January 2019

FV721 Fox CVR(W)

FV712 Ferret Mk.5 Swingfire

Link to Website Index:

FV721 Fox CVR(W)

British Army, 1980s.

Matador Resin1/76 with markings from the spares box

Link to Website Index:

<<Link to previous month Link to Next Month >>

Have a look at many more of my models of British Cold War Vehicles on my AFV pages

The Fox Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Wheeled) - CVR(W) was developed to replace the Saladin and the Ferret in the scout and reconnaissance role and served with armoured formations from 1975 to 1994.

Armed with a modern Rarden 30mm canon and using aluminium armour, it was less than half the weight of the Saladin, allowing for easier air transportation and limited river swimming capability when fitted with a flotation screen. Powered by the same Jaguar 4.2L petrol engine as the Scorpion and Scimitar (its tracked equivalents) the Fox was very fast, with a top speed of around 65mph and a 270 mile range although its large turret made it somewhat top heavy, adversely affecting its stability at speed or on steep terrain.

Although the Fox saw only limited exports to Malawi and Nigeria, its turret design was also used on the Sabre (converted FV701 Scorpion), some were added to FV432 APCs for use by the Berlin Brigade and some were fitted to Australian M113 APCs.

Background: a suitable Swingfire target rolls past the viewing area at the 2018 Bovington Tank Fest

Building the Matador Kit:

Matador (http://www.matadormodels.co.uk/) provide a large range of 1/76 resin kits from various eras, including some very nice Cold War British vehicles.

Nicely moulded in fairly typical resin, there are relatively few parts, but their fine detail is impressive. Although hatches can be posed open, including the rather difficult to fit driver’s hatch, there is no interior (indeed you can see right through the hull from the turret top), so I added a crew figure (that originally started life as an aircraft pilot). The driver figure is already provided.

As is typical of resin AFVs, no decals are provided, so these are a generic selection from the spares box.

FV712 Ferret Mk.5 Swingfire

Briitish Army, 1980s.

Matador Resin1/76 with markings from the spares box

The Ferret saw service with the British Army from the 1950s right up until Gulf War 1 in 1991 as well as being exported to many other countries. The final Mk.4 and Mk.5 variants featured larger wheels with toughened transmission, an amphibious screen that could be raised for river crossings and greater hull armour.

Like their predecessors with the Vigilant missile, these late marks were also converted to carry anti-tank weapons, in this case the Fairey Swingfire missile, so named for its ability to make a sharp turn in flight, thus helping to hide the launcher’s position from return fire.

A flat and wide lightweight aluminium turret housed the missiles in containerised box launchers, as well as retaining a single machine gun for close range engagements.

The real thing - a Swingfire Ferret sits forlornly at the entrance to the Tank Museum Bovington

Building the Matador Kit:

This large wheeled Ferret was my second Matador purchase at Telford last year. First looks suggested this was the less detailed of the two, but once I started building it was evident that it is probably the better kit, with some very nice detail apparent once a coat of paint is applied.

A rudimentary interior (two seats) is supplied and the kit provides two different top decks to allow either the Mk.4 or Mk.5 to be built.

Once again, no decals are provided.

Have a look at many more of my models of British Cold War Vehicles on my AFV pages

The kit comes with a separate upper deck for the non-Swingfire version (the Mk.4). Although not intended to be swappable, I have done so just to give a view of the later Ferret without the large flat turret. Unfortunately there is only one driver’s hatch.

I have also done a few photos with my old BW Ferret, a variant without the flotation screen, and in my opinion, a far better looking vehicle!