Tamiya

1/48 German Kingtiger "Porsche Turret"

Kit Number: 32539

Reviewed by  Joe Koenig, IPMS# 31441

MSRP: $30.00 I will not go into any history on this vehicle other than to say that it feared nothing on the field of battle other than the threat of Allied air power. To begin, let me go on record to say that I'm not a big fan of 1/48 scale armor, but it does have its place. The diorama possibilities are endless, and with the manufacturing of more things, it will grow in popularity. Personally, I'm a 1/72 scale man. When you open the box, you are greeted by 160+ pieces of plastic and one metal lower hull. You also get two screws to hold it all together, along with some poly caps for the turret gun and drive sprockets. You also get a sheet of decals for four different vehicles and an easy-to-follow instruction sheet. The quality of molding is excellent, along with the fit. Some parts are rather thick and will need some thinning, and the molded-on tools are really strange since you also receive some that are separate. You also notice the lack of zimmerit on this vehicle, so you will have to create it in whatever manner you prefer. For me, I used a hot knife, which is nothing more than a wood-burning tool hooked up to a rheostat to control the heat. It's not hard to do, and with a little practice on the inside hull to get the feel of it, you'll be off and running in no time. Steps one through four deal with the lower hull and running gear. The metal hull is to add more impact and realism, according to Tamiya. I will accede to the realism due to its weight, but I don't believe that it offers impact except for damaging your nice hardwood floors if you drop it. There is really no detail on it, but once you build it and add the skirts, you won't be able to see much anyway. Watch the fit of the rear panel as you will have a small gap with which to contend. The detail on the wheels and drive sprockets are excellent, but the fit of the overlapping wheels is tight. However, you have to glue them on, so this is not a big deal. The tracks fit beautifully for me, but pay attention to the sag off the drive sprocket as they are designed that way. You also have lots of pin marks to deal with. Step five deals with the rear hull details, all of which fit well, but it would not hurt to thin down the fenders and the jack brackets. The jack is four pieces and gives you nice detail. The armored exhaust covers lack cast detail, but a little Toluene and stippling with a stiff brush takes care of it. Step six joins the upper and lower hulls together. As usual for Tamiya, you don't have any sponson floor. With all of the new molding technology, I think it would be much easier to make a plastic lower hull with bottoms, not to mention better detail. Step seven includes various hull fittings. Nothing major here, but you might want to add the electric lead wire for the light. Also you will want to knock off the plastic-blob grab handle and replace with wire for the engine cover. Same goes for the crew hatches for the upper hull in step eight. Here you add the separate tools and fenders, which are very thick. I spent a good bit of time thinning these out. Step nine includes more hull fittings and presented no problems. The intake screens are solid pieces, but I used them anyway. I'm sure that the aftermarket manufacturers will provide etched ones forthwith. Steps ten through thirteen deal with the turret and presented no problems. The fit was great. Be sure to replace the grab handles with wire. Finishing was done by spraying everything flat black first, using Model Master Enamels. Then I used Tamiya Acrylics to paint the three-tone camouflage scheme. Next, I clear-coated the entire vehicle using Testors Gloss Lacquer Clearcoat. Then I applied the decals with copious amounts of Solvaset. Tamiya decals are rather thick, and you need help snuggling them to the zimmerit. Next, I washed the entire model using oils and a pinwash. After that dried, sealed everything with Testors Flat Lacquer, then dry-brushed, and weathered to complete. Overall, an easy kit to build, but could use a couple of improvements, mainly with the lower hull and tools. When finished, it is a large model about the size of a 1/35 Panzer III. Thanks to Tamiya for the sample and IPMS/USA for the privilege to review this kit. Find this kit at Tamiya USA (www.tamiyausa.com).

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