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Kit - Tamiya 35203 (1996) Paint - all acrylics Decals - spares Extras - Aber etch grilles, figures from Tamiya 35201 Mentioned here a number of times that I love building TD's, think I've done four-in-a-row over the last couple of years. I try something new with each build, and for this one, it was the figures - I have always been 'low average' when it comes to painting 'little men'. This attempt is definitely better than usual for me, but I have a long-way-to-go. Very easy and typical 1990's Tamiya quality kit. No surprises and everything fitted very well, although I felt the side skirts could definitely have benefitted from a much more positive join to the hull. Colours are my own mix of Tamiya acrylics trying to match the more saturated green and paler Dunkelgelb that you see in later war vehicles, not sure if I succeeded but they're close enough IMHO. I detest pigments and was 'this close' to not adding any at all, but did so anyway. Don't think I'll ever get the hang of applying them. So that is that. Please feel free to make any comments, ask any questions or hurl any insults. Cheers from NZ. Ian.

Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz-1) ICM 1:35 After 1933, Germany began to build a modern army. The light off-road passenger car was built by the BMW-Werk Eisenach under the designation BMW 325, as well as Hanomag (Typ 20 and Stoewer. The vehicles were used as troop carriers (Kfz. 1), by repair-and-maintenance squads (Kfz. 2/40), by artillery reconnaissance sonic measurement squads (Kfz. 3) and by troop-level aerial defence (Kfz. 4). Almost 13,000 units were built. Between 1940 and 1943, only Stoewer continued to build the R 200 Spezial without the four-wheel steering (Typ 40). The cars weighed 1,775 kg empty (1,700 kg without the four-wheel steering). 90% of all military branches rejected the vehicle as "unfit for wartime service" in a 1942 enquiry, while the much simpler, lighter and cheaper Volkswagen Kübelwagen proved to be far superior in basically every respect. The Model The model arrives in the usual sturdy box with a separate top sleeve with a nice artist’s representation of the vehicle on the front. Inside, within a large poly bag, are four sprues of light grey styrene, a small decal sheet and, in a separate poly bag, one clear sprue. On initial inspection the parts are really well moulded, clean, with no sign of flash. There are a number of moulding pips, some of which are on quite fragile looking parts, so care should be taken when removing. The sprue gates attaching items like the exhaust are also quite heavy and I can see these parts breaking if you’re not careful. The build is actually one of ICM’s easiest having seen many of their earlier releases which seemed to include everything separately. In this case the chassis and much of the suspension bracketry is provided as one complete moulding to which a three piece V shaped crossbeam is added to the centre section followed by its floor pan, and then four bump stops at each corner. Two spring mouldings are then added to their respective mounting plates and the steering rack fitted to the front axle mount. The lower wishbones, also single mouldings for front and rear are attached, along with the front and rear differentials and axles, which are made up from four parts. The upper suspension arms are fitted, as are the drop links, four stowage boxes and the exhaust pipe. Strangely, the main drive shaft is fitted before the engine, which is a lovely little model in itself. Consisting of the main block split vertically, the cylinder head and support cradle are glued into place, before the two piece bell housing and four piece gearbox are attached. The engine is further detailed with the fitting of the ancillaries, such as starter motor, alternator, filter and manifolds. With the fitting of the drive belts and fan the engine is fitted into place between the main drive shaft and the front differential, before the air filter and exhaust section which attaches to the main pipe work already attached to the chassis. The main section of floor pan, which also includes the rear mudguards is also a single piece moulding, the underside of which is fitted with the three piece fuel tank, skid pan, fuel filler pipe and a rear reflector. This section is then glued to the chassis and the each of the three piece wheels are fitted to their respective axles. The two piece radiator is then glued into position, when construction moves to the interior, with the fitting of the front and rear bulkheads. The front bulkhead is fitted with the instrument binnacle, cross beam, and grab handle, as well as the foot pedals and steering column. The cabin sides are then attached, as well as the three piece bonnet, which, unfortunately has not been moulded so that the engine can be seen. If the modeller wishes to reveal the engine, then quite a bit of careful surgery will be required. To the rear the boot section is attached, as are the roof hinge supports, while in the front the gear stick is fitted. Each of the seats, two singles at the front and a bench seat in the rear as assembled and glued into place, as are the front mud guards. The rear of the bench seat is glued into place along with the two rifles and their stowage supports, at the front of the vehicle the three piece bumper assembly is attached. There are two more rifles fitted, one per side in the front cabin and the four doors assembled and fitted either open or closed. The windscreen is made up from three parts and attached to the front bulkhead. The rear bumpers, one for each quarter are made up form three parts, with the left hand unit fitted with number and unit id plates, while the left unit is fitted with a rear light. The completed bumpers are glued into position, followed by the two piece spare wheel and four piece folded roof, there being no option to have the roof raised. The build is completed with the addition of allteh lights, windscreen wipers, rear view mirrors, a spade and a pair of three piece Jerry cans. Decals The small decal sheet contains registration numbers for four vehicles and along with unit ID insignia. The four vehicles are all painted in the overall tank grey, with Field Grey roof canvas. The vehicles blonged to the following units:- Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz-1), 16th Panzer Division, River Don area, June 1942 Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz-1), 11th Panzer Division Ukraine, July 1941 Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz-1), Panzergruppe 1 Keist, Ukraine, July 1941 Le.gl.Einheits-Pkw (Kfz-1), 1/JG51, Stary Bykhov, Belorussia, July 1941 Conclusion It’s good to see these rather unusual vehicles being released. They may not have had the starring roles, or even a glittering career, but they can be just as interesting. I’d never heard of this vehicle before receiving the review sample. Will look just as great with some troops in a diorama or on its own in a collection. Review sample courtesy of

7.5cm Gebirgskanone Special Armour 1:35 History Its development was quite prolonged, as the Austrians couldn't decide on the specifications that they wanted. Initially, they wanted a gun that could be broken-down into no more than five pack-animal loads to replace the various 7 cm mountain guns in service, but prolonged trials proved that the 7.5 cm M. 12 prototype to be the best gun. However, the commander-in-chief of Bosnia-Herzegovina believe it to be too heavy and demanded a return to the 7 cm calibre to save weight. Skoda dutifully built enough guns for a test battery in the smaller caliber and tested them during the spring of 1914 where they were judged inferior to the 7.5 cm guns. This cost the Austrians heavily as the 7.5 cm guns began to be delivered in April 1915 instead of the planned date of April 1914. For transport, the gun could be dismantled into six parts, generally carried in four loads. In addition, there was a gun shield fitted on some (perhaps many) such guns. German anti-tank gunners and supporting infantry, October 1918 The Germans bought some guns during World War I, but used them as infantry guns in direct support of the infantry, as their light weight would allow them to move with the infantry. They complained that the guns were too fragile and didn't have a high enough muzzle velocity to act as an anti-tank gun. Considering that the guns were designed to be disassembled, it's not too surprising that they couldn't stand the abuse moving through the shell-pocketed front lines on the Western Front. The Model Special Armour, a subsidiary of the MPM have produced some nice an unusual subjects it the past, and this is no different. Arriving in an end opening box with an artists interpretation of the gun on the front and the painting guide on the back this small cannon comes on two sprues of medium grey styrene. There is no etch or decals, so looks like it’ll be a fairly easy model to build. The moulding is really rather nice with some very fine detail included, no sign of flash and only a few moulding pips. Being a short run production there are no alignment pins on the parts, so you will need to get everything aligned before gluing. Construction starts with the assembly of the barrel, which is in two halves and comes complete with the breech section. To this the elevation quadrants are attached, along with the rear of the recuperator. The box trail is then assembled from two sides, four cross members and the elevation axle. The barrel assembly is then fitted into position, along with the three tread plates mounted on top of the trail and the spade at the rear. The front of the recuperator is then added, as are the wheel axles, sight mechanism, elevation handles and upper shield supports. The shield itself is made up from seven parts before being fitted to the front of the trail and the upper supports. The model is finished off with the addition of the single piece spoked wheels, two seats and their supports, four grab handles and the towing eye. The painting guide shows four different schemes all in overall colours, so no worry about painting complex camouflage. They are for the following:- Horsky Cannon vz.15 Czechoslovakian Army, in Medium Green, 1938 Obice da 75/13, (captured 7.5cm Gebirgskanone M.15), of the Italian Army 1918, in Dark Green 7.5cm Gebirgskanone M.15, Austro-Hungarian Army, 1917, in a Khaki Green GebK 15(t), Wehrmacht, the Caucasus Mountains, 1942, in Panzer Grey Conclusion As my first real look at a Special Armour kit and even though it’s a short run, it does look very nice and would make a pretty easy build, finishing up with a interesting and quite unusual model for your collection. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

T-34 Chevron Type. Mod 1942 Track Links MSD 1:35 To go with the replacement turret reviewed HERE MSD have also released a set of individual track links for a T-34 Mod.1942. The nine sprues of light grey styrene each contain 20 links half with control horns, half without, to produce the Chevron style tracks shown in the box top picture. Unfortunately these are not the nice user-friendly snap and click type, but the glue together type, with no real positive lock. That said with a bit of patience and forward thinking these still look like they will assemble into a good looking set of accurate tracks. Personally I would treat them as you would link and length and assemble as such before fitting to the model. The attachments to the sprues are on the inner and outer edges so clean up is pretty simple after removal, and with no sign of flash, good clean joining points, it shouldn’t take too long to assemble Conclusion Whilst not the easiest method of achieving an accurate length of track, these links do look like they will be very effective. Recommended Review sample courtesy of