Allow me to quote from the instructions:

"Development of the armored weapon, and therefore higher mobility of attacking troops, led to the need for mobile gunnery pieces to support attacking tanks. In order to speed up the development of these new weapon types, it was decided to use the chassis of the popular T-26 tanks. First attempts and the new design resulted in the SU-1 of 1932. Though it was displayed at military parades, it never got beyond the prototype stage. Additional attempts including lifting high caliber guns on a modified T-26 chassis. These were produced during 1935-6 and armed with the 76.2 mm 3K Mk 1931 gun and designated SU-6.

In parallel, from 1933 on, the design team worked on a new type of armament. This new self-propelled gun, armed with the 76.2mm gun, was called the AT-1. Its PS-3 gun was mounted on the T-26 tank chassis in a completely enclosed compartment. The design included many access hatches to facilitate firing and quick abandoning of the vehicle. Its compact design, large number of common parts with the original tank and good range in trial results, promised a good combat vehicle. However after 10 were built, construction was discontinued in favor of the larger and faster BT-7A tank. Work on the special shape of the upper portion of the tank was used in later projects of the design team which included the T26-TN command tank. Many historians consider the AT-1 as the predecessor of the German Stug III assault guns."

As you can see, there are a LOT of parts to this kit. I'd say that you get the best bang for the buck with this one! Anyway, the parts are well molded and free from flash, ejector pin marks and sink marks. The attachment points are also commendably small so removing the bits won't be a real problem. A full interior is provided that includes the main gun and storage racks for shells. The hatches can be displayed in the open position so that you can see interior details, otherwise they are almost totally hidden. Most of the parts count comes from all of the various wheels and rollers that have to be built up for the suspension. The kit also includes 20 reloads and rack for the Lewis machine gun! The tracks and the towing cable are provided in a soft plastic so those who don't like separate track links in 1/72 won't have any problems.

Since the kit has so many parts, you'd think that the instructions would be in many steps and you would be correct.  There are 19 construction steps for this vehicle and each includes any necessary color information. Though no color chart is given in the instructions, all the colors start with an H so it is assumed that this means a Humbrol paint. It would be very nice for those of us who don't have access to or don't use Humbrol paints to have a chart or at least the name of the color given to us. Probably because there are no decals,  no overall painting guide provided other than what is shown on the box top. Personally, I feel that this lack of painting information is the biggest negative aspect to this kit and I do wish they'd start to include it.

Well, with all of the parts that are in this kit, one will definitely be getting one's money's worth when buying this particular kit. It should also build into a very interesting model of a little-know and historically significant armored vehicle.

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