A34 Comet (Warlord Games)

[Ballardian]

I recently picked up WG's Comet, as it'd always been a favorite subject for me (the £10 off offer made the decision rather easier it has to be said) & while I like the kit, it's something of a curates egg.
 The Comet had a rather short useful life & as a consequence only went through two iterations, the A & B, with the B being a post war model & for some reason it's the B that WG seem to have chosen to represent (the easiest way to distinguish between the versions was to look at the exhausts - the A was the same as the Cromwell, with the exhaust exiting straight up at the back of the deck, while the B re-plumbed it, with the pipes exiting through the rear of the hull & capped with some very distinctive fishtail pipes). I can't really see (short of a mistake) why WG would have chosen to do this, particularly if you intend the model to be useable in Bolt Action. Even if you were thinking primarily of Konflikt 47 it'd make more sense to do an A - it'd still be in service & could also be used in BA (or other WWII games). Plenty of images & blueprints of both types exist online, with even Wikipedia getting the distinction correct.
 The model itself was a really nice casting, very clean & sharp, with minimal clean-up required, went together very well & behaved itself during the painting process (no resin issues).

The Missing Bits The kit did lack a few small features present on the real vehicle, most notably the tubular port in the turret roof for the smoke launcher, (inside was an arrangment akin to a large flare gun for firing the smoke cartridges). Also notable by their absence were the stowage loops on the turret bin sides, a small tube containing a cable to limit how far the turret bin would open & the stowed tools (a shovel & a dissasembled pickaxe).
 All these things were easily fixable with plasticard/rod & in the case of the tools, those found in the plastic Brit WG infantry. The lamp on the turret side seems irritatingly fragile for a gaming model, but it could just be me being clumsy.
 That said I do like the model, its faults are fairly small & easily fixable - the JTFM is more accurate, but there's not a lot in it.

Edit; I forgot to mention that I also had to add the lifting points on the glacis corners - just some teardrop shaped pieces of plasticard with a hole drilled through.
  

[Ultravanillasmurf]

Interesting review, thanks.

I will have to dig out my JTFM model.

[Captain Blood]

Well it's turned out well. And good to hear it was a clean casting with no resin issues. I suspect the time to buy resin models is when the mould is new, so maybe that's why?

[carlos marighela]

Handy to know. Whilst I love the accuracy and beautiful casts that Jeff turns out, the fact tgat this is modelled as a post-war Comet is handy. That's exactly what I'm after.

[Ballardian]

Glad it was helpful, for post war machines, banks of six one-shot smoke launchers were added to the turret sides (pretty much the same as those on the Centurion).
 I also forgot that I'd added the lifting points on the glacis edges as the original kit didn't represent them.

[vodkafan]

Did the Comet get used in Korea?

[Ballardian]

Vodkafan - there seems to be a bit of confusion as to whether Comets served in Korea or not - on the whole I'd probably lean towards not. Gordon Rottman's 'Korean War Order of Battle: United States, United Nations, and Communist Ground, Naval, and Air Forces, 1950-1953.' seems to list the entire British armoured involvement as; 64 (4 squadrons) of Centurion MkIIIs, A Recce troop of 6 Cromwell VIIs with independant squadrons from 1RTR of Churchill Crocodiles (16 of them, the Churchill's hill climbing abilities found it a role due to the terrain) plus some recovery versions. There were Comets based around the Empire & Commonwealth & the nearest may have been in Hong Kong at the time.

[Cubs]

Did the Comet get used in Korea?

It was still in service during this time, but Korean War service records seem to indicate that the Centurion was the MBT, Cromwells were still used in the recce role and Churchill variants covered the 'funnies', with no mention of the Comet. It's possible they were in theatre but stored in reserve squadrons if needed and not used in active service.

Or I could be wrong, which is also highly likely.

[Cubs]

Ha! Beaten to it!

[vodkafan]

Thanks chaps. I have some bits and bobs of 50's Brit stuff, Dinky 1 ton trucks and 2 diecast Centurions, was very tempted to get the 1st corps 50's infantry and maybe this too....always liked the Comet.

[carlos marighela]

It wasn't used in Korea. There were Comets in Malaya and in Palestine in the late 'forties. They both saw a little service against Malayan guerillas and Irgun terrorists respectively.

There were Comets in Hong Kong until sometime in the late '50s and they were the tanks used By the RTR Independent Squadron in Berlin until 1957. That was the last unit in the British Army so equipped. A handful did soldier on in the Irish Army through to the start of the seventies. Makes for a different subject, a Comet in medium grey.

[vodkafan]

It wasn't used in Korea. There were Comets in Malaya and in Palestine in the late 'forties. They both saw a little service against Malayan guerillas and Irgun terrorists respectively.

There were Comets in Hong Kong until sometime in the late '50s and they were the tanks used By the RTR Independent Squadron in Berlin until 1957. That was the last unit in the British Army so equipped. A handful did soldier on in the Irish Army through to the start of the seventies. Makes for a different subject, a Comet in medium grey.

Gaah facts and reality are sooo boring! I will have to get around them somehow....

[Ballardian]

Well Vodkafan, if you're not averse to some 'whatifery', you could certainly argue that had the UKs armoured contribution met with greater problems/less success they might have brought other units in from nearby - Malaya & Hong Kong for instance, where Comets were in service (I think some 2nd RTR).

[vodkafan]

Well Vodkafan, if you're not averse to some 'whatifery', you could certainly argue that had the UKs armoured contribution met with greater problems/less success they might have brought other units in from nearby - Malaya & Hong Kong for instance, where Comets were in service (I think some 2nd RTR).

Great idea!