Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series
10th Anniversary Series Kit No. 6179; 60 cm Moerser "Karl" Geraet 040; 390 parts
(386 in light grey styrene, 2 steel springs, 1 turned aluminum projectile, 1
steel axle).
Retail Price $69.95 per the Dragon Models
website.
Advantages: first injected molded kit of this
vehicle in this scale; very nicely done and includes the more popular "link and
length" track system; half the price of resin or composite versions of this
vehicle.
Disadvantages: only builds the 60 cm version of
the vehicle; some minor shortcuts in production; some may wish for a turned
barrel (see comments).
Rating: Highly Recommended.
Recommendation: for all German and artillery fans.
F I R S T L O O K.
The Germans and French have always had diametrically opposed
views of artillery. The Germans always thought that if one round could do the
job right the first time, get a bigger gun. The French concept was a lot of
little rounds fired very fast can do the same job. Both got their test during
WWI, and both sides found the wisdom and folly of their choices. The French
found that their concept was a sure winner as an infantry killer, but the
Germans found that their concept was a fortress cracker and excellent
suppression weapon.
When
the Germans began to rearm for WWII, they still saw a need for fortress
crackers. But the one drawback to their WWI version, the 42 cm "Big Bertha", was
that it was very slow and very hard to maneuver due to its huge size and the
number of loads it had to travel in. They therefore took its new progeny, a 60
cm ultraheavy mortar dubbed Geraet (Equipment) 040, and put it on a specially
designed self-propelled chassis. While the complete weapon still went around 124
metric tons in firing order, at least it only need to be broken into two
components for movement and could position itself once it arrived in its firing
position. One prototype and five production guns were built.
Later, while the 600mm projectile
was found to be perfect for eliminating pesky Soviet defenders a block at a
time, it was too short-ranged and the guns were always in danger of simple enemy
counterbattery fire. As a result, a smaller 54 cm barrel was designed which gave
the weapon a 50% increase in effective range while still throwing a nearly 3,000
pound projectile.
The guns were
all given names, just as with the German superheavy railway guns: Adam (I), Eve
(II), Thor (III), Odin (VI), Loki (V) and Ziu (VI). Eve and Loki were captured
by US forces in 1945.
This is a
stunning vehicle in size and concept, and has been done in 1/72 scale as a
plastic kit and by several manufacturers as a resin or combination kit. Now, in
honor of its 10th Anniversary, Dragon Models has released a very impressive kit
of this monster.
First off, it
does not come in a normal model box but rather in a heavy cardboard crate. The
model box is so large that unpacking the review sample literally made my
granddaughter's day with its size and the amount of excelsior used to protect
it! The box has a two-sided cardboard sleeve with the traditional excellent Ron
Volstad artwork on both sides.
Once inside, the kit is essentially a typical Dragon affair
but on steroids. The hull alone is a single-piece molding with all 22 road wheel
axles molded in place and is over 31 cm long. There are unfortunately ejector
pin marks right above each of the axle mounts, but they appear to be easy to
remove; remember it's hard to get something this big and as rigid as it is out
of the molds without some help.
The model comes with a complete running gear and to the
sighs of relief of many modelers, this kit uses "link and length" track rather
than complete single link assemblies. Alas, each shoe has two injection pin
marks, but these are easily removed with a small file. The road wheels are all
hollow backed, but considering the gun comes in the "down" position, the wheels
are closely spaced, and there is little room above them, this is basically an
inconsequential detail.
The
actual gun mounts are big, but DML has tried to ensure that they do not wind up
toy-like in the fashion of the old Renwal Atomic Cannon. The parts are assembled
in structures so that they replicate the massive frames of the original and
appear reasonably convincing when compared to photos. The rammer assembly is
included and likewise is built up from smaller parts to create something that
appears able to deal with a 5,400 pound shell.
The gun itself is MASSIVE and takes a lot more parts than I
would have thought. Some may whine as the main gun tube is a two-part styrene
assembly and not turned aluminum, but at the size of the tube it would either
weigh six or seven ounces or cost more than the rest of the kit, so DML can't be
blamed for its choice. The tube is – surprise! – rifled, so they did try to do
it right and I give them credit for expediency over silliness.
The driver's position is supplied as
well, but most modelers will probably just wish to use the cover (part B10) to
conceal it. As this wasn't a full-up cross-country chassis, it's pretty spartan
as well.
In order to help keep
the massive breech in battery, the model uses two springs mounted inside the
recoil carriage. The small steel axle mounts on the left upper side of the
cradle, but appears to serve no strengthening function that I can see. The shell
is a nice touch and is big, heavy and neatly turned.
The model comes with two options: an RLM gray scheme for
"Loki" (Gun V) or a three-color camouflage scheme for "Ziu" (Gun VI).
At this time it is not known if DML
will produce a tender vehicle with more projectiles, or offer the projectiles
separately as Tamiya did for its Sturmtiger.
Overall this appears to be a really nicely done kit, and one
which will keep the after-market folks busy with conversions and add-ons. Right
now it can use (but does not need) an 80-wheel mobile barrel transport trailer,
a 24-wheel carriage transport trailer, the railway carrier sections, the 54 cm
barrel option, a Munitionswagen IV ammo carrier, more ammunition, crew figures,
etched brass, markings for the other four guns – everyone in the armor modeling
fraternity should find something which will enhance this kit and make it a
showstopper.
Thanks to Freddie
Leung of DML for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
Kit Review:
DML 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series No. 6166; Sd.Kfz. 164 Nashorn , Poland Autumn
1944; .
551 parts (549 parts in light grey styrene,
2 88mm rounds from turned brass).
Price not given but
most likely $33-39.
Advantages: Retooled kit fixes most
of the problems of the 9-year-old kit; very nice and very petite details;
contains different bits than the Hornisse kit; parts line up!.
Disadvantages: Kit must overcome the reputation of its
forebearer.
Rating: Highly Recommended.
Recommendation: for all German and SP AT gun fans.
F I R S T L O O K.
This is the other shoe to follow the retooled version of the
original DML Nashorn/Hummel chassis kit, and it is the later production version
of the Nashorn which originally came out in 1993 as Kit No. 6004.
As with the Hornisse (DML No.
6165) DML has completely retooled the original kit, replacing much of it
with new or vastly corrected parts and details. They also have produced enough
kits to "mix-and-match" sprues to provide later, more accurate parts. The two
single-link track sprues are for the Pzkw. III/Pzkw. IV kits released over the
years, and the main running gear comes from the Jagdpanzer IV kit. Two sprues of
correct Gw. III/IV hull drive wheels and idlers complete the running gear.
The lower hull is still one piece,
but whereas before the upper hull was a single molding this kit comes with FIVE
parts – fenders, glacis, center mount for the gun, and rear lower hull floor.
Other details are similarly changed from the original kit, and the parts are
also finer in detail and size. Even the external U-shaped tie-downs are included
in nearly scale thickness styrene. But as this is not a "10th Anniversary
Special Kit" it lacks the brass 8.8 cm round of the Hornisse.
The Nashorn has a new "L" and "M"
sprue which did not come with the Hornisse. The "L" sprue provides the
late-model lower hull rear plate with the "C" loops for the spare road wheels.
The "M" sprue comes with 29 new parts, most of which cover the "quick-release"
barrel lock (including the mount fixed to the new forward barrel/muzzle brake
sections) and other detail differences from the Hornisse. It also includes new
sights for the gun.
There remain
some dicey bits to assembly, most notably the tracks and the fenders. The tracks
are a very tight fit under the front fenders, and this is one of those models
where you will have to assemble the lower hull completely prior to working on
the upper hull. It is not very easy to get the tracks installed once the
fenders are in place, as they fit closely and do not leave any room to slide the
upper track run into place. Even the use of a set of Fruilmodel tracks will be a
gamble due to the close fit.
Markings are included for two vehicles, one from sch.
Heerespanzerjaeger Abteilung 525 in Italy in March 1944 and one from Abteilung
519 in Russia, winter 1943-44. The former is in the multicolor camouflage
schemes popular with modelers, whereas the other is apparently a gray vehicle
with whitewash applied to it. The full color instruction sheet shows them to
good advantage.
Overall, this is
a good compliment to the Hornisse and should be popular with German fans. It is
quite an improvement over that first Nashorn kit. (For the naysayers and
nitpickers, please note that 10 years on and after retooling its Panzer IV kits
another large Oriental company has not produced one yet, and DML has done
THREE.)
Thanks once again to
Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
March 2, 2003
(Originally written - February 11, 2003)
Product
Review: Quartermaster's Depot 1/35 Scale Waterslide Transfer (Decal) Sets:
No. 35016, 1/35 Canadian Sherman Tanks of WWII #1 (four
vehicles covered); Price US $9.00.
No. 35017, 1/35
Canadian Dingos #1(four vehicles covered); Price US$9.00.
No. 35018, 1/35 Canadian Jeeps #1 (four vehicles covered);
Price US$9.00.
No. 35019, 1/35 Canadian Universal
Carriers #1 (four vehicles covered); Price US $9.00.
Advantages: Nice, bright new sheets covering different
subjects; precise instructions and photos very helpful; high quality production.
Disadvantages: "Not German"
Rating: Highly Recommended.
Recommendation: To all Canadian and Commonwealth Forces
fans.
In all the squawking
and "What I want to see" hoopla, too often only major players are covered and
the smaller ones ignored. When it comes to military subjects, first place
belongs to German subjects, followed by American, modern European,
Soviet/Russian, British, and then on down the line. This is sort of a shame, for
many times the smaller countries have just as nice a scheme as the "major"
countries and deserve equal treatment.
Canada is one of the smaller countries (in population, of
course) that has usually received short shrift from modeling companies and
manufacturers. While I can think of several sets of markings which came with
either Tamiya or Peerless Max kits, overall one would have to rate the coverage
of Canadian subjects as plumb awful.
It's not that there is a shortage of subjects to choose
from. Canada used or produced a great number of interesting vehicles in WWII
such as the Chevy and Ford general service trucks, Jeeps, Sherman tanks, Ram
tanks and armored personnel carriers, Valentine tanks, Stuart light tanks,
halftracks, and even more postwar items to include M113 APCs, GMC 2 1/2 ton
trucks, M38A1 Jeeps, and German Leopard C.1 tanks. The list covers most of the
major end items used from 1940 to the present day.
To this end, Quartermaster Models of Ontario is now offering
a new line of 1/35 Canadian subject decal sets for use on many existing kits.
This will be happily grabbed up by the very active Canadian modeling population,
and many other modelers who build either "small army" or Commonwealth vehicles
will also be delighted. The artwork is the product of research by noted Canadian
modeler and military historian Barry Beldam, who is a stickler for getting it
right.
Each set comes with
markings for four vehicles on a one-piece sheet (i.e. you must trim around each
decal carefully as they are one big subject, not individual ones.) Decals are
thin and crisp, easily read, and are printed with a 1200 dpi ALPS printer. Each
vehicle is covered by both a side view, a three-view drawing, and a photo.
Set 16 covers four Shermans (DML and
Italeri kits): Sherman V, 8th (Princess Louise) Hussars, Holland 1945; Sherman
V, The Ontario Regiment, Italy 1943; Sherman III OP, 19 Field Regiment, Royal
Canadian Artillery, Holland 1945; and Sherman VC Firefly, The British Columbia
Regiment, Holland 1945.
Set 17
covers four Dingoes (Tamiya): The Calgary Regiment (England 1942), The Three
Rivers Regiment (England 1942), the Calgary Regiment (Dieppe 1942), and the
Royal Canadian Dragoons (England 1942).
Set 18 covers four Canadian Jeeps (Tamiya/Italeri and
Skybow): II Canadian Corps (Falaise Gap 1944); 22 Field Ambulance RCAMC (France
1944); 25 Brigade Signals Section (Korea 1952); and UN Emergency Force/Fort
Garry Horse (Sinai Desert 1960).
Set 19 covers four Universal Carriers (Tamiya): 17th (Duke
of York's Own) Royal Canadian Hussars, England 1942; 4th (Princess Louise)
Dragoon Guards, Italy 1943; Hastings and Prince Edward Island Regiment, Sicily
1943; and Toronto Scottish Regiment, France 1944.
In some cases (since these were the "Mark I" or first series
of markings produced) there were minor errors, but each set comes with a
supplemental errata decal sheet to correct the (obvious) problem. The "Mark II"
sets will come with all corrections in place.
Overall these are handsome markings and will give the
modeler a different look at a familiar vehicle, or at least an option to create
a unique model.
Thanks to Dana
Nield of Quartermaster's Depot for the review samples.
(Quartermaster's Depot can be
reached at http://www.quartermastersdepot.com or at Quartermaster's Depot, 1607
Jane Street, Cornwall, Ontario K6J 1X8, Canada.)
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally
written - February 22, 2003)
Kit Review: DML 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series No. 6166; Sd.Kfz.
164 Nashorn, Poland Autumn 1944;
551 parts (549 parts in
light grey styrene, 2 88mm rounds from turned brass);
Price not given but most likely $33-39.
Advantages: Retooled kit fixes most of the problems of the
9-year-old kit; very nice and very petite details; contains different bits than
the Hornisse kit; parts line up!
Disadvantages: Kit must
overcome the reputation of its forbearer.
Rating: Highly
Recommended.
Recommendation: for all German and SP AT
gun fans.
F I R S T L O O K
This is the other shoe to follow
the retooled version of the original DML Nashorn/Hummel chassis kit, and it is
the later production version of the Nashorn which originally came out in 1993 as
Kit No. 6004.
As with the
Hornisse (DML No. 6165) DML has completely retooled the original kit,
replacing much of it with new or vastly corrected parts and details. They also
have produced enough kits to "mix-and-match" sprues to provide later, more
accurate parts. The two single-link track sprues are for the Pzkw. III/Pzkw. IV
kits released over the years, and the main running gear comes from the
Jagdpanzer IV kit. Two sprues of correct Gw. III/IV hull drive wheels and idlers
complete the running gear.
The
lower hull is still one piece, but whereas before the upper hull was a single
molding this kit comes with FIVE parts – fenders, glacis, center mount for the
gun, and rear lower hull floor. Other details are similarly changed from the
original kit, and the parts are also finer in detail and size. Even the external
U-shaped tie-downs are included in nearly scale thickness styrene. But as this
is not a "10th Anniversary Special Kit" it lacks the brass 8.8 cm round of the
Hornisse.
The Nashorn has a new
"L" and "M" sprue, which did not come with the Hornisse. The "L" sprue provides
the late model lower hull rear plate with the "C" loops for the spare road
wheels. The "M" sprue comes with 29 new parts, most of which cover the
"quick-release" barrel lock (including the mount fixed to the new forward
barrel/muzzle brake sections) and other detail differences from the Hornisse. It
also includes new sights for the gun.
There remain some dicey bits to assembly, most notably the
tracks and the fenders. The tracks are a very tight fit under the front fenders,
and this is one of those models where you will have to assemble the lower hull
completely prior to working on the upper hull. It is not very easy to get
the tracks installed once the fenders are in place, as they fit closely and do
not leave any room to slide the upper track run into place. Even the use of a
set of Fruilmodel tracks will be a gamble due to the close fit.
Markings are included for two
vehicles, one from sch. Heerespanzerjaeger Abteilung 525 in Italy in March 1944
and one from Abteilung 519 in Russia, winter 1943-44. The former is in the
multicolor camouflage schemes popular with modelers, whereas the other is
apparently a gray vehicle with whitewash applied to it. The full color
instruction sheet shows them to good advantage.
Overall, this is a good compliment to the Hornisse and
should be popular with German fans. It is quite an improvement over that first
Nashorn kit. (For the naysayers and nitpickers, please note that 10 years on and
after retooling its Panzer IV kits another large Oriental company has not
produced one yet, and DML has done THREE.)
Thanks once again to Freddie Leung for the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally
written - February 22, 2003)
Kit Review: Dragon Models Limited 1/35 Scale ‘39-‘45 Series
10th Anniversary Series Kit No. 6179; 60 cm Moerser "Karl" Geraet 040;
390 parts (386 in light grey styrene, 2 steel springs, 1
turned aluminum projectile, 1 steel axle);
Retail price
$69.95 as per the Dragon Models website.
Advantages:
first injected molded kit of this vehicle in this scale; very nicely done and
includes the more popular "link and length" track system; half the price of
resin or composite versions of this vehicle.
Disadvantages: only builds the 60 cm version of the vehicle;
some minor shortcuts in production; some may wish for a turned barrel (see
comments).
Rating: Highly Recommended.
Recommendation: for all German and artillery fans.
F I R S T L O O K
The Germans and French have
always had diametrically opposed views of artillery. The Germans always thought
that if one round could do the job right the first time, get a bigger gun. The
French concept was a lot of little rounds fired very fast could do the same job.
Both got their test during WWI, and both sides found the wisdom and folly of
their choices. The French found that their concept was a sure winner as an
infantry killer, but the Germans found that their concept was a fortress cracker
and excellent suppression weapon.
When the Germans began to rearm for WWII, they still saw a
need for fortress crackers. But the one drawback to their WWI version, the 42 cm
"Big Bertha", was that it was very slow and very hard to maneuver due to its
huge size and the number of loads it had to travel in. They therefore took its
new progeny, a 60 cm ultra heavy mortar dubbed Geraet (Equipment) 040, and put
it on a specially designed self-propelled chassis. While the complete weapon
still went around 124 metric tons in firing order, at least it only need to be
broken into two components for movement and could position itself once it
arrived in its firing position. One prototype and five production guns were
built.
Later, while the 600mm
projectile was found to be perfect for eliminating pesky Soviet defenders a
block at a time, it was too short-ranged and the guns were always in danger of
simple enemy counterbattery fire. As a result, a smaller 54 cm barrel was
designed which gave the weapon a 50% increase in effective range while still
throwing a nearly 3,000 pound projectile.
The guns were all given names, just as with the German super
heavy railway guns: Adam (I), Eve (II), Thor (III), Odin (VI), Loki (V) and Ziu
(VI). Eve and Loki were captured by US forces in 1945.
This is a stunning vehicle in size
and concept, and has been done in 1/72 scale as a plastic kit and by several
manufacturers as a resin or combination kit. Now, in honor of its 10th
Anniversary, Dragon Models has released a very impressive kit of this monster.
First off, it does not come in a
normal model box but rather in a heavy cardboard crate. The model box is so
large that unpacking the review sample literally made my granddaughter's day
with its size and the amount of excelsior used to protect it! The box has a
two-sided cardboard sleeve with the traditional excellent Ron Volstad artwork on
both sides.
Once inside, the kit
is essentially a typical Dragon affair but on steroids. The hull alone is a
single-piece molding with all 22-road wheel axles molded in place and is over 31
cm long. There are unfortunately ejector pin marks right above each of the axle
mounts, but they appear to be easy to remove; remember it's hard to get
something this big and as rigid as it is out of the molds without some help.
The model comes with a complete
running gear and to the sighs of relief of many modelers, this kit uses "link
and length" track rather than complete single link assemblies. Alas, each shoe
has two injection pin marks, but these are easily removed with a small file. The
road wheels are all hollow backed, but considering the gun comes in the "down"
position, the wheels are closely spaced, and there is little room above them,
this is basically an inconsequential detail.
The actual gun mounts are big, but DML has tried to ensure
that they do not wind up toy-like in the fashion of the old Renwal Atomic
Cannon. The parts are assembled in structures so that they replicate the massive
frames of the original and appear reasonably convincing when compared to photos.
The rammer assembly is included and likewise is built up from smaller parts to
create something that appears able to deal with a 5,400-pound shell.
The gun itself is MASSIVE and takes
a lot more parts than I would have thought. Some may whine as the main gun tube
is a two-part styrene assembly and not turned aluminum, but at the size of the
tube it would either weigh six or seven ounces or cost more than the rest of the
kit, so DML can't be blamed for its choice. The tube is – surprise! – rifled, so
they did try to do it right and I give them credit for expediency over
silliness.
The driver's position
is supplied as well, but most modelers will probably just wish to use the cover
(part B10) to conceal it. As this wasn't a full-up cross-country chassis, it's
pretty spartan as well.
In order
to help keep the massive breech in battery, the model uses two springs mounted
inside the recoil carriage. The small steel axle mounts on the left upper side
of the cradle, but appears to serve no strengthening function that I can see.
The shell is a nice touch and is big, heavy and neatly turned.
The model comes with two options: an
RLM gray scheme for "Loki" (Gun V) or a three-color camouflage scheme for "Ziu"
(Gun VI).
At this time it is not
known if DML will produce a tender vehicle with more projectiles, or offer the
projectiles separately as Tamiya did for its Sturmtiger.
Overall this appears to be a really
nicely done kit, and one that will keep the after-market folks busy with
conversions and add-ons. Right now it can use (but does not need) an 80-wheel
mobile barrel transport trailer, a 24-wheel carriage transport trailer, the
railway carrier sections, the 54 cm barrel option, a Munitionswagen IV ammo
carrier, more ammunition, crew figures, etched brass, markings for the other
four guns – everyone in the armor modeling fraternity should find something
which will enhance this kit and make it a showstopper.
Thanks to Freddie Leung of DML for
the review sample.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
February 8, 2003
(Originally written
- January 26, 2003)
Kit Review: ROCO "KoMo" 1/87 Scale
Models:
No. 1211, BT-2 Model 1931; 15 parts in olive
drab plastic; Price $5-6;
No. 1213, BT-5 Model 1934; 20
parts in olive drab plastic; Price $5-6;
No. 1222, T-34
76mm Model 1941; 43 parts in olive drab plastic; Price $5-7;
No. 1250, KV-1 Model 1941; 39 parts in olive drab plastic;
Price $7-9;
No. 1271, ZIS-5 Box Type Body truck; 33
parts (24 in olive drab plastic, 7 in clear styrene, 2 steel axles); Price
$4.50-$5.00;
Advantages: new generation of kits for
Soviet armored vehicles of WWII; many nice detail touches, similar to the
Heiser's Models kits; easily recognizable as their prototypes; Disadvantages:
shared molds cause compromises in accuracy; some toy like features similar to
old ROCO kits remain;
Rating: Recommended;
Recommendation: to all HO scale railway fans, armored
vehicle war gamers, or Soviet armor fans.
HO still gets little respect in the US, even with the "fifth
generation" of ROCO kits and the Trident line of models produced in Austria,
Preiser kits from Germany, and other modern efforts in this area. Too many
modelers still equate them with the BB gun targets they had as kids that cost 25
cents each, had about ten parts including toy wheels, and bore only a passing
resemblance to their prototypes.
I just finished four ROCO M-1A1 tanks as a platoon of 1-37
Armor in Germany using the three-color NATO scheme. Each model, fitted with
modified ROCO crew figures, runs between 65 and 70 parts for a model around
three inches long. Each one has a number of nice touches and is at least as
accurate as the 1/35 scale Tamiya kit of the same vehicle.
You do have to purchase decals and
figures as extras, and they require some tolerance of the conventions used in HO
scale. One of them is that track runs - tracks, wheels and suspension arms –
usually come molded as a single part per side, with the result of monolithic
road wheels and a simplification of some details, such as no detail other than
grooves for the face of the track. This generally gets them the rather pithy
epithet of "toy like," but if you can accept it, they are very nice little kits
and can be finished in short order. They also permit a large collection in a
small area, which is why they have always been popular in central Europe where
living space is at a premium.
ROCO makes most of its kits based on US or FRG pattern
equipment, which has limited the number of Soviet/Warsaw Pact vehicles available
to either white metal or resin small manufacturer kits. Several years ago, a
Russian company named Premo completed a marketing agreement with ROCO so that
ROCO would market their products in the European Union and abroad. The first
models from this company were not too bad, consisting mainly of variants of the
T-35 heavy and T-28 medium tanks, and the T-26 light tank family. Premo went on
to do other kits, but now appears to have been bought out by a new company
dubbed KoMo. KoMo is a limited partnership society (OOO in Russian) from
Belgorod, but has expanded the Premo effort with new kits.
The five kits listed above are the
last of the Premo/first of the KoMo releases via ROCO. All are much better than
past Russian efforts and are more in scale than some earlier kits. Each one does
try and capture the basics of its prototype and provide some options to
individualize each tank.
The
BT-2 is the very early machine gun armed variant, and comes with the awkward
twin gun/single gun three gun option in the turret. It captures the correct look
of this tank even though the turret is molded in one piece with all three guns
in place; the ball mount on the right side of the turret suffers, but in this
scale is not as noticeable as in 1/35. It comes with separate muffler, lights,
tow hooks and tow shackles.
The
BT-5 is the "cylindrical turret" variant as the Soviets referred to it but
unfortunately uses the later BT-7 style turret with ring mount for an AA machine
gun. The 45mm gun is overdone and the steps in the barrel are in the wrong
places. It also shares its running gear with the BT-2, but the BT-2 spoke wheels
were only used on the prototypes. It does look like a BT-5 but if you want an
accurate one it will take some work.
The T-34 Model 1941 likewise suffers a few problems. First
and foremost is the fact that it shares is running gear with the T-34-85 Model
1944 kit from the same company, and therefore has cast road wheels with rubber
tires that did not come into general use until mid 1943. The turret is also
noticeably too high, a common problem with many 1/87 scale tanks. Barring those
flaws, the model has a tremendous amount of add-on detail which is close to
scale, including the rectangular auxiliary fuel tanks, separate hatches for the
crew and the (empty) engine bay, tow hooks, tow shackles, lights, grousers,
spare track and an unditching log.
The KV-1 Model 1941 is more accurate in profile than the
T-34, but it too has some minor problems. The main one is that the tank has the
rectangular welded turret and short mantelet recoil cover which go with the
earlier KV-1 Model 1940 and not most of the Model 1941 tanks. This tank was
fitted with the much shorter L/30.5 F-32 gun and not the L/41.5 ZIS-5 gun of the
Model 1941. To make it accurate you need to lop 9.5 mm off the barrel to give it
the correct length.
Other than
that problem, most of the KV is pretty nicely done. Spare parts include applique
armor, tow shackles and mounts, extra tool bins/fuel tanks, tow cables, and
machine guns. It has moveable hatches but these can be slimmed down to scale
with few problems.
The last
model, the ZIS-5 box body truck (also called ZIS-44), is probably the best one
of the bunch and a leading candidate for best ZIS-5 model in any scale. It comes
with a number of add-on parts, such as headlights, windows, drive shaft, muffler
and toolboxes. It is clean and neatly done, and only lacks decals to be a really
super little model.
One problem
with all Premo/KoMo kits is that they come partially assembled, e.g. glued
together where most modelers least want them to be. This causes some heartburn
when opening them up for detailing or finishing, so modelers need to be aware
that they will not "pop" apart like the ROCO or Trident models do.
Overall, these are a nice selection
of models and will compliment any of the new ROCO or Preiser German vehicles in
small dioramas or train layouts. They also provide an inexpensive way to do many
different vehicles or variants.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally written - January 26, 2003)
Kit Review:
Panzershop 1/35 scale Warsaw Pact Series accessory kit No. PS35A320;
BTU-55 (Tank Bulldozer Blade Assembly);
44 parts (39 in light grey resin and 5 etched brass);
Price $22.00;
Advantages: nice,
cleanly molded example of a very common Soviet accessory for medium and main
battle tanks; Disadvantages: directions could have been a bit better;
Rating: Highly Recommended;
Recommendation: for all Warsaw Pact or engineer vehicle
fans.
Contrary to what some
people would think, and considering that tanks evolved from "Caterpillar"
tractors in the early part of the 20th Century, tanks tend to make lousy
engineering vehicles. There are a number of reasons for this, most of them
involving the fact that a tank is designed to move at high speed but without a
great deal of tractive force, whereas engineer vehicles like bulldozers are
designed to move slowly but with a huge amount of pulling/pushing force.
Still, when needed, a tank is the
best way to carry out engineer work in combat under many situations (like under
fire, for one). Over the years, adaption was made of two main types of engineer
equipment - surface clearers and mine clearers – for use on tanks. The Soviets
designed most of their equipment to fit a set of common mounts on T-54, T-55 and
T-62 tanks, and then proceeded to issue the items in reasonably large numbers.
The BTU-55 is a slightly more
dedicated device, as it has to be attached directly to the hull and not to the
universal mounts. It requires several pads to be welded to the upper and lower
glacis, but would appear to use the hole for the bow machine gun for its control
systems. The blade is a straight-up copy of an earthmoving bulldozer blade with
one major exception. As tanks – as noted – really don't make very good
bulldozers, a keeper has to be placed on the blade to prevent it from digging in
too deep and having the tank damage its running gear trying to move more earth
than it is capable of doing. This became an immediate identifier for the BTU-55
assembly when compared to other Soviet or Warsaw Pact versions.
Panzershop's kit is a very cleanly
executed effort to reproduce the BTU-55 assembly and appears to have hit it spot
on. The kit provides all of the mounts, pads, pins and even the travel lock
cables for fitting the blade to a T-55 model. Etched brass is provided to cover
the part where the scraper edge attaches to the moldboard with large screws, a
good use of etched brass and a great place to put it.
If assembled with some care and a
few minor replacement parts (e.g. styrene pins in place of the resin ones in the
hinges) the blade assembly should work. This gives the modeler a bit more
flexibility in what to do with the blade once fitted to the model. The blade
only moves in the vertical plane relative to the lateral axis of the tank and
its horizontal plane; it does not skew to either side like the blade on the IMR
series of engineer vehicles.
The
one major problem with this kit is the directions are a bit too "idiot proofed,"
which means that they really don't convey all of the necessary information.
These consist of five photographs, one of the kit parts less the etched brass
and four views of a finished and painted model with the blade in place. It
really doesn't give any idea of where the pads have to go on the model in order
to get the geometry for the blade right, nor does it explain other corrections
and changes that must be made. (Case in point: the model has its white light and
blackout light moved to the top of the fenders, and only the IR light remains in
its mount on the glacis; also the splasboard on the glacis has been removed.)
I had access to British Mission
(BRIXMIS) photos in my job in Berlin, and was surprised to see shots of two East
German T-55 tanks taken during the massive European blizzard of 31 December 1978
- 1 January 1979 that had attempted to clear snow from East German roads. One
had little to show of itself other than the blade, the bore evacuator, and the
antenna sticking out of a huge mount of snow; the other had slid off the road
and was upside down on an embankment. Both would make great dioramas, and now
with the advent of this kit and the Tamiya T-55 kit it can easily be done.
Panzershop accessories can be
obtained from Chesapeake Model Designs.
Thanks to Bill Miley of Chesapeake Models Designs and Steve
Zaloga for passing the review sample to me.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally written - January 12, 2003)
Kit Review: Academy 1/35 scale Kit No. 1398; M3A1 Stuart;
703 parts (276 in olive drab styrene, 424 steel colored
styrene, 2 steel colored vinyl, 1 nylon string);
Price
$22.50-28.00;
Advantages: Follows on heels of "Honey"
kit; offers vinyl or 3-piece single-link track; literally a "drop fit" over
Ordnance blueprints!;
Disadvantages: Some odd shortcuts
hurt the overall effect of the kit; needs work to be a true M3A1 tank;
Rating: Recommended;
Recommendation:
for all US and Allied armor fans, especially British North African armour.
I was really excited when the first new kit of a
favorite American tank, the M3 and M5 light tank series, came out last year from
Academy. Upon opening the box, the changes from the quarter-century-old Tamiya
kits appeared to be tremendous.
To begin with, as with the M3 kit, this one literally drops
over the Ordnance Museum 1/35 scale set of blueprints for the M3 Light Tank
(alas, no longer available) and has a SCALE turret. The hull also has sponson
floors under the sponsons. Length and shape issues have been resolved as well.
While the rear air intake vent is solid (no nylon screen is included) it is easy
to fix, and since it is a separate part there is also some wiggle room to put an
engine in view.
The kit comes
with the modified armament for the M3, consisting of the bow, coaxial, and AA
.30 caliber machine guns, and the M6 37mm cannon. This gun is slightly longer
than the earlier M5, which was still quite common in most M3 variants, but those
who wish to externally modify the gun should have no problems. It will be tough
to fit the model with an aluminum barrel, however, as the gun is presented in
full and mounts to the turret race and not to a set of model-type swivels inside
the turret. The new turret sprue also provides the "wing" guns. This lit also
does have hatch detail inside the turret hatches, but as it retains the other
kit's hull fittings there are no details inside the driver's lower entrance
hatch flap.
The kit comes with a
gorgeous interior and if you build a "real" M3A1 version with the turret basket
will work very nicely.
The model
comes with a choice of either CORRECT vinyl tracks (e.g. the teeth join the
links together, not fit at the end of each link as with the Tamiya M3 Stuart and
M3 Lee/Grant kits) or three-piece styrene links, joined in the same manner as
AFV Club and RHPS kits (note that the pins are shorter and you will need cement
to get them to stay on.) One nice touch: the kit provides 138 track pads but
sufficient end connectors for 144, so there are 12 extra connectors for those of
us getting fat of fingers in our old age.
The model again provides a choice of wheels. (I'm not
omniscient, the sprues are marked "M3/M5" so it's sort of simplified...) Two
different drive wheels (solid disk or sculpted), two idlers (open welded spoke
or spoke with pie-shaped fillets in them for late-war tanks) and spoke or
pressed steel road wheels. The wheels have a thicker tread that more
approximates the actual vehicles, and is superior to the skinny Tamiya ones.
But that is it for the good news.
While it does come with two sets
of wheels, and the road wheels are wider, they turn out to lack some of the
subtle details found on the Tamiya ones such as the weld beads. Also, the belly
pan of the vehicle was apparently copied from the Tamiya kit and is thus about
1-1.5mm too shallow. Since Academy did do its homework on the numbers, but did
not correctly identify the culprit, they instead changed the angle of the bogie
arms downward to a very awkward angle and thus achieved the correct height for
the vehicle, albeit at the expense of its normal appearance. (Also note that
since they didn't do this for the idler assemblies, they now sit about 1mm off
the ground!)
Steve Zaloga has
suggested that you may want to use the Tamiya bogies on this kit with some minor
modifications (such as drilling out the axle holes) and perhaps the Tamiya idler
wheels in the Academy mounts. (This is if you have some spare Tamiya kits around
– the prices for them have dived since the Academy kits came out, so you can
pick them up for around $5-10 in many shows and flea markets.) At least the
result will sit flat!
There are
some shape differences and some minor problems here and there on the hull (I
personally like this one better than Tamiya's) but there is one major error to
this kit. The production model of the M3A1 was oriented on an improved tank that
required less time and labor to build, and as such employed welding to replace
most of the riveted construction of the M3. As it went down the line, more and
more components were switched over to welding. Since this kit uses the M3's
riveted hull, a lot of work is going to be required to remove the rivets – and
the later model you want, the more rivets will have to come off. The very late
models even used a one-piece rolled rear plate, and that means major filling and
filing of the rear of the hull top to get a good appearance.
Most modelers will probably settle
for the early model M3A1. To get this model to appear correctly, all rivets must
be removed from the side panels of the hull top, the upper perimeter and side
edges (but not the bottom fastening strip or around the viewports) of parts B1
and B54; the late model will necessitate removing all of the rivets on the rear
of the hull and sternplate part B37, cement it to the hull, and then round off
the edges to create the appearance of a single bent steel plate. This isn't an
earth shattering change to make, but it is tedious and if not careful other
details will be nicked up.
Decals are provided for five different vehicles: an M3A1 in
Tunisia, 1943 with the yellow stars and US flag markings; two USMC tanks on
Bouganville in November 1943; two Soviet tanks from 1943 (one should be located
in Voronezh, not Woronez, which is a German spelling.) The Soviet stars were off
but a correction was included; alas, the blue drab on my sample's decal sheet
came out bright aqua and it was not corrected. Archer Fine Transfers makes some
excellent dry transfer blue drab markings that can be used for the US ones; but
the Soviet ones have their markings applied over the blue drab ones and as a
result nearly render the decals useless.
Overall, this is a nice little kit with a lot of
possibilities, but Academy took some unhappy shortcuts with it and as a result
it is not as much of a quantum change from the Tamiya kits as first thought.
Hopefully they do not scrimp in this manner on their M5 series light tanks and
use the same too-short Tamiya hull as a reference.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally written - January 4, 2003)
Product Review: Modelpoint Ground Power
CD No. 1a, Red Stars in Detail;
Price around $30;
Advantages: Amazing amount of information; beautiful color
photos of existing vehicles provide a wealth of information of use to modelers;
Disadvantages: May be difficult to find in US
(Modelpoint products are now being carried by more dealers, however);
Rating: Highly Recommended;
Recommendation: For all modern Soviet and Russian armor
fans.
There are occasionally
products which when they initially come out which are so frustrating to use that
you wonder who on earth could have been so foolish as to produce them. This was
one of those products, but happily Modelpoint is serious about selling this sort
of reference media and fixed its one fatal flaw in a hurry.
BUT – "Having said that, Modelpoint
provided no means or mechanism from which to print the images from the disk!
Right-button mouse clicking will bring no avail, and use of a browser like IE
5.5 is likewise unable to give access to a print function."
That was my comment when I first
reviewed this product back on September 15th. I sent a courtesy copy of my
review to Modelpoint, and immediately got a very unhappy reply from Mikhail
Putnikov about the review. After exchanging several e-mails, it turned out that
Modelpoint had produced about 30-35 of the first version of this disk before
someone caught the fact it had no print function.
Modelpoint has now happily fixed the problem – using a
simple control-P function – as well as added a large number of additional images
to the disk. The amount of information on this one disk is incredible, as are
the sections of manuals that are now made available to non-Russian speakers.
True, the images from the manuals are all still in Russian, but the images are
tagged in English and most people can figure out what they are looking at in the
drawing.
This is a beautifully
mastered CD that provides a huge amount of information for a relatively
inexpensive cost. The disk includes technical manual pages and fresh color
photos of the following vehicles: ISU-152, ISU-152M/K, T-72, T-72A, T-72B,
T-72BM, T-90, KV-1/KV-2/KV-1s, 2S3 "Akatsiya", BT series tanks, 122mm D-30
howitzer, 45mm antitank guns, "Komintern" tractors, and the MT-LB/MT-LBV/MT-LBU
series armored vehicles. Most article sections have from 2 to 70 pages from the
manual, as well as 20 to 100 photos of the actual vehicles. All are sharp and
clear (this is as viewed on a 17" monitor set at 800 x 600) and of great use to
monitors and vehicle buffs. Printing varies according to the setting you have on
the printer (as a hint, set it to use "Landscape" to get full page printing.)
For example, with the T-72
series drawings and photos provided, if you can't get the details you want from
what Modelpoint has provided, stick to "out of the box!"
Overall, this is now the first of
what Mikhail and the rest of the folks at Modelpoint hope to be a continuing
series, and if they all are like this one, we who do Russian and Ukranian
armored vehicles will be in "hog heaven!"
Thanks to Mikhail for his cooperation and the corrected disk
for comparison.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally written - January 4, 2003)
Product
Review: Quartermaster's Depot 1/35 Scale Diorama Accessories:
No. 35001, American WWII Posters #1(9 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35002, US WWII Posters #2 (10 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35003, German WWII Posters #1 (9 subjects); US
$4.00;
No. 35004, German WWII Posters #2 (9 subjects);
US $4.00;
No. 35005, British WWII Posters #1 (9
subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35006, Canadian WWII Posters #1
(8 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35007, Canadian WWII Posters
#2 (8 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35008, Modern Maps #1 (9
subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35009, D-Day Maps
(approximately 100 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35010,
Newspapers WWII #1 (61 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35011,
German Magazines #1 (70 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35012,
German Magazines #2 (approximately 125 subjects); US $4.00;
No. 35013, Camouflage Netting - Green (144 sq in); US $5.50;
No. 35014, Camouflage Netting - Tan (144 sq in); US
$5.50;
No. 35015, Camouflage Netting - Khaki Green (144
sq in); US $5.50;
Advantages: Nice, neatly done work
should really accent a diorama or vignette; will look good with individual
vehicles or personnel as well;
Disadvantages: First
offerings from this company so no established customer base; nets will look
better with added scrim or flocking;
Rating: Highly
Recommended;
Recommendation: to all WWII modelers and
many post-WWII modelers;
The
hardest part about doing a diorama, once the theme and subjects have been picked
and the materials needed for its creation set aside, is the final detailing to
really capture "The Look" that the modeler wants to portray. This requires all
sorts of details in the background, many of which have to be distressed, and all
of which have to represent the correct time frame modeled.
Posters, maps, magazines, and the
like are always common in cities and barracks areas, and the latter two are not
uncommonly are found in forward areas as well. Too often, however, accessory
manufacturers tend to present these in black and white on cardboard that is too
stiff and too dull to look right. Also, they tend to use cheap printing which
leaves large 35/1 scale dots on simulated photos and other materials, that looks
totally out of scale and unrealistic.
Quartermaster's Depot is a new Canadian manufacturer run by
Dana John Nield, a Canadian modeler who is familiar to many "web surfers" and
has a nice web site covering Canadian subjects with input from people like Barry
Beldam. Dana has oriented his company on filling in some of the blanks and
providing new materials for modelers in these areas. The first efforts appear to
be outstanding, and really do fill a niche that has not been well represented.
The posters and maps come on semi-gloss paper and are printed by a 1200 dpi
laser jet, which eliminates the "dotty" problems some others have suffered. It
also yields small print that is readable down to about 2 point level size if you
have a magnifying glass! All are packed in resealable tape packets (similar to
those used by AFV Club for their kit sprues.)
The American poster sets provide several varied subjects
from "Uncle Sam" and "Rosie the Riveter" down to training posters and public
service warnings.
The German
poster sets provide the usual assortment of propaganda materials aimed at
enlistment and motivation.
The
British poster set covers some of the classics, such as one of Winston in action
and also the famous "Never Was So Much..." one of RAF crews.
The Canadian ones are similar to the
British set but more unique and a nice change of pace.
The Modern Maps set is pretty
generic but offers nine nicely done maps in 1/50,000 scale in 1/35 scale (or I
guess that makes them 1/1,750,000 scale!)
The D-Day Map set provides four Commonwealth maps of the
major beaches and two 1/50,000 scale maps of inland areas, plus what appear to
be ration chits and a deck of cards with separate backs.
The WWII newspapers cover a
selection of US, UK, and German papers from the period, but once again I
recommend a magnifying glass so you don't use "Danzig is liberated" for the fall
of Berlin!
The German magazines
cover a large number of issues of "Signal" with a number of inserts for the
magazine covering single and double page photo spreads; #2 also provides various
passes and papers and another deck of cards.
The three camouflage nets each provide one square foot of
neatly died mesh, but to look right these will need to have some flocking from
Woodland Scenics or crushed leaves attacked with spray-on adhesive to look
right. That will be up to the modeler to choose, but the nets at least provide a
good background to attach it to. The tan and khaki would probably work best for
a basis for modern US military netting in the desert and temperate climates
respectively.
Overall, this is a
nice opening gambit from Quartermaster's Depot and I think we will see more nice
work from them. Quartermaster's Depot can be contacted at
http://www.quartermastersdepot.com.
Thanks to Dana Nield for the review samples.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
(Originally written - December 25, 2002)
Kit Review: Tamiya 1/35 Kit No. 35257;
1/35 Scale Military Miniature Series No. 257, T-55A Russian
Medium Tank;
297 parts (279 in olive styrene, 14 in
black vinyl, 2 tracks in grey gluable vinyl, 1 nylon screen, 1 nylon string);
Retail price $33-40;
Advantages:
Decent, first-rate kit of this important vehicle; basic options for four
different versions out of the box; finally catches the shapes and nuances of the
T-54/T-55 series tanks;
Disadvantages: We had to wait 35
years for this kit!!;
Rating: Highly Recommended;
Recommendation: For all Soviet, Warsaw Pact, and modern
"Third World" armor fans!;
F I R S T L O O K
Aleksandr A. Morozov was one of the
co-designers of the T-34 tank in 1939, but never felt that he got his full
credit for designing that tank. Mikhail I. Koshkin, the designer, got the credit
with the powers that be for designing what was arguably the best tank of WWII.
As a result, Morozov spent the rest of his life trying to one-up Koshkin with
the tank that would symbolize Soviet military power. His first major success was
the T-54 tank, which went through three initial production versions and five
years of improvement before emerging as the tank we know today in 1951.
Over the years from 1951-1958, the
T-54 was constantly modernized and improved, and prototypes were built of newer
tanks with improvements over the basic T-54. Morozov went back to Khar'kov in
the early 1950s, and by 1957 the chief designer at Nizhniy Tagil (where the
T-54s were built) was Leonid Kartsev. Rather than continuously making
incremental improvements to the T-54, Kartsev decided to make all the
improvements at once and produce the ultimate T-54 variant. His team did this,
and on 8 May 1958 the T-55 Model 1958 tank was accepted for production.
The T-55 Model 1958 combined all of
the improvements of the T-54 series into one tank with other improvements. These
included a new, smoother turret design, greater ammunition stowage for the main
gun, more powerful engine, greater fuel capacity, a thermal smoke generator,
improved night sights, improved two-axis stabilizer, and later on nuclear
radiation lining. However, the new tank lacked the earlier 12.7mm DShK
antiaircraft machine gun, as it was not felt to be necessary.
Four years later, a newer version
using much thicker radiation shielding for operations on a nuclear battlefield
was introduced as the T-55A. This tank had heavy radiation shielding collars
around the turret hatches and radiation covers over all access hatches. But it
too lacked the AA MG.
Finally,
after complaints from troop commanders, both tanks were issued with a cupola for
the AA MG in 1970. The T-55 remained in production in the USSR from 1958 to 1981
and 1970 standards. A proposed upgrade to an M series of tanks in 1983 was
signed, but very few tanks (T-55M and T-55AM) were built in the USSR. These
tanks were also built with some modifications in Poland and Czechoslovakia. The
Chinese combined features of the T-54 and the T-55 in the creation of their Type
59 and Type 69 medium tanks as well. Over 130,000 T-54 and T-55 series tanks and
their immediate relatives (from China) have been built.
One would think with all of those
tanks in service that this would have been a popular modeling subject and well
treated by the major companies, but up until now this has not been the case.
Tamiya produced a kit of the T-55 in 1967 but it was, to be succinct, pretty
awful. No one else even bothered until 1989 when Lindberg produced a kit of the
T-55 which could be built as r a T-55 Model 1958 or Israeli Ti-67/T-55 Model
1970, but it left a lot to be desired. Likewise, around 1992 ESCI produced a kit
of the T-55 that could be built as a T-55, T-55A, or Ti-67. Again, the kits had
numerous shape and detail errors and were a big disappointment.
In 1999 China began producing kits
from the Wasan Plastic Company and releasing them in the US under the Trumpeter
label and other kits under the Lee brand name abroad. Most were not very good,
as for everything they got right they made changes that got it wrong. Plus,
early Trumpeter kits were made from an ABS type plastic that was very difficult
to cement together. All were motorized, and the modifications made to fit the
motors in the kits did not help either.
In 2001 SKIF of the Ukraine – people who should know what a
T-55 looks like – introduced a kit of the T-55A, but it was so angular and
missed the entire personality of the tank that it was more of an insult than a
disappointment.
For many years
DML had advertised that they would do a T-55 kit, but this was dropped from
their catalogue after five years. It was therefore something of a bolt from the
blue in the fall of 2002 when Tamiya announced they were going to do a kit of a
T-55A. Having been let down before by recent Tamiya forays into Soviet armor –
their uninspired T-72 and lackluster IS-3 kits being major personal
disappointments – I could only hope for the best.
This kit is now out, and I received one precipitously on
Christmas Eve from Bill Miley of Chesapeake Model Designs. After opening the
box, the best way to describe my reaction is one of stunned silence. While I am
sure that the German armor fans will argue, my personal opinion is that this is
probably the finest overall armor kit ever produced by Tamiya.
First off, the kit is pretty much
dead on the money in regard to dimensions and details. It is one of the later
model tanks (after the hull machine gun was dropped) but comes with parts for
four basic variants (T-55 Model 1958, T-55A Model 1962, T-55 Model 1970, and
T-55A Model 1970) as well as many of the differentiating parts for Soviet and
Warsaw Pact variants. The design of the kit is also such that conversion (or
more likely a follow-on kit) for the T-54 series or the Type 59/69 will be quite
easy to accomplish. The engine deck is separate (but not the radiator or oil
cooler grille area) and all major detail parts are separate, so there is a lot
of room for personal customizing.
The driveline is accurate and comes with the correct pattern
of interlocking wheels and the "scalloped" idler wheels. It comes with 13-tooth
drivers and the standard steel hinged early pattern tracks (later replaced with
14-toothed drivers and single-pin rubber bushed T-72 type track in the 1980s).
The belly pan is complete and includes torsion bar connection details. The
tracks are accurate, but a bit thin in the current Tamiya style, and will not
"sag" as they should. A good set of Fruilmodel white metal tracks (No. ATL-01)
is available and recommended for this kit.
The turret is the first accurate rendition of a T-54 or T-55
series tank in a kit. The gunner and commander sit on the left side of the gun,
and as a result the turret is "bulged" there to accommodate both men; the gun is
also offset slightly to the right so that it remains on the centerline of the
turret. Tamiya nailed this feature. All of the details are included, as well as
a choice of Soviet or Polish cover fittings for the coaxial machine gun port and
gunner's telescopic sight. It even comes with very petite styrene tiedown loops
for the rear of the turret.
Other details match as well. The fuel tanks are unique; the
front right one is a single but the rear two are molded as a pair with the
connectors in place, so the modeler doesn't have to figure out how to connect
the lines if he does not wish to go to that level of detail.
Two types of snorkels are included
(the Soviet OPVT and a Polish one that hinges for semi-permanent mounting when
installed). All detail parts are finely molded and all hinges, clasps, handles
and tiedowns are in place. The only spot I saw where detailing is a bit thin is
the inside of the commander's and loader's hatches.
Decals are included for five different tanks:
a) Soviet T-55A Model 1962;
b)
Soviet T-55 Model 1970;
c) Polish T-55A Model 1970;
d) Polish T-55 Model 1970; and
e)
Czech T-55A Model 1962.
Each is
keyed to callouts in the instructions, so a word of warning to pay attention to
the small print when working on a particular tank.
Overall, the only real disadvantage to this model is the
fact that diehard Soviet armor fans like myself have had to wait 35 years for
it. The good news is that it is worth it, and the price should be low enough to
stock up on them.
(Chesapeake
Model Designs is also about to release a series of composite resin/aluminum
barrels, one of which will be the D-10T2S for this tank, and a prototype of
which was included with the model by Bill Miley. No word on when, but from the
prototype, it will be worth the wait!!!)
Thanks to Dana Nield for the review samples.
Cookie Sewell
AMPS
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