Valentine 25pdr SP ‘Bishop’ w/No.27 Ammunition Limber(Special)

Plastic kit from BRONCO, for the asembly of a British self-propelled artillery gun with a trailer for carrying ammunition Valentine 25pdr SP ‘Bishop’ w/No.27 Ammunition Limber(Special) of WW II, on 1/35 scale. Includes sprues with plastic parts, assembly instructions, clear parts, P.E. parts and decals.

Because the British army was repeatedly hit by German mechanized artillery on the desert battlefield in North Africa, they urgently need a self-propelled gun that can be placed on the tank chassis as fire support and can be moved quickly. At the beginning of 1942, the British army had only a 25-pound field gun that was more suitable for mounting on a tank chassis. At that time, the Birmingham Railway Locomotive Company used the Valentine's tank chassis to modify a self-propelled gun prototype vehicle, and then modified the design according to the military's requirements to install a 25-pound field gun for testing. The car was immediately named the "Bishop" type and was put into production in mid-1942. It looks like a square iron house is installed on the tank and a 25-pounder gun and 32 rounds of ammunition are placed inside. Although the design concept is good, the'Bishop' type self-propelled gun has several major shortcomings, which are slow speed, limited cruising range and tall stature. At least 100 "Bishop" type was produced and used in North Africa and the Italian front, until the US M7 "Missionary" and Canadian "Priest" type self-propelled guns were produced.