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KRAZ-6322 Heavy Utility Truck Takom 1:35 History The KrAZ-6322 heavy utility truck was developed by the Ukrainian AvtoKrAZ. This military truck evolved from the previous KrAZ-255 and 260 models, but has been upgraded to meet today's standards. It is a reliable and proven design. Vehicle is produced since 1999. It is in service with Ukraine, Angola, Egypt, India, Indonesia and Yemen. A large number of these military trucks were ordered by the US Government for the new Iraqi Army. It is also in service with Iran and possibly some other countries. The KrAZ-6322 has a payload capacity of over 10 t. Vehicle can tow a trailer with a maximum weight of up to 30 t on hard surface roads. It can also tow aircraft with a maximum weight of up to 75 t on the airfields. This heavy-duty military truck is intended for different loads and troop transportation. Basic design can accept a wide variety of body types. The standard body is fitted with drop sides and a removable tarpaulin with bows. Wooden bench seats may be fitted for troop transportation. Vehicle can carry up to 24 troops. A three-person cab is standard across the range. It is very similar to that of the earlier KrAZ-260. The KrAZ-6322 is powered by Russian YaMZ-238D (EURO 0) turbocharged diesel engine, developing 330 hp. This engine is fitted as standard, however this truck is also offered with improved YaMZ-238DE2 (EURO II) diesel engine. Other engine options are available, including Cummins, Deutz, Volvo or others, to suit customer requirements. This military truck has considerable cross-country mobility. Centralized tyre inflation system and 12 t capacity self-recovery winch are optional. The KrAZ-6322 is proposed in a number of variants, including KrAZ-6135V6 long wheelbase version, repair and recovery vehicle, BM-21U multiple launch rocket system, fitted with Grad launcher, KrAZ-6446 tractor truck and other specialized vehicles. Another interesting variant is a KrAZ-6322 Raptor truck, fitted with local armour protection and armoured cargo module. This variant was jointly developed by Ukrainian AvtoKrAZ and Canadian Streit Armoured Group. It was revealed in 2007. Vehicle can carry 20 fully equipped troops and provides protection against 7.62-mm rounds, landmines and IEDs. Troops use a number of vision blocks and firing ports. Raptor has a payload capacity of 6 tonne. If necessary, the armoured cargo module can be removed. The Model The kit comes in a sturdy top opening box with a artistic impression of the vehicle in use in a battlefield environment. Opening the box reveals eight sprues of green styrene, two sprues of clear styrene, two small photo etched brass sheets, seven vinyl tyres and a small decal sheet. The mouldings for all the parts are superb, with no sign of flash imperfections and very few moulding pips. As with most truck kits there are a lot of parts that will probably never be seen, particularly the very detailed chassis, suspension and engine, but in my view it’s better to have them than not. The build begins with the assembly of the gearbox, which is provided in two halves, and then finished off with a sump plate; this is followed by the two part engine block to which the gearbox is attached. Since the truck is powered by a V8 diesel there are two cylinder heads to assemble, again each of two halves, to which the injector rails and coils are attached. These are then fitted to the engine block, followed by the alternator, water pump pulley and fuel filter. The exhaust manifolds are next, followed by the CDR valve and oil filter. The turbocharger is assembled from three parts, the turbine housing, compressor housing and attachment plate; the assembly is then fitted with the outlet pipes. The completed sub-assembly is then fitted to the engine with each outlet pipe being attached to the intake manifolds and the turbo intake to the exhaust manifold. The oil cooler is then fitted to the engine block, along with the fan, accessory belt pulley and the exhaust pipe, to which a two part silencer section is fitted to the end, is attached to the turbo. To enhance the engine further the modeller could/should add the ignition/electrical harness and the auxiliary drive belts. The next part of the build is the assembly of the chassis. This consists of the two long chassis rails, to which the engine assembly is fitted at the front along with the radiator, whilst two thirds to the rear a cross member is attached. The front differential gear housing is assembled from two halves, to which a two part gear cover and universal joint are attached. Each wheel hub is made up of an inner and outer steering ball joint, hub backing plate, inner axle, and brake drum. These are then fitted to the ends of the differential along with the brake accumulators and steering rack. The two leaf spring parts are then fitted via four U bolts and clamps, much like the real parts. The front axle is then fitted to the chassis, as are the shock absorbers, front crossbeam, made up of four parts including the front towing eye, radiator fans housing and grille. There is a cable drum affixed between two crossbeams and fitted with a motor and control lever, this is then fitted to the rear of the chassis along with a curved crossbeam further forward. The transfer box is assembled and fitted just aft of the front axle and connected to the engine and front differential with two drive shafts. The rear suspension is now assembled from two suspension plates, two leaf springs, four U bolts and clamps. To this the two part rear differentials, which are 90o opposed when compared with the front, are fitted, along with their associated gear housings each made up of four parts, drive shafts, with separate universal joints, and suspension bump stops. The rear wheel hubs are much simpler affairs, made up of only an inner and outer brake drum and an internal axle. Once these are fitted to the differentials the completed rear suspension is attached to the rear chassis. The next stage includes the building of a number of sub-assemblies; these include the twelve part spare wheel cage which is attached to the six part generator housing, two seven part accumulator bottles and racks, two five part fuel tanks, six part oil tank and its rack, plus the three part cab foot step and six part tool box. These are then attached to their respective positions on the chassis along with the rear towing hook and end plate, reflectors and their outriggers and the rear lower crossbeam. With the chassis and suspension complete the build moves onto the truck bed. This is made up from the main bed, back panel and two side panels and rear panel. On the underside there are seven structural braces fitted, whilst on the back and sides there are twenty four tilt ties. Also on the underside the four mudflaps are attached, two forward of the rear wheels and two aft each with their support rods. The front mudguards are styrene whilst the rears are PE bent to shape. The completed bed is then fitted to the top of the chassis and the spare wheel, made up of a vinyl tyre plus inner and out hubs is slid into its cage on the right hand side. The last major assembly, the cab and bonnet begins with the windscreen frame/front bulkhead is fitted with the two windscreens, and wipers. On the inside of the bulkhead the inner panel/instrument binnacle is attached and fitted with the steering column, steering wheel, and pedal plate. The doors are then assembled from the door frame, “glass” and separate door card, whilst the rear bulkhead is fitted with the rear screen. The front and rear bulkheads plus the doors are then joined together before the roof, with its associated light fittings is attached. The interior floor is then fitted out with the bench like passenger seat, made up of separate squab and back which is then fitted to the base via the seat frame. The drivers seat which consists of the frame, squab, back and adjustment lever is fitted to the floor via a five piece spring like framework. The interior is completed with the fitting of the gearstick and the whole assembly is glued to the to the cab assembly, which is finished off with the addition of the two wing mirrors and their mounting supports. The bonnet wings are glued to the grille and fitted with the separate front bumper which includes the light clusters pre-moulded,, but requires the fitting of the three footplates, light lenses and front ID plate holder. The completed assembly is then fitted to the front of the vehicle and finished off with the fitting of the bonnet. If you wish to have the bonnet raised to show off the engine you will have to scratchbuild your own hinges and gas struts. The finishing touches are the assembly of the six wheels, each with a vinyl tyre, inner and outer hubs, which are then fitted to the axles. Each of the vinyl tyres is very well moulded and look realistically chunky, but they do have a cross shaped section that needs to be cut away before the hubs can be fitted, but it shouldn’t take too much to clean them up, especially as the hub rims will cover the areas concerned. Decals The small decal sheet provides decals for five different colour schemes. Whilst there aren’t any external placards other than the number plates, the instrument faces are provided. The decal sheet is beautifully printed, with the colours appearing ultra vibrant and yet in register with excellent colour density and little visible carrier film. The camouflage choices are:- Ukraine National Guard in a three colour scheme of green, grey and black Ukrainian Army, (ATO), in green overall and white identification stripes on the doors, bonnet creating a cross on the roof. Ukrainian Army, (ATO), in dark green, light green, and black, with one thick and two thin white stripes over the bonnet, cab roof and rear turck bed panels. Georgian Army, in dark green, yellow grey, and grey. Donetsk Peoples Republic, (DNR) in overall dark green. Conclusion This is great looking kit, and with the choice of several different colours schemes it will certainly be an interesting addition to a collection. It could also be used in a variety of diorama situations. The truck bed is crying out for a load to be added, perhaps with a tarpaulin or camouflage net included. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

I have been stuck in the house for close to two months now with a partially slipped disc and other lower back problems. Due to one thing and another I really haven't felt like modelling even though I had two Elves sitting on the bench all primed up ready to paint. So after a chat with Mike yesterday he persuaded me to get this one out of the stash and build it straight out of the box. I was going to add some turned machine gun barrels, but will now save those for a later build. The kit is a little awkward, particularly in getting the fighting compartment panels aligned, but I used the interior rhomboid to act as a template and all is good. The number of wheels is fun, but they positively lock into one half of the rhomboid allowing just a tweak here and there to get them all lined up between the two halves. The rhomboid section in the picture isn't glued yet, hence the clamp.

Skoda 42cm Heavy Siege Howitzer Takom 1:35 History The 42 cm L/15 Küstenhaubitze M. 14 (42 cm, 15 calibre, Coastal Howitzer Model 14) was a super heavy siege howitzer used by Austria-Hungary during World War I and by Nazi Germany during World War II. It was designed to penetrate the weakly armoured decks of modern dreadnoughts in accord with the prevailing coastal defence doctrine that held it was better to attack the weakest point with high-angle indirect fire than to attempt to challenge their strongly armoured sides with exceedingly expensive guns that had to be equally as well armoured to withstand return fire from the battleship. Howitzers were significantly cheaper and could be hidden behind hills to avoid the expense of armouring them. The known problem of hitting a moving target with indirect fire was to be alleviated by massed fire from multiple weapons all firing with the same data. At any rate, two howitzers were bought to defend the main Austro-Hungarian naval base at Pola on the Adriatic. They were to be installed on a turntable carriage with an armoured dome able to traverse a full 360° for all-around defence. The turntable rested on a ball-race ring, set in a concrete foundation. However, with Pola unthreatened after the outbreak of the war, it was decided that they might be better used in support of the Army. The first howitzer was already fixed in place, but the second wasn't yet installed and Skoda was able to adapt it for mobile use by January 1915. On the 14th of that month, Howitzer No. 2, assigned to Küstenhaubitze Batterie (Coastal Howitzer Battery) no. 1 fired its first shot at the railway station in Tarnow, Austrian Poland. Eight M. 14s were eventually ordered (along with a spare barrel and cradle), although one was retained by Skoda. Barrel production was very slow, so slow that barrels originally ordered for coastal mounts were put into service as part of the 42 cm Autohaubitze (Motorized Howitzer) M. 16. One surviving gun was used in 1940 by Nazi Germany to shell the Ouvrage Schoenenbourg from a position near Oberotterbach; the 60- and 80-cm guns later used by the Third Reich (for example at Sevastopol) were not ready in time for the French campaign, so World War I vintage heavy pieces like this Skoda and also a surviving Gamma-Gerät tube had to be used. The Skoda, apparently the sole M17 model, entered German possession following the annexation of Czechoslovakia in 1938/39, and was renamed from 42 cm houfnice vz. 17 to 42 cm Haubitze(t); it also served at Leningrad and Sevastopol, even though its barrel life was rated to only 1,000 rounds. The Model As with the SKODA 30.5cm reviewed HERE this kit depicts a M.1917 as it was used in the siege of Sevastopol in 1942, and according to history it was the only one. Contained in the top opening box, with a stylised photograph of the weapon with Eric Von Manstein standing to one end, whilst another weapon is seen firing on Sevastopol in the background, are three sprues of dark grey styrene. All the parts are free of flash, but there are quite a few flow marks and a few ejector pin marks on visible faces of the larger parts, but look to be fairly easy to clean up as there isn’t too much detail around them that could be lost. As per the previous kit Takom have used slide mould technology very effectively in the production of the barrel parts allowing for a pretty seamless build, although there is less in this kit so there will be some cleaning up of the barrel required. The small landscape A5 booklet of instructions is very clearly printed and easy to use. Construction begins with the assembly of the of the centre section of the gun which includes the trunnions, the breech, and breech block, which are all made up of two parts. Two collars are fitted to the front of the centre section, followed by the outer barrel. The assembled breech and breech block are then attached to the rear of the trunnion section, after which the three piece inner barrel is slid in from the front. The single piece end section of the inner barrel has a nice representation of the rifling, although if you look really closely they are straight and not curved which is a limitation of the moulding process. On the underside of the gun a rounded base plate is affixed along with a shaft fitted on the centreline, between the recuperator ends. At this point the central circular base section is assembled form the two halves provide and fitted with four tabs, which will slot into the outer base when complete. The traversing gearbox is fitted with etched lengths of bolts before being attached to the left hand trunnion mount and finished off with the attachment of the traversing wheel, which is assembled from three parts, the wheel, shaft and handle. The elevation wheel is fitted with its handle, whilst the two footplates are attached to the left hand mount, which is then fitted to the base. The elevating shaft is fitted with two cogs and attached to the inner face of the left mount. Do not glue this shaft if you wish to have the gun barrel movable. The shaft is covered by a large plate fitted to the front of the mount, after which the right mount is fitted to the base, ensuring the elevation shaft is fitted correctly, followed by a curved plate fitted to the upper rear of the mounts. The traversing lock/brake handle and clutch unit is fitted to the four piece housing and the whole assembly is attached to the base, just next to the left mount. To the rear of the mounting there is another gearbox, with a double winding handle attached. This is then fitted with a double wheeled contraption which hauls the shells up to the breech. This is quite a complex assembly so a bit of care will be required. The build is completed by the assembly of the outer base halves to which the circular base is then slotted into position. The kit also includes one figure, that of Eric Von Manstein who commanded the 11th Army in the Crimea during the bloody siege of Sevastopol in which this howitzer was used. Strangely the paint chart shows two different schemes, one of green over grey when used by the 787th artillery division at Sevastopol and the other in grey overall, also at Sevastopol. Since there was only on gun of this type available it does seem a bit odd to have two schemes, but there you go. Conclusion As with the 30.5cm siege howitzer this is one pretty obscure weapon. Whilst there are not too many parts, they are all very well moulded and when complete this will look most impressive on the shelf, or as part of a diorama. Unfortunately, as with the earlier kit, no crew are provided, and in this case no ammunition either, so some scratchbuilding will be required if you go down that route. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

SpPz 2 Luchs heavy armoured car Takom 1:35 History The Spähpanzer Luchs is a German 8x8 amphibious reconnaissance armoured fighting vehicle in service since 1975 with the German Army, who used 408 units in their armoured reconnaissance battalions. It was developed by Daimler-Benz between 1968 and 1975, replacing the M41 and the Schützenpanzer SPz 11-2 Kurz. The all-wheel drive Luchs made by Thyssen-Henschel (now: Rheinmetall) is well armoured, has an NBC protection system and is characterized by its low-noise running. The eight large low-pressure tyres have run-flat properties. At speeds up to about 50 km/h, all four axles can be steered. As a special feature, the vehicle is equipped with a rear-facing driver with his own driving position. Up to the first combat effectiveness upgrade in 1986, the Luchs was fully amphibious and could surmount water obstacles quickly and independently using propellers at the rear and the fold back trim vane at the front. The 20 mm Rheinmetall MK 20 Rh 202 gun in the turret is similar to the one in the Marder IFV. The upgrade to the Luchs A1 starting in 1986 included the incorporation of a thermal observation and gunnery system, which replaced the original infrared/white light night vision system mounted to the left of the turret. VHF radios have been the German SEM 25 / SEM 35 FM short range radios from LORENZ. HF long-range radio was the AN/GRC 9 with the LV 80 100 Watts RF amplifier for Morse code. This was replaced by the XK 405 100 Watts SSB HF radio made by Rohde&Schwarz in Germany and the incorporation of the new SEM 80/90 radio system gave it the designation SpPz 2 Luchs A2. The Luchs was replaced by the Fennek in Bundeswehr service. The Model The kit is packaged in a very attractive top opening box with an artists impression of the vehicle in action on the boxtop. Inside there are seven sprues of sandy yellow coloured styrene, the two hull halves and turret. Also included are a set of springs for the suspension, a sheet of etched details, a DS style flap, decal sheet and a pair of poly caps. Unusually, Takom have provided two complete sets of tyres, depending on whether the model is going to be built as the A1 or A2 version. The parts are very nicely moulded, with no sign of flash or imperfections, but there are loads of moulding pips which will add to the time of cleaning up the parts before use. As with most kits of these types of vehicles most of the work is concentrated on the drive train and suspension. This kit is no exception, beginning with the fitting of the bump stops, light cluster assemblies, the eight, 2 part, shock absorber assemblies and mud flaps to the lower hull section. The four suspension arms are then fitted with their pivots and once fitted to the lower hull are fitted with the eight individual metal springs. Each of the four axles are made up of upper and lower halves, to which the lay shaft ends, spring mounts and transmission covers are attached, followed by the ball joints, steering racks, support arms and torque links. Each of the axles is slightly different, so read the instructions carefully and note which axle fits where. Between the second and third axle is a transfer box fitted, this, and these axles are connected via a drive shaft, with the first axle connected in a similar fashion to the second and the fourth to the third, followed in a similar manner by the steering connecting rods. Each of the hubs are made up of the inner hub, brake drum and an outer connecting disc, but do not attach the wheels just yet. Two headlights are then assembled from their five components, including a PE bracket which needs to be carefully bent to shape, before fitting to the hull along with their respective protective bars. Before fitting the upper hull, (a task which I would have done first rather than at this point), a several 0.8mm holes need to be drilled out depending on which mark of vehicle is being built. With the upper hull attached the rear panel assembly is fitted. This is made up of the panel, engine grille, rear light assembly and towing eye. Seeing that this vehicle is amphibious it’s no surprise that it has a separate propulsion system, in the form of two propellers fitted. These are each made up of the two part mounting, propeller, and front boss. These are they attached to the underside rear of the hull. Turning the hull right side up the splash plate is fitted to the front glacis plate, either stowed or deployed. Depending on which version is being built ensure the correct tyres are being fitted at this point. Each tyre is slid onto the inner hub and sandwiched into place by the outer hub. With the model sitting on its wheels the many and various hand holds, aerial mounts, pioneer tools, towing cable and drivers vision ports are fitted, along with the two drivers hatches. Details differ between the two versions, which is why different holes need opening up earlier in the build, so there’s no changing your mind half way through the build. Next to be fitted are the two rear view mirrors, port side exit hatch, fuel caps, and unidentifiable tubes on the rear decking. There is a five piece cover that surrounds these tubes tubes which is a mixture of styrene and PE and fitted aft of the turret ring. Finally it’s onto the business end of the vehicle and the assembly of the turret. The turret ring section is fitted from the inside with the gun mount and trunnion, the assembly is then attached to the single piece upper turret section. The gunners hatch, rubberized trunnion cover, an unidentifiable box on the turrets right front, followed by the main gun. The eight smoke dischargers are attached four per side, whilst on top the commanders hatch, and training light are fitted. The A1 version has only one multipart sight fitted to the top of the turret, complete with optionally posed cover doors, whilst the A2 version has two of completely different design, one each in front of both upper hatches, the right hand one covered by a prominent cage structure. The MG42 machine gun is then fitted with the trigger handles and attached to its mounting plate, which in turn is fitted to the scarff ring. This assembly can be fitted to the left turret hatch or in its dismounted position on the rear decking. Once complete the turret is fitted to the hull, finishing off the build. Decals The decal sheet, which is actually quite colourful considering the markings are to be used on an armoured vehicle. They are very nicely printed in register, good opacity and with little carrier film. The writing is pin sharp and can easily be read with the naked eye. The painting instructions come on two double sided A5 sheets and have obviously been produced for use with Ammo by mig paints, using their colours on the call outs. There are two vehicles in overall NATO green and two in three colour camouflage of NATO green, NATO brown and matt black. Conclusion Whilst this is a magnificent and surprisingly large model it’s not that complicated, although the suspension and drive train will require some care to get positioned correctly. Dry fitting the hull sections together reveal that there may be a problem getting it aligned and gap free as the pins aren’t the most prominent seen in a kit. As mentioned above it may be best to fit the two parts together at the beginning to get it all fitting correctly, rather than trying to do it with all the suspension attached. Other than that, there isn’t much that should worry any modeller of intermediate skills and above. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

P.1000 Landkreuzer "Ratte" 1:144 Takom Weighing in at a projected 1,000 tonnes, the Ratte was the ultimate paper panzer, designed to be a super-heavy tank that was impregnable, dwarfing all on the battlefield. It was conceived as a mobile fortress, capable of bringing massive firepower to bear on bunkers and other entrenched positions, and gained the approval of Adolf Hitler in 1941. He did like his ridiculous projects! It would have carried the same turret that was mounted on battle cruisers like the Gneisenau, but with the centre barrel removed to save weight. It was also to be powered by marine diesel engines, using either two used by U-boats, or a massive eight from the S-100 fast patrol boats. The main turret sported two 280mm guns, plus a "secondary" 128mm tank gun, mounted either on the glacis or on a smaller turret on the engine deck, but there is conjecture about which was most likely. Inside it had space for an infirmary, storage for a couple of reconnaissance bikes amongst other things, which gives some idea of the size of the thing. As to size, it would have been over 39m with the guns pointing forward, and 14m wide, running on three widths of King Tiger track on each side. The top of the turret would be 11m from the ground, assuming it didn't sink into the earth! A rather more level-headed Albert Speer cancelled the project in 1943 seeing no conceivable use for the finished item. The Kit A flight of fantasy from our friends at Takom, as can be seen from the pair of flying saucers included on the boxtop. It has been tooled in 1:144 due to the sheer size of the thing, and to keep it affordable, as well as reduce the "I'm not buying that because my house isn't big enough!" issues. It arrives in a standard enough box, and although they are on the box top, don't expect to see any UFOs or all three of the Maus' – there's only two! Inside the box it isn't too crowded, with the two hull halves taking up most of the room. The hull, four Maus sprues, four superstructure sprues and one outer wheel sprue are moulded in sand coloured styrene, while the two track and turret sprues are in a reddish brown colour. A long sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) is included for the railings, and a small decal sheet containing a few crosses and Nazi flag. The instruction booklet is quite small, accompanied by a small errata sheet that corrects some mis-numbered parts, and the painting guide is spread across three separate A5 sheets on glossy paper. The first item to be constructed are the two massive track runs, which have been simplified so that only the outer wheels have detail, with the rest being depicted by cylinders linked together on a back-plate. This will speed construction a great deal, and shouldn't be very noticeable once the tracks are on, and installed in the hull. The tracks themselves are link and length type, with long runs top and bottom, a short run toward the drive sprocket and idler ends, and individual links around the ends of the runs. The outer faces of the tracks are quite well detailed, but the inners are less so, but once covered in muck and grime, that won't notice either, although the track outer will take some hiding, due to its rigid flat edge. The track runs fix into the lower hull using long tabs, and this assembly is then put to one side until after construction of the upper hull. This shouldn't take long, as there isn't much to do. It does start with some confusion however, because it shows two flak turrets being affixed to the rear deck on raised outlines, which aren't there on the rear deck of the tank. This is not a major problem if you mark and fix them neatly yourself, but it tells you to make up two, and supplies four. Use two or four then, as you see fit. No-one will realistically be able to say you did it wrong! The bases are square with sloping sides, while the turrets look very like stacked Panzer I turrets armed with four flak barrels in twin mounts. These could be replaced with some metal barrels if you can find some similar, but they're not bad out of the box. The engine deck has eight armoured covers in rows of four, implying that Takom opted to depict the S-boat engines mounted, and behind them are two crew compartment cooling units, which look a little different from the usual, but as it's a what-if, we'll let them off. If you put a little fine mesh over them, no-one will even know. A PE crew access ladder drops down from the rear deck to the ground, and a trio of safety railings run around the back and sides of the upper hull, with another ladder going up the side of the main turret. The main turret has a flat lower with the turret ring moulded in, while the upper has spaces for the range-finding "wings" that project from either side. The main guns are moulded from one part each, and have slide-moulded hollow muzzles, and these fit into holes in the front, trapped in place when the two turret parts are joined. The rear of the turret is another separate section, and is fitted after the barrels, then lined up with the lower turret before it has fully set. The secondary armament is added to the glacis in a Stug-style flexible mount, and this again has a hollow muzzle. Fitting the turret to the hull and locking in place with the standard bayonet fitting completes construction of the Ratte. You also get two tiny 1:144 Maus Heavy Tanks in the box, which take up two sprues each. The turret is nicely detailed with a hollow muzzle to the main gun, two-piece mantlet, coaxial gun, and detail on the turret roof. The tracks are one part per run, which affix to the narrow lower hull, and come together with the single piece upper hull and turret at the end. Then you have the fun of painting them! Markings There are three fictitious marking choices in the box, but realistically the world is your oyster, as… well yes. You remember it's a paper panzer, don't you. The schemes have been done by Mig Jiminez's new company, and of course the call-outs are in his Ammo paint numbers. The third page offers up two possible schemes for the Maus, which are more fact based, given that the Maus almost made it, and you could imagine these schemes being used on the King Tigers during the closing stages of the war. The decals are printed in-house, and look to be of good quality, and the Swastika has been printed in two parts to avoid getting anyone into trouble where it would be illegal or frowned upon. Conclusion What is not to like about a crazy thing like this? Takom have given it form in styrene, and although it is a little lacking in track detail, it's entirely forgivable because it is quite a niche product. It's a shame we don't all have massive houses to fit a 1:35 kit, but the designers have taken the more realistic route and at least now we have one in styrene. If you really are insane or have masses of space in your house, you could always use this kit as a pattern for a scale-up to 1:35, buy a ton of plastic card, shed-loads of King Tiger kits, and all of Friul's KT tracks. I know someone is crazy enough, because I've seen the pics out on the 'net. More power to his elbow! Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

The beast is done.... This is as big as a 1/48 scale Panther. The Maus' have lagged behind but will be finished at some stage. How would I describe this build? Well, really enjoyable, relatively stress free and you can really go mad with the camo. Two more in the stash .... winter camo one and an ambush scheme mind you, I think this would have been a little difficult to hide these beasties. I suspect, for those of you old enough to remember Steve Jackson Games "ogre" this might be where he got the idea of a huge cybernetic tank stomping round the countryside. Thanks for looking, I have a complete build log over on Kampfgruppe 144 and here on Britmodeller. Thanks for looking, questions answered if possible, Happy Modelling all Ian

Just seen this listed as an upcoming release from Takom There's already a resin one available from CMK but it'll be nice to get it in styrene. The Czech camo looks like it will be 'fun' to paint Andy

This one has taken a while to build, not due to it's complexity, but the fact that I'm still suffering from chronic back pain. I also managed to knock up a rudimentary generic base for it. I used Mig and AK interactive weathering powders and washes with AK Interactive resin coloured with artists acrylics for the mud on the tracks etc.

British Mark IV Tadpole Takom 1:35 History[/size] Tadpole tails were an innovation designed to improve the trench crossing ability of Rhomboid tanks. They were not a success and were apparently only ever fitted to several trial vehicles. Three vehicles were fitted with tadpole Tails by Central Workshops in France. In March of 1918 a male and Female Mk.IV were fitted with Tadpole tails. The work was started on 6th March 1918, the first tail being fitted by the 18th; the second, strengthened tail was fitted by the 23rd. At least one other Mark IV male was fitted with Tadpole tails and used in trials at Dollis Hill, these trials included fitting a stokes mortar between the lengthened tails. On 5 August 1918 Mk V male, 9001 was fitted with a tail and issued to No.3 Advanced Workshops. A Mark V female, 9277 was fitted with a tadpole tail, possibly at Fosters yard where this tank had given a (Tadpole tailless) demonstration to King George V. Three hundred sets of tails were manufactured and shipped to France, the first arriving in May 1918, they were never fitted. The Model The kit is packaged in a very attractive and sturdy top opening box with an artists impression of the vehicle on the front. Inside there are eight sprues of caramel coloured styrene, which is becoming the norm for Takom, on small fret of etched brass, and a bag of individual track links. The moulding of the parts is superb with no signs of flash although there are quite a few moulding pips. The parts are suitably covered in well rendered bolt heads and rivets but here are some awkward sprue gates which will need to be carefully removed and fettled. The hull and sponsons are each made up of individual panels so care will also need to be taken with alignment, but having built the Takom Mark IV Male, I found that they actually went together really well with no requirement for filler. The build begins with the assembly of the small commanders/drivers cupola complete with poseable hatches, although there is nothing of the interior to see and centrally mounted Lewis machine gun in its ball mount. The hull is made up of the individual plates which, due to the possible alignment problems, to alleviate this it may be best fitted to one of the inside rhomboid sections. The is a large towing shackle and plates fitted to the front panel, followed by the exhaust plates and one part of the unditching beam strake plates, top hatch surround and strengthening ribs are fitted to the top deck. The exhaust consists of the two parts silencer and single piece tube. The tube is completely plain, whereas, for the most part the area next to the top hatch was covered in asbestos, best shown using tape wrapped around the area. The stowage box complete with exhaust cover is assembled and fitted to the rear of the upper decking, whilst the upper hatch is glued into position along with six tie down eyes to the upper storage box and the exhaust silencer is fitted with PE straps. As with the Mark IV the Tadpole was fitted with an armoured fuel tank box on the rear of the hull between the rhomboids, this is represented by five plates glued together and attached to the rear hull panel, with the rear mounted radiator and its cover. Being mirror images, the rhomboid sections of the tank go together in the same way with each of the inner and outer panels being separated by individual plates and the inner faces of the sponson openings. The rear mounted drive sprockets are fitted and, in this, kit the drive chain assemblies, as found in the earlier Mark IV kits, is not used, making construction a whole lot easier. The front mounted idler wheel is mounted before the 33 road wheels are assembled and clicked into position before the rhomboid plates are joined together. Unlike the Mark IV tanks where the tracks were a little on the frustrating side, this kit comes with the super click together indie links. These take only a matter of seconds to put together and the whole run can take as little as 10 minutes to create. The tracks can be left off till end of the painting as they can be clicked into place once everything is finished. If required the kit does include a set of grouser that can be fitted to the tracks although the instructions don't call on them to be used. The main guns come with complete breech detail which unfortunately will never be seen and are fitted with the splinter shields and barrel before being fitted to the mounting via a poly cap. The sponson plates are then built around this and the Lewis gun with ball mount also attached. The completed sponsons are then glued into position on the sides of the rhomboids. The Tadpole differed from the earlier style tanks in that they could also be armed with a mortar mounted on a large plate on top of crossbeams between the rhomboids. The mortar is made up of two halves bi-pod and elevation wheel before being affixed to the mounting plate before the rhomboid assemblies are fitted to the hull, thus completing the build. There are no decals provided with this kit, but I’m sure the modeller can make up his own identification numbers quite easily. Conclusion Ok, so this vehicle never made it to the front line, but at a least a few were modified and tested and the extensions were sent to France for use, it does make for a very interesting model. The fact that the drive chain assemblies and original indie link tracks aren’t used with this kit actually makes it a lot easier to build it will be a nice fun mojo reliever and you can got to town on the weathering. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

KRAZ-260 Heavy Utility Truck Takom 1:35 History Production of the KrAZ-260 began some time during the early 1980s when it replaced the earlier KrAZ-255B on the production lines at the Kremenchug Motor Vehicle Plant. However, the vehicle was not disclosed to the general public until 1985 when examples were displayed towing 152-mm 2A36 nuclear-capable field guns during a Red Square parade - the KrAZ-260 can tow loads of up to 10 tons when fully loaded (30 tons when empty). The Red Square example had an open body equipped with forward-facing bench seats although this had been a parade configuration. The normal body uses a conventional cargo body with tailgate all covered by the usual tilt over bows. A winch is a standard fitting under the cargo body and can be employed for either forward or rearwards recovery, including self-recovery. The overall appearance of the KrAZ-260 is similar to that of the earlier KrAZ-255B but the bonnet is more angular to accommodate the turbocharged diesel engine, and the overall dimensions are slightly larger. As far as can be determined the KrAZ-260 was produced for military service only and as apparently not been delivered to armed forces outside the Soviet Union. The Model The kit comes in a sturdy top opening box with a artistic impression of the vehicle in use in a very snowy environment. Opening the box reveals seven sprues of caramel coloured styrene, one sprue of clear styrene, a small photo etched brass sheet, seven vinyl tyres and a small decal sheet. The mouldings for all the parts are superb, with no sign of flash imperfections and very few moulding pips. As with most truck kits there are a lot of parts that will probably never be seen, particularly the very detailed chassis, suspension and engine, but in my view it’s better to have them than not. The build begins with the assembly of the gearbox, which is provided in two halve, and then finished off with a sump plate; this is followed by the two part engine block to which the gearbox is attached. Since the truck is powered by a V8 diesel there are two cylinder heads to assemble, again each of two halves, to which the injector rails and coils are attached. These are then fitted to the engine block, followed by the alternator, water pump pulley and fuel filter. The exhaust manifolds are next, followed by the CDR valve and oil filter. The turbocharger is assembled from three parts, the turbine housing, compressor housing and attachment plate; the assembly is then fitted with the outlet pipes. The completed sub-assembly is then fitted to the engine with each outlet pipe being attached to the intake manifolds and the turbo intake to the exhaust manifold. The oil cooler is then fitted to the engine block, along with the fan, accessory belt pulley and the exhaust pipe, to which a two part silencer section is fitted to the end, is attached to the turbo. The next part of the build is the assembly of the chassis. This consists of the two long chassis rails, to which the engine assembly is fitted at the front along with the radiator, whilst two thirds to the rear a cross member is attached. The front differential gear housing is assembled from two halves, to which a two part gear cover and universal joint are attached. Each wheel hub is made up of an inner and outer steering ball joint, hub backing plate, inner axle, and brake drum. These are then fitted to the ends of the differential along with the brake accumulators and steering rack. The two leaf spring parts are then fitted via four U bolts and clamps, much like the real parts. The front axle is then fitted to the chassis, as are the shock absorbers, front crossbeam, made up of four parts including the front towing eye, radiator fans housing and grille. There is a cable drum affixed between two crossbeams and fitted with a motor and control lever, this is then fitted to the rear of the chassis along with a curved crossbeam further forward. The transfer box is assembled and fitted just aft of the front axle and connected to the engine and front differential with two drive shafts. The rear suspension is now assembled from two suspension plates, two leaf springs, four U bolts and clamps. To this the two part rear differentials, which are 90o opposed when compared with the front, are fitted, along with their associated gear housings each made up of four parts, drive shafts, with separate universal joints, and suspension bump stops. The rear wheel hubs are much simpler affairs, made up of only an inner and outer brake drum and an internal axle. Once these are fitted to the differentials the completed rear suspension is attached to the rear chassis. The next stage includes the building of a number of sub-assemblies; these include the twelve part spare wheel cage which is attached to the six part generator housing, two seven part accumulator bottles and racks, two five part fuel tanks, six part oil tank and its rack, plus the three part cab foot step and six part tool box. These are then attached to their respective positions on the chassis along with the rear towing hook and end plate, reflectors and their outriggers and the rear lower crossbeam. With the chassis and suspension complete the build moves onto the truck bed. This is made up from the main bed, back panel and two side panels and rear panel completed with two footsteps. On the underside there are seven structural braces fitted, whilst on the back and sides there are twenty four tilt ties. Also on the underside the four mudflaps are attached, two forward of the rear wheels and two aft each with their support rods. The front mudguards are styrene whilst the rears are PE bent to shape. The completed bed is then fitted to the top of the chassis and the spare wheel, made up of a vinyl tyre plus inner and out hubs is slid into its cage on the right hand side. The last major assembly, the cab and bonnet begins with the windscreen frame/front bulkhead is fitted with the two windscreens, air vent panel, washer bulbs and wipers. On the inside of the bulkhead the inner panel/instrument binnacle is attached and fitted with the steering column, steering wheel, and pedal plate. The doors are then assembled from the door frame, “glass” and separate door card, whilst the rear bulkhead is fitted with the rear screen. The front and rear bulkheads plus the doors are then joined together before the roof, with its associated light fittings is attached. The interior floor is then fitted out with the bench like passenger seat, made up of separate squad and back which is then fitted to the base via the seat frame. The drivers seat which consists of the frame, squab, back and adjustment lever is fitted to the floor via a five piece spring like framework. The interior is completed with the fitting of the gearstick and the whole assembly is glued to the to the cab assembly, which is finished off with the addition of the two wing mirrors and there mounting supports. The bonnet wings are provided as slide moulded parts to which the separate front sections which include the light clusters pre-moulded are glued in place. The wings are then attached to the front lower grille before the upper name plate and the side grilles are fitted, after which the bonnet if attached. If you wish to have the bonnet raised to show off the engine you will have to scratchbuild your own hinges and gas struts. The headlight “glass” parts are then fitted before the cab and bonnet assemblies are attached to the chassis and the four part front bumper fitted. The finishing touches are the assembly of the six wheels, each with a vinyl tyre, inner and outer hubs, which are then fitted to the axles. Each of the vinyl tyres is very well moulded and look realistically chunky, but they do have a cross shaped section that needs to be cut away before the hubs can be fitted, but it shouldn’t take too much to clean them up, especially as the hub rims will cover the areas concerned. Decals The small decal sheet provides decals for four different colour schemes, two for the Russian Army, one green overall and one in a white and green camouflage, a Slovak Army example and one for the German Democratic Republic. Whilst there aren’t any external placards the instrument faces are provided. Conclusion Whilst this is quite a complicated kit to build in that there are a lot of detail parts, mainly for the chassis, it looks to have been well thought out and designed. It shouldn’t be too hard for anyone other than a novice modeller to build a great looking model. I imagine some will probably want to replace the vinyl tyres with resin ones, but it really isn’t necessary as the kits items are more than sufficient. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Hello all, Here I have my Mk. IV Tadpole from Takom. I must admit I think I stretched myself on this one! As I am only fifteen I am still just getting my bearing's here and I thought I'd try myself with something different as building 80's Tamiya stuff was getting a bit boring! This thing was a major wake up call for me and got me taking new approaches everywhere. The build of the main hull was tricky to begin with as I had to try and get the shape right for the vehicle. I managed to do it mostly well but it was going to be a long wait to see if I had it correct as final assembly of all sub-assemblies was a final step. The rhombus shaped thingies (I still haven't found out a name for them!) that carry the track round were easier to build but they still required a lot of time as they all had an intricate wall system on the inside. This lead to the wheels which were mind boggling but by the time I got to the second 'rhombus shaped thingy' I was alright. The sponsons were almost a no brainer but it did seem a shame to hide away all of the interior detail, which is very good when it fitted together! The tracks were also very simple as Takom, bless them, didn't have the heart to give the tadpole with it's extended track length those 5 piece per link track sets that I've heard about and instead gave a small package of clip together track which was basically like a complex form of Lego. Painting was a different approach as I was trying to make the tadpole section look newer than the rest of the tank. To simulate this I painted it with a mixture of Tamiya olive drab and Tamiya dark green which gave the tadpole section a nice drab green colour. The main hull however was painted in a mixture of Tamiya tan deck and earth (or something approximate to that, I can't quite remember which). I painted on the white and red identification stripes with Humbrol Enamel white and Vallejo Acrylic red. For weathering (for now of which you can't pick the model up without looking like you've spent the week in Flanders) I started by just pasting on a very thin wash of AK Interactive's dirt and dust wash followed by a very in-depth pin wash with Humbrol black Enamel Wash around all of the rivets which gave me double vision by the end of the day. I used a mixture of rust colours and washes to get the exhaust effect, which I'm still not happy with and may have to alter at a later date - along with the massive thumb print down the side and various block pieces of weathering pigment . For the track, over a coat of black I pasted on the same dirt wash and then fitted them. I then mat coated the whole model and went mad with pigments. I mixed up a bunch of various pigments with again the said wash to achieve a semi wet look gunk which was plastered all over the track and the parts where the track and tank met. Later I scraped off the tips of the track and went over them in pencil to give highlights. Tanks for looking, this model was really just an experiment for a fifteen year old with too many weathering products! I reckon it came out reasonably well, but I have some new ideas for next time. again, thanks for looking and enjoy the photos. Just adding on, to further the effect of the Frankenstein look, I roughly painted on a serial number as the original was usually painted on the part that was taken off to replace with the tadpole section P.S. for anyone looking to get this, I would highly recommend it!

KV-5 Super Heavy Tank Takom 1/35 Hi guys, This is Takom's KV-5 painted in Finnish markings. It's due to be in the April issue Airfix Model World. There will be a full build feature in the mag. Hope you enjoy the shots Thanks for looking Andy

Skoda 305mm Siege Howitzer Takom 1:35 History Development began in 1906, when a development contract was placed by the Austro-Hungarian high command with Skoda-Werke in Pilsen to develop a weapon capable of penetrating the concrete fortresses being built in Belgium and Italy. Development work continued until 1909, when the first prototype was finished and, in 1910, fired secretly in Hungary. The weapon was able to penetrate 2 m (6 ft 7 in) of reinforced concrete with its special armour piercing shell, which weighed 384 kg (847 lb). There were a few technical problems with the first piece, but, after few reconstructions in 1911, the upgraded piece made another round of testing in Felixdorf and in the mountains of Tyrol. After that, Moritz von Auffenberg, the Minister of War, placed an order for 24 of the new weapons. The mortar could fire two types of shell, a heavy armour-piercing shell with a delayed action fuse weighing 384 kg, and a lighter 287 kg shell fitted with an impact fuse. The light shell was capable of creating a crater 8 meters wide and 8 meters deep, as well as killing exposed infantry up to 400 m (440 yd) away. The mortar required a crew of 15 to 17, and could fire between 10 to 12 rounds an hour. After firing, it automatically returned to the horizontal loading position. In 1916, the M. 11 design was upgraded and the new M. 11/16 was produced - the difference was mainly that the firing platform had been modified to allow for a traverse of 360 degrees. Also in 1916, a new model was released, the M. 16, which had longer barrel (L/12) and longer range 12,300 metres (13,500 yd). Eight Mörsers were loaned to the German Army and they were first fired in action on the Western Front at the start of World War I. They were used in concert with the Krupp 42 cm howitzer ("Big Bertha") to destroy the rings of Belgian fortresses around Liege (Battle of Liège), Namur (Fortified Position of Namur) and Antwerp (Forts Koningshooikt, Kessel and Broechem). While the weapon was used on the Eastern, Italian and Serbian fronts until the end of the war, it was only used on the Western front at the beginning of the war. In 1915, ten howitzers were used in support of the Austro-Hungarian-German invasion of Serbia under the German General August von Mackensen. By the end of the war, 79 of the weapons of all three types were in service. Only 24 were destroyed. Between the two world wars, large numbers of mortars were in service in Yugoslavia (4 M.11 and 6 M.16), Romania, Italy (23 M.11, 16 M.11/16 and 16 M.16), Czechoslovakia (17 M.16) and Hungary (3 M.11 and 2 M.16). There were only two in Austria; one in the Arsenal, Army Museum in Vienna, the second as a training weapon in Innsbruck. In 1939, Germany seized all 17 pieces from Czechoslovakia and repaired the howitzer from the Arsenal Museum, designating them 30.5 cm Mörser (t). In 1941, they obtained five more weapons after the defeat of Yugoslavia and placed them into service as the 30.5 cm Mörser 638(j). They saw service against Poland, France and the Soviet Union in World War II, where they served with Heavy Artillery Battalions (schwere Artillerie-Abteilungen) 624, 641 and 815 as well as two Heavy Static Artillery Batteries (schwere Artillerie-Batterie bodenstandig) 230 and 779. The barrel was either monobloc or built-up. Some sources indicate that a third type - with loose liner - also existed. To soften recoil, a large slotted muzzle brake was fitted. The breechblock was of interrupted screw type, with forced extraction of cartridge during opening. A safety lock prevented opening of the breechblock before the shot; if there was a need to remove a shell, the lock had to be disabled. To assist loading when the barrel was set to high elevation angle, the breach was equipped with cartridge holding mechanism. The gun was fired by pulling a trigger cord. The Model This kit depicts a Skoda 30.5cm M.1916 as it was used in the siege of Sevastapol in 1942, but since information is sketchy I wouldnt have thought there would have been many changes since they were built in 1916. Contained in the top opening box, with a stylised photograph of the weapon being inspected on the front, are three sprues of sandy coloured styrene. The parts contained on the sprues are free of flash, moulding pips or other imperfections, and the moulded detail appears to be very good indeed. What ejection pin marks there are seem to be kept to be on inside of parts so there isnt much in the way of cleaning up once off the sprues. Takom have used slide mould technology very effectively in the production of the barrel parts allowing for a seamless build. Although there was a carriage designed for the guns, as seen on many of the museum exhibits, this unit is built as one with a fixed base, included in the kit. The build begins with the assembly of the breech block and the rear barrel block, which are then fitted to the trunnion block. The three parts to the barrel slide into each other like a telescope, with the completed unit slide into the trunnion block. The sliding breech is fitted with the release handle and pull handle before being slid into the breech block. The recupertor unit is assembled from upper and lower parts to which the front and rear parts are added, along with what looks like a valve at the front, the completed assembly is then fitted to the underside of the barrel assembly. The two ratchet arcs are also attached to the underside of the barrel and fitted with a spreader bar in between the two parts. The base is made up of a box with individual sides and the top, onto which the traversing ring is fitted. The right hand trunnion mount is fitted with an elevation axle mount, with associated support bracket and an additional strengthening beam. The mount is then attached to the traversing table. Before the left side is fitted the elevation wheel is attached to its support, whilst the hydraulic section of the elevation mechanism is assembled from five parts and the mechanical elevation guide is assembled from four parts. The two elevation ratchet wheels now assembled from two wheels and an axle. The ratchet wheels are then fitted with poly caps to allow the modeller to elevate the gun to their desired position. Each of these assemblies are then fitted to the trunnion mount, which is then fitted to the traversing mount with the elevation wheels and barrel assembly sandwiched between the two trunnions. Protective plates are fitted with ancillary parts before being attached to the front and rear of the trunnion plates. Lastly, the loading chute is assembled from seven parts and fitted to the rear of the gun mount completing the main part of the build. In addition to the gun and its mounting Takom have also included three shells, two long, (AP shells), and a shorter one which I presume is an HE shell, each assembled from two halves. One of the AP shells is fitted with a collar which is used to attach it to the shell handling trolley, also included and made up of eight parts. There is also a shell box to which a separate lid is affixed, allowing one of the three shells to be visible. All very useful if the model is to be built into a diorama. Conclusion This is a very unusual and quite obscure subject, yet still very welcome.I do have a fascination large calibre weapons, but have only seen ones the Germans designed in WW2, so its nice to have the chance to build something a little different and with the option of setting it into either a WW1 or WW2 scene. It would have been even nicer had Takom included a crew for it, so hopefully they will release a set in the future. Highly recommended Review sample courtesy of

KV-5 Soviet Heavy Tank 1:35 Takom The KV-5 was a still-borne dead-end offshoot from the KV project that took its name from the initials of the Defence Commissar Kliment Voroshilov, and were a range of (mostly paper) projects coupling heavy armour with heavy armament. The successful KV-1 and KV-2 are the only variants that saw service due to changing requirements, doctrine and projects falling out of favour at the whim of the higher-ups. The KV-3 and 4 suffered a similar fate, which was never reaching even prototype phase before being passed over in favour of more advanced alternatives. The KV-5 was in the Super-Heavy class, and would have weighed around 100 tons, sporting ridiculously thick armour varying from 120-190mm and a 105mm Zis-6 gun inside its blockhouse of a turret. Soviet doctrine called "Deep Battle" required heavily armoured less-agile tanks that could apply pressure to a besieged enemy without significant fear from the opposition's outbound fire. The KV-5 would have been one of the ultimate answers to that need, with a crew of six servicing the 105mm gun in a large turret, protected by heavy armour. The series was ended with the KV-7 consigned to the "paper project" bin and subsequent developments suffering the same fate after Voroshilov fell out of favour, with the alternatives renamed to JS prefixes after their leader Joseph Stalin. The Kit A new mould from Takom, this is a thoroughly modern tooling of this monster, and it arrives in a glossy top-opening box that bears a painting of a KV-5 bearing down on us. Inside the box are eight sprues, plus lower hull and turret parts all in a very dark grey styrene, plus another small sprue that contains a figure, which seems to be Takom's "thing" for most of their kits. Also present is the novel and helpful approach to sprue labelling, which is a stencil-style cut-out through the tab that makes identifying sprues so much easier. The package also contains a turned metal barrel, a small fret of Photo-etch (PE) brass, a small clear sprue, and a small sprue of poly-caps. A decal sheet and instruction booklet round out the package, the latter being printed in A4 landscape orientation, with a brown cover and cream pages within. It is a paper project, so not much data is available, so Takom have erred on the side of caution and not added any internal detail. What is there is a full exterior that is nicely done, but lacking underside detail and any sign of pioneer tools that would have been fitted if it reached service. That wouldn't have been an issue if the decal options hadn't included and fictitious in-service options. Construction starts with building up a host of wheels onto their swing-arms in pairs – sixteen for the road wheels, plus another two for the idler wheels, and a four-part drive sprocket. Another eight return rollers are glued onto conical mounts, and all that work is then put aside while the front lower glacis with towing lugs and headlights is built up, as is the rear bulkhead, then the smaller turret with its machine gun, and the driver's cupola. The upper hull is closed over with a flat blanking plate that is bereft of any detail, plus the front and rear panels, after which the bump-stops for the suspension swing-arms are added next to the axle locations. The wheels and their swing-arms are then fitted into their respective stations, which have hexagonal holes that match the hexagonal ends of the swing–arms, automatically setting the ride height. The tracks are individual links moulded on three of the larger sprues, with four sprue gates on each link, but no sink-marks or ejector pin marks to remove, so it's simply a matter of cleaning up the curves on the edges of each link before they can be glued in place, adding what appears to be substantial sag, if the instructions are correct. The KV-1 seemed to run with a similar amount of sag, but the KV-2 seems to have less pronounced sag, but I guess that as it was never built, that's up to you. You aren't given a suggestion as to how many links to use, so you'll have to build up a length and then wrap it around the wheels and shorten/lengthen it to suit. The machine-gun turret is mounted on a raised podium, and sits next to the driver's cupola, in front of the main turret ring. The fenders run full-length, and mate with the upper hull via a number of pegs and by incorporating a section of the upper-deck that sits to the side of the turret ring. This should result in a strong join, which will be further strengthened by the addition of a number of straight and triangular supports along its length. Three filter boxes sit atop the forward end of the engine deck, and have PE grilles installed where the air is drawn in, and these cover up a set of louvers that aren't moulded particularly convincingly. Each fender is fitted with the stowage boxes at the rear, in between the three triangular supports, and these are moulded as single parts, but with moulded in hinges and lifting handles for good measure. The main turret had a cupola for the commander, plus another mini-turret on top for a machine-gunner to perform close-in defence. The turret is built up from a to p and bottom half, with a gun barrel inserted from inside, and a pair of armoured vision block shrouds added on top. The cupola has moulded in vision blocks, and a lift-and-swivel hatch, which must be glued in place. The main barrel is turned aluminium with a short hollow muzzle that should be painted black to hide its shortness, and inserts into the mantlet, which has its hinge-points glued in behind it, attaching to the mounting points via a pair of poly-caps to give it a friction-fit that will allow the barrel to be moved and posed. The turret is made up from the large main part, a front panel onto which the mantlet glues, and a turret ring, with bustle-step at the rear. A set of crew steps run up the port side, more armoured vision-block shrouds, rear lifting lugs, and an aft hatch add detail to the turret, along with the machine-gun turret and commander's cupola, the latter fitting into a keyed hole, the former mounted on a bayonet-style turret ring. There are five large bolts on the top corners of the mantlet, which aren't moulded in, but are instead supplied on a flat portion of the sprue runners. These are to be cut off and positioned according to the scrap diagram, after which the turret is installed and twisted to lock it. The final assembly is the figure, which is a small kit in itself. The head, torso and legs are moulded as one piece, while the arms, mask and flame-thrower are separate parts. He is wearing a protective suit, a gas mask, hood and long boots, with the flame-thrower held in two hands. A hose leads from the breech of the gun to a double tank on the figure's back, with a small bag to the left. The figure is a little speculative, but is quite impressive, and has a rather sinister look to it. Markings Two speculative sets of markings are supplied for two vehicles. Registration is good, and colour density seems acceptable, although it is always difficult to tell with white decals, which form the majority of the sheet on this occasion. From the box you can build one of the following: Soviet 2nd Tank Army, Kursk 1943 – Russian Green with red star and patriotic slogan on the turret sides, and vehicle number 16. Finnish Army, Enso 1944 – Tan/Green/Grey camouflage, Finnish cross and vehicle number 21 on the turret. Conclusion It's not often you get an injection moulded KV-5 in 1:35, and it's a decent model, given the lack of readily available information or even a prototype of the subject. The exterior is reasonably well detailed with the obvious exception of the underside, which is a bit of a "so what?" area anyway, and individual link tracks are always a plus-point in my estimation. Recommended. Review sample courtesy of

British Mk.IV Male & Female Tanks 1:35 Takom WWI brought the horrors of trench warfare to a generation that was decimated by the carnage and resulting stalemate, so the Boffins were allocated the job of breaking the deadlock and allowing the Allies to advance against the German foe without the horrendous casualties that had plagued them so far. Starting with Little Willie, the first product of the Landships Committee, which was an armoured enclosure built onto a caterpillar track that was used in farming and construction at the time. The lack of traction offered by the track resulted in a shift to the familiar rhomboid track arrangement and the hull slung between the track sponsons, which was called the Mk.I. By this time the word Tank had come into use due to a codename given to them during construction and transport. The Mk.IV was an incremental improvement from those that went before, and was fitted with armament in sponsons on each side of the tracks, which could be either QF 6-pounder guns, or additional Lewis guns mounted in smaller housings. The heavier armed tanks were referred to as Male, the machine-gun equipped tanks Female, and those fitted with one of each type of armament were referred to as Hermaphrodites. Standard armament consisted of three Lewis guns, which were used due to their small internal footprint, as the tanks were short on space due in part to the eight crew needed to operate it successfully. Their first use in battle was at Messines Ridge, where they performed well unless they broke down or sank into the heavy mud, which a lot did. The consensus is that they added little value to the assault, but their use continued as they became more reliable, as well as strategies and operating techniques developed. The use of chain-mail saw a resurgence that protected the crew from shards of metal known as spall that broke free from the armour when hit from outside by shells and bullets. The fumes from the engine would choke the crew over time, and it wasn't unheard of for a crew to exit the tank vomiting, with eyes streaming and disoriented from the carbon monoxide they had been breathing in. The Mark IV was replaced by the Mark V in due course, which although originally intended to be a complete replacement, ended up as another incremental upgrade, due to fears of disrupting production. At the end of the war it was thought by some that tanks would never see combat again, and many were scrapped, with a number being donated to towns and cities for display. Only a few survive today. The Kits Takom have decided to produce two kits described as Male and Female, however they differ only in the layout of their casements for their weapons, so it is appropriate to review them together, but if you want big guns, go for the Male. Both kits come in standard top opening boxes, and are quite weighty in the hand, which suggests there's a lot in it. There are seven large sprues in tan styrene, plus five in mid-brown for the tracks, a small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass, a length of metal chain, decal sheet, and in the Female box, a multi-part figure of a German soldier holding a camera, while the Male has turned aluminium barrels instead. The instruction booklets are landscape A4, and there are two sheets of addenda to correct some errors in the original booklet. Take care to add these before you begin construction – I have stapled mine to the appropriate pages. The differences between the kits are limited to the sprue that contains all the casemate and armament for the two variants as can be seen below, and the figure is included as a reinforcement of the decal option that depicts a captured Mark.IV as a Beutepanzer in colourful camouflage. The Male has two turned aluminium barrels mentioned above to make up for the lack of figure, which is a fair swap IMHO. Detail is good, with big nobbly rivets, strengthening strips and so forth well depicted, and well moulded tracks, as well as grousers that were attached for more muddy conditions. Internally there is detail in the gun casemates, and for some reason, a depiction of the drive chain between the rear drive sprocket and a smaller cog that meshes with another attached to the outer wall of the track sponson. It's not visible when the model is complete, so it seems a little wasted effort here, but as it's only a few parts, I'll not lose any sleep over it. The inclusion of metal chains for the un-ditching beam is a good thing, as is the small fret of PE that enhances various areas of the hull. A figure for the Male tank would have been nice to have, especially if it depicted a Tommy dressed in anti-spall chainmail. Construction begins with the driver's cupola that sits atop the front of the hull. It has a centrally mounted Lewis gun in a ball mount, with a viewing hatch on either side, which could be left open if you wanted to show off the empty hull inside. The main hull is then built up from slabs, and here you'll need to take care not to get the angles wrong, so I would recommend placing the assembly between the two inner walls of the track sponsons to cure, ensuring correct fit later. A big towing shackle is sited at the front, and the muffler with its long exhaust sit on the roof. The exhaust tube is smooth, but in reality was often wrapped with asbestos material to insulate it from any stowage or crew scrambling about on the roof. When I built the old Emhar kit many moons ago, I wrapped it in tiny strips of toilet roll (only one-ply) attached with CA (superglue) and then painted an off-white once dry. The outlet braces fit to the upper deck, as do a number of upstands surrounding the crew hatch and the open-topped stowage box that has a metal cowl around the exhaust pipe passing through it. Two PE straps hold the muffler down and six small tie-down loops are added to the stowage area. The Mark.IV sensibly carried its fuel behind the main cab in an armoured box that is shielded from the sides by the trailing area of the track sponsons. It is built up as a separate box and has additional armour panels attached on hinges on the rear, and between the ineffectual radiator and rear crew hatch, which is moulded closed. The track sponsons are mirror images, so their construction is almost identical. The towing hitches on the front outer face are first, followed closely by the various panels that sit behind the tracks to prevent ingress of mud and debris, which are glued to the inner wall. The drive-chain and its associated cogs are situated at the rear, just in front of the drive sprocket, with a curved cover and scraper upstands protecting it from damage, and long panels fit behind the main track-runs, spacing the two halves out. After this section, two types of road wheels are fabricated from three parts each, with eleven of type A that has a guiding flange around its rim, and sixteen of type B, which are arranged according to a diagram showing where the larger wheels are placed within the sponson. These are left un-glued, and are held in place when the outer sponson wall is glued to the inner assembly. It would appear that Takom feel that attaching the sponsons after main painting is feasible, and I would have to agree, so here they tell you to add the Fascine rails that are used in deploying the fascine bundle to bridge larger trenches, as well as installing the tracks. The tracks are well moulded with inner and outer detail, and each link has four small hinge-parts glued to its underside to complete the shape of the track link. That might sound tiresome to do for two lengths of ninety two links, but the parts are free of any sink-marks or ejector-pin marks, and each part has only two sprue gates that will be easy to clean up. The four link parts are different from each other however, so it would be as well to make up a pot of each type and take one from each whilst building your track links. Do not try to assemble the track while the glue is soft however, but instead click them together when it is fully cured. If you don't feel like fiddling about with the extra parts, Takom state that you can just glue each link to the sponson side-by-side as long as you don't mind not being able to move the tracks afterwards. Each track length can have 15 grousers attached if you wish, which are shown varying between 5 links apart and 7 links apart. 6 links apart is the most sensible, as long as you make sure that the extra two links are taken up on the bottom run where it won't notice so much. At this point the instructions diverge, as the correct casemate for each weapon type is constructed, so I'll describe these under separate headings: Male The full breech is assembled before being placed in its mount, with a poly-cap permitting it to traverse on its base. A gun-shield is also added to the mount to protect from incoming rounds, and the sighting mechanism runs down the side of this assembly. The main gun-shield is a curved affair, which is made up from three parts that prescribe most of a cylinder and will need careful filling of the seams, plus a smaller curved shield inside that elevates with the gun. The metal barrel slots into a socket at the front of the breech, giving a nice crisp look to the big gun. Make up two of these as well as a pair of Lewis guns to protect the sides of the vehicle, but be aware that the sponsons are handed and have a slightly different layout due to the necessity of operation of the guns. Each casemate is made up from slabs, and the access door in the rear of the assembly is separate, so can be left ajar to show off the detail in the weapons. Female The slimmer casemates of the Female sport two Lewis guns in curved shields that resemble the larger one of the 6-pounders, and are again made up from three parts, so some seam filling will be needed here too. Four guns are built up into their mounts, and a curved elevation shield is added before they are locked into their cylindrical outer shields. Two are placed within each casemate front and rear, and the outer skin is built up around them, handed as per the Male. The figure included is of a German soldier wearing a Pikelhaube helmet, who is stooped to take a photo of the captured tank with a vintage pop-up camera, which has PE supports for the concertina section of the lens. The figure is of reasonable quality, if a little soft around the edges, and it may be worthwhile sourcing an alternate head/face for him, which is a little bland. Final Assembly The completed assemblies are then brought together after some rivets are removed from the outer skin of the hull to accommodate the Female's casemates only. The included metal chain is then used to attach the un-ditching beam, which can either be stowed on the rear of the roof using some PE brackets, or deployed by the addition of a pair of special track-links that have attachment loops for the chain, so choose wisely when assembling the tracks. You will need a pair of pliers to spread the individual links of the chain in order to break them to the correct length, as well as close them around the eyes on the links and the beam. The beam is moulded without wood grain, so you will have to make your own, but be careful when doing so, as I think that the side with rivets may be metal, spreading the stresses across the length of the wooden baulk more evenly. The end-caps are supplied as PE strips that wrap around the ends of the beam. Markings Due to the sheer number of captured Beutepanzers, each kit supplies markings for one British and one German tank, as follows: Male "Heinz" Panzer 207, Abteilung 14 near Fort de la Pompelle, 1918 – Red brown/grey/dark yellow camouflage, WWI style crosses, and Heinz in white with red outline. "Lodestar", 12th Battalion, France 1918 – all over khaki with red/white identification stripes on the fronts of the sponsons and roof. Female "Ännchen" Panzer 107, Abeilung 12 near Fort de la Pompelle, 1918 – Red brown/grey/dark yellow camouflage, WWI style crosses, with "Ännchen" and the number 5 in a red circle. "Flirt II" F company, Cambrai 1917 – all over khaki with F.4, 2179 and "Flirt II" in white on front, rear and sides, with a four of hearts playing card on the sponson. The decals are well printed with good register, colour density and sharpness, although a few jaggies are seen on the curved crosses under magnification. Conclusion Arriving at almost the same time as the new kit from Tamiya, this is a good alternative that will build up into a nice static model without the gimmick of having a motor inside. The external hull is well detailed, with a lot of character, and the tracks are well done too, covered in dome headed rivets and underside detail that will be useful if you decide to peel back the tracks to show a tank that has been hit and in difficulties. A full interior would be been the icing on the cake, but apart from the casemates which are well done, there is nothing else within. Of course this kit will be compared with that of the mighty Tamiya offering, but I feel that it holds up pretty well, and is a viable alternative if you just don't feel the need for the motorised version. I think we find ourselves at the beginning of a mini-golden age for the WWI armour modeller, and I for one hope that it continues, as I have a fondness for the kooky looking vehicles of the era. Takom have already announced their Tadpole variant of the Mark.IV, which has extended track sponsons and a platform to accommodate a mortar crew at the rear, but as yet I don't have likely date. Now… about my Mark.IX "Pig"? Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of UK Distributors for

Object 279 Soviet Heavy Tank 1:35 Takom The Object 279 was a fanciful design for a heavy tank that was resilient enough to withstand a nuclear blast, which resulted in a curious looking design that had a boat-shaped hull that was streamlined to stay put during the high-speed wind that accomplishes even a small battlefield nuclear device. It also had four tracks to make it capable of covering rough terrain, very thick armour and a rifled 130mm main gun that was stabilised for greater accuracy. The crew compartment was fully protected by a chemical nuclear and biological filtration system to keep the four-man crew safe from harm, as well as an automatic fire suppression system. It was abandoned when the Soviet high command decided to stop fielding such lumbering heavy tanks, which left problems with the drive train, gears and running gear unsolved. The prototype is today housed at Kubinka tank museum. The Kit Like London buses (of yore, perhaps) you wait for ages then three turn up all at once. There are now three kits of this unusual beast on the market, and this is the second that we have reviewed now, the other currently being built by one of our members, who is having some fit problems. This kit is somewhat different from the Panda offering, and arrives in a stout top-opening box with a dramatic painting of the tank bearing down on a person's perspective, with the barrel looming over the viewer. That alone should sell quite a few copies of the kit. Inside are five sprues of dark grey styrene, plus six more of track links, a green sprue containing a figure, a small clear sprue, a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) metal, a length of braided copper wire, tiny decal sheet, and a landscape A4 instruction booklet. Detail is good, and the hull is presented as a 2-part clamshell, with the additional aerodynamic armour blocks on the sides of the hull moulded in to reduce the seams that need sanding. The casting texture is nicely rendered without being overdone, and appears more restrained than the Panda offering, with a much smaller turret ring opening that has a bayonet-fitting for the turret itself. The instruction booklet thanks the Kubinka museum for their assistance with the project, which is hopefully a good sign. Construction begins naturally enough with the two sponsons that will each hold a pair of track runs. The front axles are fixed to the forward end of the sponson and the suspension arms are added to both sides of each one, while the drive sprockets are built up in paired pairs on a pair of separate double-sided final drive housings. That's a lot of pairs! The single roadwheel parts glue onto the axles at the ends of the swing-arms, and three return roller fit onto the corresponding axles moulded into the sponsons. A few small parts are added to the underside of the hull, and the sponsons are added. It might be best to leave the sponsons off until you have built up the tracks, to give you more "fiddle room" and to obtain the correct sag of the tracks over the return rollers. One the two inner track-lengths are together on the hull, there's precious little room between them for the pudgy fingers that I possess. The tracks are supplied as individual links over six sprues, and each link has four attachment points to the sprue, and a raised ejector pin mark in the inner face, between the guide horns. Removing that ejector pin should be the work of moments for each link, but spread over four runs of 80 links, it'll add a sizeable chunk of time to the preparation of the parts. You could probably get away without removing them on the inner tracks, and even the outer tracks if you feel like using a bit of mud to cover up your laziness. Your choice! As is usual with individual styrene track links, it is best to assemble the whole track run flat on your desk alongside a steel ruler, using liquid glue to attach the links together. Once completed and still flexible, wrap the track around the roadwheels and tape the ends together while the glue dries, as well as adding any track sag you want to by pressing down lightly between the return wheels, and adding a small weight if they rebound. The main gun comes in two flavours. The longer 130mm M-65 barrel with a slatted muzzle brake, and the shorter but higher velocity TPC-152mm gun, which had no muzzle brake. The shorter gun was proposed, but as far as we're aware was never fitted, as no photos seem to exist. The longer gun looks much more aggressive though, and as they both have vertical seams between the two halves, there's little to recommend one over the other in terms of time saved. Each barrel is notched so that it can only fit into the mantlet one way, and a coax machine gun fits to one side, with a choice of cooling jackets that have circular or elongated lozenge shaped holes. The coaxial searchlight sits to the right of the barrel and coax MG, and again you have a choice of lens covers, but no lens on the clear sprue. The turret is in the usual top and bottom part format with a seamline around the base of the turret, which cuts through some very nicely moulded cast texture right next to the mantlet. Reinstating that after hiding the seam will require a little work, but you have two turret tops and bottoms due to the layout of the sprues, so if you screw one up, you could quickly pull the halves apart and extract the mantlet to try again. A number of small parts made from styrene and the pre-painted PE are added to the outside of the turret, plus two nicely detailed hatches for the driver and gunner, with a central mushroom vent between them and sighting devices in front of them. Moving to the upper hull, a pair of PE mesh grilles fix over the louvers on the engine deck, and some circular grilles sited just behind the heavily armoured turret ring. A set of pioneer tools are dotted around the hull after drilling their mounting holes through from the inside of the hull, and the headlights with their protective cages are installed on the sloping front armour panels each side of the glacis plate. Each one has a clear lens, one hooded to reduce light spilling out skyward and the other a straight forward lens with vertical prisms to spread the light. That's everything on the clear sprue used up in one go! Two long stowage bars are attached to the sides of the turret ring by short legs, with three small L-shaped brackets folded from PE on the port legs to support the towing cable. The raised intake covers that sit outboard of the aforementioned grilles slip into a pair of recesses on the engine deck, and after adding some small parts, the two halves of the hull can be joined together. There is a large mating surface running all the way around the edge of the parts, with a lip in the top part ensuring perfect location, and once glued it is highly unlikely you'll need to fill any joints. The two auxiliary fuel tanks on the rear are made up from seven parts plus feeder hose and the two part travel lock for the main gun are added, and the turret twisted into position to finish the building phase of the tank. The figure is clad in NBC protective gear, consisting of a full-length hooded greatcoat, over-shoes and gas-mask. A separate filter bag attaches to a moulded in strap that is slung across his body, and a choice of AK-47 with a wooden stock or folded metal stock are provided. The gas mask is a separate insert into the hood, and a flexible hose leads from the mask to the bag. Moulding is very nicely done, and the drape of the coat very realistic, but in my review sample, there are a few recessed "grooves" in the front of the figure where the wave-fronts of styrene haven't quite merged fully. That is easily fixed with a little filler though, and doesn't detract from the figure overall. Markings As far as we are aware, the Object 279 only wore one scheme, which is given as Olive Green and uses the Tamiya paint system. You are given an alternative (probably) fictional scheme though, in case you want to portray your 279 as it appeared at Kubinka recently in a three tone scheme. From the box you can model one of the following: Object 279, 1960 – Olive Green with white 120 on the turret sides. Object 279M with the shorter 152mm gun – Olive Green. Object 279 Kubinka Tank Museum, 2013 – Olive Green, Medium Grey and Flesh coloured camouflage. While the camouflaged version does look quite attractive, it's not representative (as far as we know) of the machine in tests, and if you choose to model it, you should omit the small searchlight from the turret hatch, as it isn't present on the Kubinka example. There are plenty of pictures of the 279 in testing, and it seems to have been quite often personalised with stowage, and in one picture it has a long protective bag over the end of the muzzle, as well as a blast-bag on the mantlet, so out with the Magic-sculp for a bit of realism. Conclusion It's a crazy concept for a tank, with a futuristic look even today, and although it is a behemoth, it has a surprisingly small footprint if you exclude the long barrel. It sits high off the ground though, but as can be seen from the photos of it at Kubinka, not massively higher than traditional heavy tanks, which is testament to the ingenuity of the designers. The fit of the parts that I have been able to test seems to be good, especially the hull halves, so perhaps if you're in a dither over which to get, this could seal the deal? Again, the sprue letters are cut-through rather than raised, and that makes finding the right sprue so much quicker. I'm going to keep mentioning this until someone takes notice! Very highly recommended. Available from all good model shops and online retailers. Review sample courtesy of

St Chamond French Heavy Tank (Early) 1:35 Takom During the scramble to develop and equip their forces with tanks during WWI, the French combatants have been largely forgotten in favour of the British and German designs, despite their designs having much to commend them, as well as the introduction of the first 360o traversing turret on the diminutive FT-17. The French heavy tank was the Schneider CA1, which bore a striking resemblance to a tracked skip with a gun pointing forward. In order to increase production, another company, Forges et Aciéries de la Marine et d'Homécourt (FAMH) were contracted to produce 400 more, but Schneider wouldn't provide blueprints without a license fee, and FAMH were unwilling to pay. Instead, they designed their own similar vehicle, which suffered from having too short a track-run, leaving the large overhang at the front prone to grounding when transitioning to or from sloped ground. The St Chamond was more heavily armed with a 75mm gun that could fire a more powerful round and four machine guns, the former being the main cause for the extended front section of the tank. A revision added barrel-shaped rollers to the front and rear of the overhang to assist in keeping the tanks mobile, as well as increased armour protection for the sloping frontal armour, a keel-shaped roof to encourage satchel-bombs to slide off, and widened tracks. The tanks was successfully used as a mobile artillery piece initially, but when used in true combat, was found to have some serious problems with track damage, as well as being prone to running aground. After the war a number were converted to ammunition carriers and the rest scrapped. Only one example exists today at the museum in Samur, appropriately in France. The Kit A surprise release from this new company, popping up after their successful FT-17 in 1:16 scale, but in the more shelf-friendly de facto standard scale of 1:35. It arrives in a fairly large top-opening box with a painting of the tank and the included figure, who floats serenely above the ground, pointing into the distance. Inside the box are five sprues and an upper hull part in a sand coloured styrene, two sprues of track parts in a very dark grey styrene, a small decal sheet, and a glossy instruction booklet in landscape A4, with black and white painting guide printed on the back inside cover. The parts are well detailed, and the exterior panels are festooned with rivets and joints that were prevalent in such early designs. A large proportion of the part-count is devoted to the suspension and running gear, some parts of which bear some resemblance to the FT-17's if you've had the pleasure of either handling a model of one, or seen it in the flesh. Construction begins with the upper hull, which is a single part with slide-moulded detail on the sides and rear to ease construction. The tin-bath-like turrets on the top of the vehicle are made up and added to the corresponding holes, as are a multitude of access hatches on the top and sides of the tank. Strengthening strips are added to the roof at regular intervals, and the large rectangular cowl over the engine compartment is added toward the rear, helping to keep the air clean within. An exhaust pipe and muffler is attached to the roof, and directs the exhaust off to the back of the vehicle out of the way. The sloping glacis plate, which was an innovation the value of which probably wasn't fully realised at the time, is then built up, with the big 75mm cannon mounted centrally and one of the Hotchkiss guns offset to the right in a small sloped ball-mount. The rest of the machine guns are built into upright ball-mounts for later installation on the sides and at the rear of the hull. Careful gluing can leave them posable if you wish. A pair of supports are then glued into sockets on underside of the roof, and a couple of vision ports next to the side-mounted guns are glued in place, after which the hull is set aside until it can be mated with the running gear later on. The lower hull starts out as a narrow strip of plastic, onto which the rollers are added front and aft, all three of which can be left movable if you are sparing with the glue. The suspension and running gear is based on a Holt Caterpillar track unit, and much of the detail is replicated here, as it is visible between the tracks and from the front. Two suspension arm carriers are added to the central floor, with brackets for the seating of the springs later in the built, plus more supporting ironwork, and the rear axle, which goes straight through the body. A pair of housings fit around the rear axle, which I suspect would hold the electric motors for the petrol-electric transmission which gave the St Charmond variable track speeds, making turning more comfortable for the occupants, as well as making aiming the fixed gun a lot easier. Five return rollers are added to the upper track run, along with their retaining bar, and the toothed drive sprockets are inserted into the rear axle, with a braking hub inboard attached to an offset ram. Two beams retain the wheel within the length of the axle and brace it against a huge beam that runs through the lower chassis. The idler wheels sit within a yoke that terminates in a track tensioning device, and these affix to the front section of a complicated (to my eyes) sub-chassis that is linked together by torsion bars that hold the six sections together. The road wheels are arranged in 3:3:2 groups within sponsons linked to each part of the sub-chassis that are cross-linked by long swing-arms, and they are each supported by paired coil-springs that damp each sponson's movement. A quartet of U-bolts lash the idler wheels to their sub-chassis section, and the whole arrangement is then offered up to the underside of the lower hull. Some judicious painting of the assemblies might be in order here, to avoid any unreachable areas ruining your finish. A pair of stepped covers are added to the top of the lower hull, mating with lugs and tabs, after which the upper hull is joined, locating the other end of the supports into sockets in the floor of the lower hull. The lower glacis is built up and slotted in from the front, and a small angled panel on triangular brackets is fitted just in front of the tracks, to deflect debris away from the workings. The last part of the build involves the tracks, which are made up of three parts for each of the 36 links required to complete a track run. The track pad is a single part with five sprue gates, but these are on the edges, so relatively easy to remove with a pair of nippers and a sanding stick. The "chain-link" parts make up the remaining two parts, one of which you glue to the track pad, the other you snap into position at one end, and then rotate to snap it into the other end. The instructions aren't especially clear, but once I had cut a couple of links from the sprues, it started to become clear. Build up a full set of B1/B3 parts, link them all together on the flat, and add the B2 parts one-by-one. There is a single ejector pin mark on the inner face of the track pad, but once you have the link assembled, it won't be seen so you can ignore it. The final link to create the loop involves adding the track pad last to complete the run. Repeat and then relax. A figure is included with the kit, and he can be found in the corner of one of the larger sprues. He is standing with one arm stretched out pointing into the distance, and he wears a chain-mail face mask that was commonly worn to protect the face from spalling from within the tank, as well as from injury whilst looking through the vision ports. The torso and legs are moulded in one, with separate arms, helmet, pistol holster, and head with masked face, which has chain-mail texture moulded into the lower section and an undercut beneath which the chin is visible. The moulded in belt and other details on the torso aren't particularly crisp, but the rest of the parts seem better, and as an added extra he should suffice for most of us. Markings There are two markings supplied with the kit, both of which have a disruptive camouflage scheme of four or five colours. There are few decals other than the vehicle's artwork for its name, plus the unit on the sides and registration number on the rear, so the decal sheet is quite small. A number of the decals have an off-set white drop-shadow style background that is not to be confused with poor registration, but the cockerel motif shows a little offsetting, but as they were all hand painted (probably badly), it shouldn't matter too much. The painting guide uses Tamiya colours, which should please many European modellers who sometimes struggle to get Gunze Sangyo paints that are often referred to by Far Eastern kit producers. Both schemes will require some careful painting over a base coat of medium grey, and I was initially disappointed to see that only one side of the tank was displayed on the sheet. The missing side of one scheme is thankfully reproduced on the side of the box in full colour however, so don't throw the box away before you have painted! The top of the tank and the starboard side of the second decal option aren't shown though, so further research or some artistic license will be the order of the day here. I have to admit to finding that a bit of an annoyance, but hopefully someone will come to the rescue with a source soon. From the box you can build one of the following: "Chantecoq" As31, Laffaux, 1917 Medium grey, hull red, dark yellow, NATO black, olive green disruptive scheme with a blue/red/white cockerel motif under the name on each side. "Fantomas" As31, 1917 Medium grey, hull red, dark yellow, olive green disruptive scheme and the tank name on the sides and glacis plate. Conclusion The St Charmond is an ugly beast, but an important early heavy tank that actually saw service in WWI, which has been missing from the injection moulded fold for too long. It is good to see that some new WWI subjects are appearing, as it was an interesting period, much akin in weirdness to the early jet era, where odd ideas were tried out, with quick progression to the next one. The kit is good looking from a model engineering point of view, and should build up well with a little care taken with the running gear. A commander figure is a nice addition, and could be posed in one of the hatches if the mood takes you. It sort of makes up for the sketchy painting instructions, but with it being an early tank, perhaps that can be forgiven, as most photographs would have been taken from a man's perspective, affording little clue as to what was painted on the roof. A small thing that I feel is worthy of mention, but if you study the sprues carefully, you'll see that the sprue identifying letters are all moulded right through the tabs, which makes seeing which sprue is which so much easier. It's a thing I'd like to see catch on, in order to save my tired eyes from juggling multiple sprues trying to find the correct one. Highly recommended. Available soon in all good model shops Review sample courtesy of

Just seen this on various websites. It may be small, even in 1:16, but with a full interior it looks like a nice model. http://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/newkitnews/takom.html