have done their part of the job improving it, its not a kit you should pass by with disregard. Its a Zvezda kit, and that in my graces is a big minus. Its antique, an oldtimer, a geezer of its kind.
But still, if I like it /and I am very pretentious/ then you should give it a looktoo! You might like what you will see!

Here’s a short unboxing video: