Tamiya Panzer II F

[Sprogg]

A while back I picked up from a model shop a Tamiya Panzer II (Ausf. F or G depending on how you build it, though from my limited knowledge the G was substantially different from the F in ways the kit does not represent) for the rather reasonable price of £9.99. I later discovered the tooling itself was actually from 1971, though I have to say for its age the molding is remarkably crisp and overall it looks very nice indeed for the time. I've had it sitting in my stash for a while now and have started to build it; not much progress has occurred, or at least any that would be interesting enough photograph, and before long it got put back onto the back burner. However, with a house move imminent and the necessary packing that has ensued, I remembered the poor thing existed and got thinking about it.

 

I was planning on doing it up as the example of the type located at Bovington, due to the fetching colour scheme and the extant nature of the tank making reference material easier to acquire, with the tank portrayed as it would have been in service rather than as it is now for the sake of both some artistic license and also so the poor thing could have both guns. However, it then occurred to me that whilst the kit certainly looks nice, especially for its age, I have no idea if it has any glaring inaccuracies, and if so whether they are easily remedied or would require so much work that one might as well buy a well just buy a more modern kit. Certainly it has some rather irritating hollow bits under the tread guards (easily fixed) and the tracks are not very good, being rather taut (to the point I couldn't even "test fit" them on the wheels!). There are some very nice tracks available as replacements, though given the high cost I wonder if it might make more sense to invest in a modern kit to pair them with rather than putting some beautiful but expensive £25 Masterclub tracks on a £10 kit from the 70s.

 

So to cut a long story short: Is there any point in attempting to build this as an accurate Panzer II or should I just tart up the more noticeably off bits and paint it to the best of my ability as a practice piece, or possibly fodder for some ridiculous kitbash sci-fi thing? And if it is worth doing as a "proper" model, what in particular needs fixing? I'm something of a novice modeller and am not massively familiar with the Panzer II (any good reference/guide books on it?), and as much as I love tanks I'm not as familiar with them as I am, say, aircraft.

 

Thanks!

[Roger Newsome]

Personally I would build the kit as it is straight from the box and get £9.99 worth of enjoyment from it while at the same time gaining some invaluable experience. 

At the same time research the Panzer II. Then buy a more modern tooled kit using the the experience gained from researching and building your old Tamyia kit.

Roger.

[Gooney Fan]

Hello

 

May I second Rogers comments.

 

I built the Tamiya Panzer II in my youth, and I enjoyed the experience.

 

An ideal kit for your 1st steps in AFV modelling

 

Gooney Fan

[Sprogg]

Thanks!

That definitely sounds like a plan, then. I'll try using the default tracks and see how they come out- if I just can't get them to behave I might go for a set of replacements (probably more affordable ones though!).

[JackG]

Yes, the Ausf.G version was quite different:

 

 

Back to the Tamiya kit,  I've read after market tracks won't fit because the drive sprocket has a different number of teeth.  Can always trim some teeth off?

 

regards,

Jack