PlasticPanzers.com Forum

Hi chaps,

Ok, soooooooo, this SPG theme is one hell of a subject! Somehow my chosen kit gets through the screening process, thank goodness too, as i had my heart set on this for the build since SPG's were suggested

Anyway, my entry will be the Tamiya Type 1 Self Propelled Gun. It's an older Tamiya kit and this one i have is a re-issue which includes Tamiya's Japanese Infantry. I really like the box art on this kit, and that's what attracted me the most




Some reading references for the type...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_1_Ho-Ni_I

http://www.tanks-encyclopedia.com/ww2/j ... o-Ni-I.php


There is not much information on these and photographic references are few and far between. I did stumble upon a very useful walk around...

http://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/t ... alkaround/



Well, happy group building everyone

Well chosen Woody

Another Tamiya, shake and bake kit

I am beginning to think Tamiya could have been a better choice for a GB

Figures too, Hornet do have some nice Asian heads, though Tamiya figures do occasionally scrub up well.

The box art gives you a ready made scenario, especially with your recent jungle experience

Nice one

Steve H

Hi Steve!

Thanks for dropping in

Yep, it's the typical Tamiya kit, pretty basic but good fit and with some care should turn out a neat model. I have ordered an Eduard photo etch set to add some finer detail. Mesh guards over the mufflers etc. Also got a set of Fruil tracks on the way. Too hard to get track sag from the kit band tracks

Figures are ok. I have seen worse and seen better. Again, a little touch up with a scapel blade should work wonders. I am going to figure bash a couple more poses from an extra Tamiya infantry set

Good to see you jumping in Woody and what a great subject too. We don't see enough Japanese vehicles being built I reckon. Come to think of it, there aren't that many available.

Is that the kit you were looking at when I met you at the Swap n Sell?

Vincent

Yep, excellent choice

Fine Molds do a lot of great Japanese subjects, but they can be difficult to get outside Japan. I almost ordered a few kits directly from there, but then it turned out the seller won't offer combined shipping for several kits...

Philipp

Hi Vincent

That's the one Yeah, a good mainstream manufacturer would do well to look at putting some new mold Japanese armour on the market.

Hey Philipp, Finemolds do some nice stuff. You can find it, but you pay for it. Tamiya have released some of the Finemolds stuff under the Tamiya brand. The big Type 5 i have seen for over a hundred dollars. Would like to get one some time or another.

Some German shops have some of their stuff as well, and even reasonably priced for the most part. I really need to remember that next time I order something

Of course, the stuff I wanted to buy isn't available here....yet?

Philipp

PS: WOOHOO! 2500th post!

Well, i was going to do some more last night, but it was just too hot i was too lazy, so i didn't get much done.

I did clean up a few marks on the inside of the glacis (?) plate that has the drivers viewing port. It's the only ejector pin marks i could find that needed cleaning up!






Also i made a start on improving the figures. Typical Tamiya, details are soft but adequate. Don't expect modern standards of molding here. Making the older Tamiya figures has to be approached as more of a trip down memory lane. This is what we had as kids and they were freaking awesome

First fella under the knife is the leading soldier crouching low. My goal here is to just define some of the softer molded features and improve the depth. Looks better and makes for easier painting. So webbing, collar, pockets belt and puttees were enhanced with the trusty No.11 blade.






Sleeves were also undercut. Tamiya thought to mold a watch on some of the figures. Nice touch and attention to detail Mr. Tamiya. The watch was also enhanced with some scribing.






One of the biggies was that the rear of the chin strap was molded flush with the face. It's a common thing on these older Tamiya figures. And the ears always look crap. So some substantial surgery was performed here with scribing and scraping of the face to define the chin strap and reshape the ears. I have seen modellers drill out the ear canal, not sure if i will do that yet. Some dark paint might fool the eye in this scale






Facial features are not too bad




Note that there is a lot of plastic swarf from all the work. A brush over with some Extra Thin Tamiya Cement will make this disappear. Still more tidy up to do on this figure. The up close photos make everything look so rough. I can't see half of the imperfections with the Mk.1 eyeball. The photos definitely help in identifying problem areas though.

Maybe i need glasses

Oh yeah, the tracks arrived from BNA today