CV 90 or Stridsfordon 90 in Swedish is the denomination for a family of combat vehicles which development started in the mid 1980s. The first prototype was delivered to the Swedish army in 1988. It was a tracked infantry combat vehicle armed with a 40 mm automatic cannon. In 1989 4 additional prototypes were delivered one which being armed with a M242 Bushmaster 25 mm cannon and one being an Antiaircraft variant.

After the trials an initial order for IFVs only was placed in 1991 and the first vehicles were issued late 1993. Their official denomination was CV 9040. In the meantime the prototypes for the artillery observation, the command  and recovery variants were trialed. In 1993 a second order included all the variants including the antiaircraft one.

The CV 9040 is the basic IFV of the Swedish army. From the second batch, the vehicles were fitted with a fire control coupled to a thermal imager and a rotatable sight. The fitting of a rack for the antitank missile BILL led to the suspression of one seat in the troop compartment reducing the number of troops to 7. The vehicle can fire on the move thanks to the cannon stabilization system.

In 2000 the Swedish army required the modification of some vehicles prior to foreign deployments. A set of modula armor (AMAP) was developed by the German company IBD Deisenroth. It reinforces the front and side protection of the hull and the turret. Consequently the coaxial machine gun was moved on top of the turret roof while being fired from inside. The smoke dischargers were moved too.
A new thermal imager was fitted, the optics got a anti-laser coating a another seat was deleted reducing the number of troops to 6. This new version was designated CV 9040C.

58 vehicles were brought to the C standard : 42 IFVs, 3 antiaircraft vehicles, 8 artillery observation vehicles, 2 command vehicles and 3 recovery vehicles.

Between 2004 and 2006 13 vehicles were deployed to Liberia within UN mission in Liberia (UNMIL). From 2009 Sweden also deployed some CV 9040C to Afghanistan within the ISAF mission.

The CV 90 has been sold to many countries however the versions are different from those in service with the Swedish army.

The kit

Hobby Boss released this kit in 2010. It comprises 11 beige plastic sprues, 2 hull halves, 1 turret upper shell, 4 black plastic sprues for the track pads, 1 clear parts sprue, 1 bag for the individual track links, 1 plate of photoetched parts, 1 sheet of decals and 1 instructions booklet and an additional color plate for the decorations.

The molding is good without flash, the level of details is good too. The mold lines are thin, the ejection pin marks are scarce however some are badly located. The overall fit is good. The notice has some mistakes concerning the number of parts to use or the numbering. The track links are clickable without glue but the pins are too fragile for the tracks to be handled. The rubber pads are too thin but they fit perfectly into the track links.

For the decoration Hobby Boss propose a plain green livery and UN white one. The decal sheet include many Swedish and UN registration numbers but their correspondence is not systematically given.

If Hobby Boss have nicely represented the modular add-on armor, they have omitted several features of the C standard : turret roof MG, stowage bin instead of the skis rack and the belly protection. Small lights on both sides of the front armor have been omitted too.

The build

It is divided into 17 steps and begins with the suspension assembly. The swing arms are not moveable. Hobby Boss molded the torsion bars symmetrically which is wrong.

At step 2 you need to assemble the sprocket wheels, the roadwheels and the idler wheels. For the roadwheels there is a ring to glue to each half-roadwheel. The insertion is not always perfect. The rubber tread features factory mold lines way too prominent. I preferred to sand them completely according to the reference pictures. The hole to fix the idlers is too narrow and requires to be enlarged.

Steps 3 and 4 deal with the rear panel and the access hatch which inner face can be detailed even though no interior is provided. Only one PE support PE-20 is needed for the snow spades. The skis rack requires some attention. Unlike what the notice tells you I first glued the rear panel to the hull before adding the details to it.

At step 6 the top of the hull is detailed mainly with the driver and troop compartment hatches. The rear lights are not glued yet.

Step 7 is skipped. It deals with the front clear lights. Those will be glued when the hull is painted.

At step 8 the hull is assembled.

Before gluing the roadwheels at step 9 the lower hull and the roadwheels are painted and partly weathered. The rubber front flaps C14 andC15 are not glued before the tracks are installed.

At step 10 the sprockets are not glued to facilitate the setting of the tracks are step 11.

Hobby Boss tell to assemble 82 links per track however 83 or 84 are better to get a correct sagging. The links are clickable but the pins are too tiny to resist. It is better to glue them. Once the tracks are in place, you can glue the rear rubber flaps B22 and B23.

At steps 12 and 13 you just have to glue the last details to the hull including the side skirts. The rear view mirrors are not used because on the majority of the reference pcitures they are not used.

From step 14 the turret assembly begins. Before starting I added tie-down from thin metal wire. In fact Hobby Boss give some tie-down as PE parts whereas the other are molded solid. So they are more realistic I replaced them all. When it is done the turret assembly can start with the cannon. Unfortunatley Hobby Boss give the barrel in two parts which requires to thoroughly clean the glue seam. The alignment of the barrel with the flash suppressor requires some attention.

At step 15 you need to glue 7 vision blocks A1 and not only 6 as shown on the drawing.

At step 16 there is no mark on the hatch C12 to glue the PE handle PE-25. The main sight PE cover PE-10 is larger than the sight. So I added spacers to the axes. Finally the dust cover PE-22 is too stiff. It is advised to soften it by heating it. Once in place it prevents the cannon to move.

At step 17 the PE tie-downs are not used as stated before and the turret is fitted to the hull.

The decoration

The UN livery is characteristic of thsi version so I chose it.

The XF-2 Flat White base color is sprayed all over the vehicle including the lower hull. To break the monotony and represent a vehicle deployed from some times, some roadwheels and one sprocket have been painted XF-26 Deep Green.

The modular armor panel lines have been enhanced with a black felt pen them some white has been sprayed over. When it is dry a light grey wash is applied around the details. A coat of gloss varnish has been applied before applying the decals.

Hobby Boss provide many Swedish and UN markings but do not give the correspondence. To get the things more complicated the vehicles kept their Swedish registration numbers in addition to the UN one. In some cases this one was first painted before a metal plate was attached. For my vehicle I decided to show a vehicle with a combination of the 3 types.

When the markings are applied the weathering has been done by spraying many thin layers of brown. The lower parts got more layers while the turret remained nearly clean. The tracks were painted brown, the track pads were painted XF-85 Rubber Black. Then some brown has been sprayed so the tracks are homogenous.

Conclusion

Hobby Boss released an original kit which presents too many accuracy issues. Unfortunately it is often the case with this brand. The notice is sometimes not precise enough for the decorations options. However the assembly is easy and the fit is good.

Last updated: 01/2025