Bronco has been quiet of late - obviously out having fun riding around on quad bikes! Their new 35th scale version of the British Army quad bike with a trailer with four soldiers to ride on and accompany the bike has just been announced - See a little of the feature set of this new kit due in May in our preview...
A new kit from Bronco Models in May:
British Army ATV Quad Bike and Trailer w/Soldier
From Bronco Models
CB35207
1/35th scale
The military Quad Bike was a British invention with design work going back to 1943. The Standard Ultra Lightweight and Jungle Airborne Buggy were both in final stages of testing when WWII ended and the orders were cancelled. The first Japanese Quad Bikes arrived in 1982 and in the following years began to replace motorcycles in military service.
The first Quad Bike ordered by the British army in large numbers were based on the Yamaha 450, fitted with a diesel engine and NATO tow bar. In addition, their tires are filled with run-flat sealant, a small winch and infra-red lights are also fitted. Roush, taking the standard Yamaha Grizzly 450 units and adding a NATO towing hitch, winch, run flat sealant for the tyres, IR lighting, left-hand throttle and other minor modifications, in addition to the diesel engine. Subsequent contracts were with Yamaha direct.
In Afghanistan, Quad Bikes proved to be enormously useful for running replenishment missions, casualty evacuation, transferring stores to and from helicopter landing sites and a million other odd jobs. They were especially useful in close terrain, narrow tracks and such like but in the Green Zone, with its many drainage and irrigation ditches, mobility was often impaired. To address this, lightweight gap crossing equipment (Gap Crossing Capability Short – Quad (GXC(S) Quad)) was obtained from Mauderer in Germany.
In British service, the Quad Bike is called a Small ATV (All Terrain Vehicle) and by 2015 over 1,000 had been delivered. It is often used with a small trailer, the Logic SMT 171B or SMT 120B, both with a capacity of 150 kg. The Small ATV's first saw action in Afghanistan were they were used by Special Forces to transport sniper teams and more generally as load carriers. The Small ATV's soon became invaluable, able to get to otherwise impassible areas relatively quietly.
The vehicles are easily transportable by helicopter and an aluminium Quad Bike Bridge (QBB) is also in service to aid in mobility. On offensive operations the Small ATV's mount machine guns and grenade launchers. It can also be used in the casualty evacuation role and can carry two stretchers. For rapid transport the Small ATV's are packed into a logistics container, a 20ft Hi-Cube can carry 10 vehicles. The Quad Bike is currently being improved for new roles including battlefield communication and drone control vehicle.
The 35th British Army ATV Quad Bike & Trailer from Bronco
You can see some CAD images of a walk around of Bronco's new kit.
Some of the feature set is spelt out in these pictures and text to support them
Approximate colours of the finished bike & trailer combo
