This tank is one of those strange ones build between the wars. by the British. when they were only experimenting with designs and roles for these new weapon systems. It did influence the design of the well known T-35 and T-28 in Russia, but otherwise it was a dead-end... as were its Russian "offspring". It is worth watching the Tank Museum's video on the tank -the more I learn about the tank the more I like how wacky the design really is.  

 When I first saw it in Bovingdon, I really liked how it looked -the riveted, domed turret, the long shape, the multiple gun-turrets... as if someone tried to build a steam-punk tank back in the 20s. It wasn't very practical, but hey - looks beat practical in my books. Naturally I wanted to have a scale model of it, so after much deliberation I ordered Giesber's models' offering. (Unfortunately the shipping costs are quite high from The Netherlands.) 

It comes in the usual "garage kit" format: a sturdy, small cardboard box, the parts packaged in Ziplock bags, a small instruction sheet and a couple of packing peanuts. 

The model is made out of relatively few parts, and assembly is quick once I finished cleaning up all the flash and pouring blocks. (The fit is not perfect, but there are no major issues, either. I did not need to use putty during the build process.) The instructions are basic, but you could put the model together even without them, so no big problem there. 

There are a couple of bubbles in the resin which is not welcome; correcting these is a pain, but what are you going to do? This is part and parcel of resin kits. Fortunately there were no wrapped parts, which was very welcome, and the gun barrels were straight. (These can be problematic in resin kits.)

The model is reasonably accurate: a few viewing ports are missing from the main turret -the rest of the detail is there and accurate. The detail on the machine gun barrels is somewhat soft, but in this scale it is probably expected.  

Painting was done using the usual acrylics (Tamiya) over Vallejo primer. I tried not to go overboard with weathering since in this small scale it can look quite bad; some careful pin washes, some filters, oils and pigments were added -and my very own little HMS Independent was ready to sail.

It is an unique tank with an unique design, so not surprisingly I really would love to have a 1/35 version of it with an interior. Since this is not actually an option now, I am content with this option.  Overall, I can absolutely recommend this model if you wish to have an unique subject on your shelf.