Best Armor kit on the Market. Period.
After getting over the size of the box this thing came in, I was blown away by the sheer number of parts (over 1100)! The detail in this kit at some point is such that you begin tto think that your building an actual tank! Assembly goes by sections each more complicated that the last, just the engine construction was almost 6 or 7 steps! ( a armor modelers paradise!!). And if all this wasn't enough to drive you around the bend, it includes parts to build one of two versions!! (yes I bought another one to build both, I'm hopeless).
The issues were the same here as with the Trumpeter 1:16 T-34 series, Bad fit of the upper hull to the lower, in the case of the particular model I had the left rear corner of the lower hull was slightly warped. Unfortunately I didn't discover this until I went to install the cooling fans and radiators on that side. As with the Russian T-34 I sawed a small amount from the rear bulk heads to get a fit. And naturally about 75% of all that detail you'll build will never see the light of day again! As with the T-34, I made every freaking panel I could either removable or operable!
The last Issue I encountered, was that the center ammunition racks stickk to far out into the fighting compartment and catch on the turret frame ( again easy fix by cutting them down a bit). First time out I built the Porsche version, this might be different on the next one.
Now some of you might be thinking that this model is full of problems, but with a kit at this scale and level of detail it is to be expected, and secretly modelers love working out this stuff Don't we?
This kit took me a month to complete and I loved every second, not only is it my personal best completed kit, but in my humble opinion it is the finest, most complete armor kit on the market in any scale.
But I already got my order in for Trumpeters new 1:16 Panzer IV, now if they would just do a Tiger one in this scale with this level of detail!?!? WOW!
Go for it, you won't regret it.
Epic, but long build.
I ordered this piece back in mid February, and just finished it a couple days ago. Like my last review, bad then good. First, not that much at all. The tracks were a pain in the butt to put together, needing two pins per track piece. When it came to the assembly of the lower hull, I recommend getting a vice, or some easy to remove tape. This is because the sides of the lower hull were bent out a little and made fitting the pieces in a bit of a test of willpower and patience. But the last, and I would say the most testing part was the wheel assemblies. Word of advice, pay VERY close attention to which clear plastic 'bearing' you put in them. I made a slight mistake and put the wrong one in, but a quick shave and it fixed it up. Now the good. To be honest, I have no idea where to begin. The details, exquisite! The amount of interaction parts, even better! All hatches on the turret are fully operational, to include to lifting and rotating Commanders hatch and piston supported Loaders hatch. The rear ammunition door, and even the grill door on the back deck to the engine compartment. One improvement I definitely would have made in regard to hatches would be the Driver and bow mounted gunner hatches. You can glue them in place open, or closed (mine are closed). And of course, the main gun. Regardless of what model vehicle you build, Henschel or Porsche, the main gun has a simulated recoil setup that you can, gently, push the gun barrel back and see the breach and recoil springs actually work! In the end, I was very, very pleased with this product and highly recommend to any who want a real challenge.
