ww1

[alecras234]

Hi my name is Ash, im disabled from wales.  I like scale modeling but i have difficulty using my hand, i have more movement in my left hand.    I tend to build the larger scale aircraft as its easier being bigger parts.    I'm interested in World War One and was looking at early mks of tanks from ww1.    I have seen one by Emhar in 1:35 scale, one by Tamiya in 1:35 scale but i don't fancy making that one,  and a mk 4 by Meng in 1:35 scale.   Has anyone built a mk 4 or mk 5 by Emhar or Meng, how easy or fiddly is it?   Thanks

[PF Naughton]

Hi,

I think that I have both but haven't built either yet.  I have built a1/72 scale Emhar Female MkIV tank and I liked it alot.  I thin k that the Emhar kits tend to be a bit older and possibly not as complex, but that they also may not be quite as accurate as the newer Meng kit.  The biggest isuue that I had with the 1/72 scale Emhar kit was fitting the rails ontop.  I'm not sure if the 1/35 scale kits have a better fit or not though.

Pat 

[dcrfan]

I have the Emar 1/35th kit.  The major hull pieces were warped all over the place so I had to use considerable force and lots of tape to pull things back into shape as I assembled it. Not a fun kit. 

[Bonhoff]

On 11/11/2020 at 4:40 AM, dcrfan said:

I have the Emar 1/35th kit.  The major hull pieces were warped all over the place so I had to use considerable force and lots of tape to pull things back into shape as I assembled it. Not a fun kit. 

 

On the other hand, the 1/35 Emhar "Female" and Whippet that I built went together with very little fuss - All I'd suggest is that you could infill the "lozenges" with styrene sheet to give the tracks something to adhere to.

 

KR'S

 

IanJ 

[Kingsman]

The Emhar kits are very old thse days.  But they do have the advanatge of being somewhat simpler to build and having vinyl tracks.  The awful gun barrels can be replaced with after-market parts.  I have built 3 of the Takom MkIVs and found them easy enough except for the rollers, which were very fiddly.  The multi-part track links in the Takom kits need to be replaced with the one-piece workable ones, if they haven't started including these in the kits now.

 

The Tamiya MkIV is supposed to be OK and comes with workable tracks. Tamiya kits tend to be somewhat easier to build than some other brands.  You might look at their nice Char B, although that's WW2.

[Chris B]

In 1/35th I've built 2 Takom Mk1s, - male and female,  3 Takom Mk IVs - male, female and tadpole  and 3 Meng Mk V - male, female and hermaphrodite. All the kits except the first (probably a Mk IV male) have included the single link track pads as opposed to the original Takom over fiddly multi part track pads.

 

Are they simple and easy 'shake the box' buildable?  In my opinion no. They all have a few potential problem areas and having at least partial use of 2 hands is useful  (I have limited use with the left hand).  They do however get easier to build the more you make and as you learn ways to deviate from the instructions or simplify the build. For example, don't try to install the insane no. of wheels into the side frames without gluing them into one frame side as near as possible at 90%; then allow to partly dry before attempting to place the second frame over them, working along the length pushing them with a suitable prod (I used a small file) into the location hole . Alternatively given that the wheels are hidden once the track is on, the no. of wheels can be reduced to say half a dozen each side. When building the sponsons I found it advisable to keep trying them for fit against the hole in the frame as they're built before the glue sets.

 

As regards the 1/35th Emhar kits, I built a couple probably about 30 or so years ago. I remember them as rathe crude and basic compared to both the Takom and Meng kits.  I afraid I can't remember how easy or difficult the builds were. My opinion is that probably their only advantage is that they're cheaper than Takom or Meng.

 

If you do think about trying a Takom or Meng, as well as looking at the 'work in progress ' build on this site I'd strongly recommend looking at the build reviews on the PMMS site e.g. https://www.perthmilitarymodelling.com/reviews/vehicles/takom/takom2008-9.html where you you will find many useful suggestions to help the build. (N.B. the above link mentions the ridiculously complex tracks in the first kits, not those now included in the Takom kits).

 

Regards

 

Chris