Box cover with amazing artwork
Background
Total honesty: this little kit came about as the result of an impulse buy on Black Friday. It wasn’t planned as part of any particular project or interest at the time, just because it was cheap. Really cheap. Like really, really cheap. Under £4 cheap with free Prime delivery. Just so you all know I don’t have a problem with the plastic crack.
While I used to enjoy modelling 1:72 and 1:76 scale tanks, it’s not something I’ve indulged myself in for decades. The very first model I built on my own was a WWII Panzer III, I remember it well and still have some of the parts in my bits box. I was so proud of that little thing, even though it ended up being more glue than model kit.
The set is an old sculpt from 1961 (!) which I assume has been retooled for release, and I don’t imagine the original moulds would be in a usable condition after nearly 65 years.
Contents & Modelling
Box back with painting guide
The box contains a couple of sprues which were a little warped on opening, but nothing that would appear to affect the actual components. There are a set of rubber tracks, a fairly substantial instructions sheet, and a nice little set of decals. I’d like to mention here that I absolutely love the box art which, according to the Airfix website, dates from 1975.
Although I haven’t actually built the model, one issue I see here is individual components for what looks like every single part of the suspension. While I get that Airfix has to give a reasonable time return for the money spent in what is, let’s face it, a relatively niche hobby, this seems a little excessive, and looks like it’ll take up the lion’s share of construction time. In short, the whole suspension looks like it’ll be quite tedious to put together. I’m also not a fan of rubber tracks, as when I used to build tanks as a kid, it always felt like the rubber tracks were too small, and would end up twisting or breaking the drive sprocket and running wheels.
Box back with painting guide
Summary
Is this kit perfect? Undoubtedly not. Is it worth the £7 retail price for a trip down memory lane with a little tank to sit on the shelf afterwards? Probably. Is it worth the less-than-£4-on-a-Black-Friday-deal for the above? Most definitely.