The light armored car has been designed under the denomination AML 245 by Panhard in the late 1950s to replace the Ferret armored cars. Production began in 1959 and the first deliveries occurred in 1960.

The first AML were only fitted with the turret Havre HE 60-7 armed with a 60 mm mortar cannon and twin 7.5 mm AA 52 MGs. Later a new version of the turret, HE 60-12, was produced with a single .50 cal MG instead of the AA 52s.

The 60 mm mortar was breech loaded. Its initial range was 300 m in direct fire and 1600 in indirect fire. The introduction of new ammunition extended the range to 2650 m with the explosive round. The mortar could fire the following types of ammunition: explosive, illumination, anti armor and training. 53 rounds were stowed on board in the combat version and only 32 in the command version.

Whatver the turret type may be, it is manually operated and can traverse all round. With the turret HE 60-7 the mortar could elevate from -15° to +76° whereas the AA52 could only elevate to +60°. With the turret HE 60-12 both the mortar and the MG could elevate from -11° to +76°.

Two searchlights are on the turret. The first one is slaved to the MGs, the second is manually oriented by the vehicle commander.

Because of its permanent full 4 WD transmission and its light weight the AML had a good mobility. The two gap crossing elements stowed at the front of the hull enabled the crossing of a ditch up to 1.10 m. With eight elements the crossing span was 3.20 m.

The AML has a crew of 3: a driver, a vehicle commander-loader and a gunner.

The AML in all its versions remained in service with the French army until the 1990s and many countries are still using it in 2021. About 4000 AML in all types were produced and served in more than 30 countries. The AML saw action in many conflict in Africa (in particular by the French army) but also in the Middle-East (Lebanon, Kuwait) and South-America (Falklands). The AML has also been produced and modified by South-Africa under the denomination of Eland. Other versions armed with a 90 mm gun or a 20 mm cannon have also been built.

The kit

Released in 2017 by Takom it comprises 4 light grey sprues, 1 clear parts sprue, 1 lower hull, 1 turret shell, 5 vinyl tires, 1 small decals sheet and 1 instructions booklet.

The cast is good and the level of detail is very good. The fit is fine but some elements such as the rear square boxes required some attention to be perfectly aligned. The model is accurate and depicts a late vehicle with purely French features (NBC decontamination bottle on the left door and studs for the camo net bags brackets).

The both types of turrets HE 60-7 and HE 60-12 can be built. The steering is workable and the wheels can turn. While all the hatches can be open, no interior is issued.

The notice comprises 14 pages of which 8 are dedicated to the assembly and 2 to the painting. The instructions are clear however some parts are omitted. The 4 decorations proposed by Takom enable to represent 2 Spanish AML in Sahara in the 1970s, 1 Senegalese AML (mislabeled as a French one) and 1 Portugese AML. The paint references are from the Ammo Mig range.

The build

It begins with the hull rear. At step 2 Takom has omitted a suspension stop E10.

At step 3 I had to fill a gap between the box H20 and the hull.

Steps 4 and 5 deals with the steering parts.

At step 6 Takom again omitted a suspension stop E10.

Step 7 it is advised to check the horizontal alignment of the brackets for the crossing elements E35 and E36 before the bondage is definitive.

Steps 8 to 11 do not need any comment.

At step 12 I drilled out the extinguisher nozzle. It is advised to reinforce with a bit of brass rod the leg of the IR light E8. The IR lights brackets G31 and G30 (only mentioned at step 13) are not used. Hence the holes on the fenders are filled.

At step 13 the wheels are assembled but not glued to the suspension arms to facilitate the painting. The thin mold line on the tire tread is removed with the tip of a soldering iron.

At step 14 you have to glue the hull roof. I think it could be done at set 7 when the rear boxes are just installed.

At step 17 I didn't glue the rear view mirrors to avoid any breakage during the painting.

At step 18 I made with masking tape the securing straps for the crossing elements.

At step 19 if you do not represent a French AML you must not glue the decontamination bottle E18. Likewise if you install the jerrycan holder you need to make the circular bracket for the spare wheel holder. Takom has only represented the 3 rods on which the wheel is bolted

From step 20 the turret assembly begins with the installation of the vision blocks inside the shell. The I shifted straight to step 23 to assemble the weapons mantlet before gluing the turret halves. The mantlet is supposed to be mobile but when I glued part F5 I mistakenly glued the whole assembly. However this is not a real issue as it allows to make the searchlight really slaved to the weapons as it is not designed that way by Takom.

When the turret is assembled the different details are added which only takes 2 steps. At the rear of the turret there are two stops for the rear hatch. If you do not use the tarp F19 you have to add on top of the stops one 0.8 mm disc to depict the rubber pad.

At step 24 Takom misnumbered part E9 as E6. The mistake is easy to spot though.

The buils is over. The wheels will be glued only after the painting.

The déeoration

I chose to represent a Spanish legion AML in sand color belonging to the Grupo Ligero Sahariano II of the Tercio IV "Alejandro Famesio". The base color is a mix of XF-59 Desert Yellow and XF-57 Buff. Then I made some highlights with the base color and more Buff added. Finally the details were hand painted with the lighter color with white added. A coat of Klir was sprayed before applying the decals. As it darkened the vehicle a bit I enlightened it again with a filter of white oil.

For the weathering I applied a dark brown wash around the various details. I also create some streaking with some dark brown. The dust effect is a combination of the following pigments references: Ammo Mig North Africa Dust and Syrian Ground. The vinyl tires are rubbed with some steel wool to eliminate their shiny look then they are weathered with pigments only. To avoid any reaction between the tire and the plastic rim, the latter is entirely painted and sealed with a coat of Klir.

Conclusion

This AML is an easy model for a quick assembly because of its design and the low number of parts count. Being French I regret the lack of any French decoration options for this vehicle characteristic of reconnaissance units. However the original decoration schemes enable to depict less commonly seen vehicles.

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