Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Military in Scale 07 2003


Having built FineMolds' excellent Type 1 and Type 3 main battle tanks I hoped the TK would prove to be of similar quality. I was wrong. If anything, the TK is even better. The kit is moulded in olive drab injection-moulded plastic, has glueable vinyl tracks and includes a very nice sheet of photoetch. What sets this kit apart is the way the plastic parts have been designed to work with the etch. I'll explain in detail later, but this kit has been created as a whole package, not just plastic parts plus photoetch as an afterthought. The standard of moulding is flawless. There is no flash, there are no sinkmarks, and the sprue attachment points, where appropriate, are generally on the least visible surface of the parts. The etch is easy to work with and is easy to bend to shape. There is no interior detail in the hull, although the driver's access hatch can be positioned open. The turret features full machine-gun detail, but this is not enough to let you position the turret hatch open without a figure to fill the void. With this in mind, I used Warriors' Tankette crew set. which is specifically designed to fit this kit. Regular readers will know that I like to throw aftermarket sets at my kits. As far as I know the TK doesn't have any, but even if it did I think I'd just stick with the kit parts, the model really is that good.

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