Review by: Bill Curtis (May 2011)
Something to get in the mood!
Initial Assessment
The box contains 5 sprues of tan, plastic parts totalling 186 pieces, a hull bottom as a tub, 4 poly caps, a set of vinyl rubber band tracks, a length of thread, a decal sheet which has markings for 4 Stugs, a twelve page instruction book and a six page booklet covering the history camouflage and markings of the Finnish Stugs.
Click Image to Enlarge/go back.
Accuracy
Compared to the plans in various books this scales out as pretty darn close – if not perfect.
Quality
The quality of the moulding is very good, with no flash, crisp and a few knock out marks that will require some work. Tamiya have used four sprues from their earlier kit and added a further one for the parts used on the Finnish version, which they called a Sturmi.
The additional parts include a figure, logs for the side protection, spare tracks, lower hull armour add on, a gun barrel with a wider muzzle brake, modified gun shield and a Russian DT machine gun. A small point which is a typical Tamiya quirk is that that part of the sponson is missing, but this is easily fixed with the addition of some plastic card.
The underside of the fenders have knock-out marks which need filling by the purist, or I would be tempted to leave them after a clean-up and either paint over or cover with a small application of some mud
Instructions
As previously stated, the kit contains a twelve-page instruction book, with 23 assembly stages, in the standard clear and concise Tamiya style. Also included is the six-page booklet which gives the history, camo and markings for the Stugs.
Decals
A small decal sheet is included which is in good register and well printed.
Conclusions
The Stugs have been a common sight on club displays and competitions for a while and this version will add another different model, with its colour scheme, markings, concrete and logs. The kit is very nice, up to Tamiya’s standard and will build into a very nice representation of the original straight from the box.
I would have liked to see a small etch set for the air intake screens, but Tamiya do make this as a separate item (number 3519) so this could be added with no trouble.
I look forward to seeing this model completed.
Highly recommended.
Bill C.
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