Something to make you Allied builders jealous :)

it would make a lovely Target

A kitty killer ...... excellent !!!!

Hope you're willing to share a first look review.

have you checked your local shop yet Robert

What size gun did that have?

Glenn

Well??? We're waiting............

Give us the review.

Mike

It was about time! We small scale armor builders have had one for years and years! Let us know how it builds up!

Jon - not there yet

Glenn - 90mm

Erock - careful of that olive drab - that's two in a short period of time


I don't know but if everybody knew it or not, (probably do) but somebody has allready finished one and put it up on Missing Linx

http://www.missing-lynx.com/gallery/modern/m36_serangkim.html


I thought it was still a pre-order ( guess not)

Jeez, what a tough crowd



OK, here is the review:

The kit consists of 10 different sprues (lettered A-J) molded in Olive Drab. Looking closely at the parts, they have a great amount of detail, rivaling Tamiya, in this department (and that's tough for me to say) Flash and ejector pin marks are not visable on any of the parts.

The tracks are the one piece, plastic type molded in black. They seem to be a bit stiff as compared with other 1 piece tracks. They are definately not a soft vinyl.

The instruction manual has some documentation on the front cover, about the history of this AFV. I would say that, it could have been a bit more but, we're here to build models, right?

The manual is 14 pages long with superb drawings of part placement and has actual photos, of a kit in progress, to help point out the correct placement. A nice touch.

The interior looks to be pretty detailed but, I can see Eduard, Aber or Lion Roar coming up with a PE set, to make further enhancements.

Accessories, include in this kit are; gas cans, ammunition boxes and a nylon cord for making cables.

The kit can be constructed / completed in several different versions, as called out during construction. Markings include: *France, November, 1944, *Germany, March 1945, *"Tonkin" Indochina, 1953 and *Korea, June, 1953

There are several unused parts called out on the back of the instructions, maybe for another type coming out in the future? We shall see.

All-in-all, without actually building, I would say this is a really nice looking kit and should find it's way onto many an Armor Modeler's workbench.

***Erock68 has not been compensated for this review and is in no way associated with Academy models or their affiliates

Are you sure it showed up at your door??? you didnt get it by........ other means??? No im just kidding very nice, I really wish I had enough money to buy my self some models but money is kinda tight at the moment

Thanks for the review Eric ... by the way ... who did you purchase this from?

QUOTE: Thanks for the review Eric ... by the way ... who did you purchase this from?

From eBay from this exact seller....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3158291344&category=2588

Nice. Looking forward to the pictures Eric.
mark956

Boy am I green with envy.

Robert's olive drab with envy!!

Looks good Eric. Better build a german piece before you get into another allied or people are gonna start talking about you !!

Eric

Eric, your moving to the Far Dark Side of the Dark Side. Your building another OD kit. [:0] Oh the humanity!

On a more serious note, it looks like it should be as good as some of their more recent offerings. Do you have any other Academy kits? Thanks for the mini kit review.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

Thanks for the review, Erock!
I took a quick look in the box the other day, and it does indeed look like a very nice kit.

QUOTE: Eric, your moving to the Far Dark Side of the Dark Side. Your building another OD kit. Oh the humanity!

Ha, he says with great relish!

No, not turning to the Olive Drab side. I emailed the seller about a month ago (when we were having a discussion about this kit) and asked him to keep an eye out for it. He said he came across a few and wanted to know if I was interested. I did the same about the new Tamiya M1A2 yesterday.

No, this will not be my next build. I am working on my Tiger and will be working on my Panther for the Group build (along with a surprise for the Panther, which I have started on )

PS..If you'd cut me open, I'd bleed Panzer Grey!

Whew, I feel better now Eric and I do like surprises.....can't wait to see what that might be.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

Are you sure it was not for me? LOL.

You lucky guy. Can't wait for it to hit the shops here. Maybe next year.

Eric...... no ejector pin marks, that's very un-Acadamy like. There were more pin marks in my Achilles and Warrior kits than in a seamstress' fingers

I guess I'm OD with envy too, at the moment. Thanks for teasing us all.

Looks like a great kit. Academy has come a long way since the days when they pirated all the old Tamiya molds! I will say one thing: Academy makes the best V.V.S.S. suspension on the market (my opinion of course). Not only is it workable, but it has all the right casting numbers molded on... nice! With some careful dry-brushing they show up really well. For that matter, their H.V.S.S. suspension is no slouch either (see the Isherman kit); better than Dragon's, and trust me that's saying a lot. By the way I am working on getting some pics of some of my stuff on here. I have some extra space now (finally got a shed and cleaned out the garage) and I will be setting up my photo studio stuff. With luck within a few weeks I'll have some stuff to show all of you. Stay tuned!

QUOTE: Eric...... no ejector pin marks, that's very un-Acadamy like. There were more pin marks in my Achilles and Warrior kits than in a seamstress' fingers

From what I saw, it looked pretty clean. There may be a few found once the building process begins. From a quick scan of the parts, looked pretty nice.

Eric wouldn't be turning into a 'Jacksonaholic' here, would he? Looks great! A nice kit is always worth buying, no matter if it's a Tiger, Sherman or what have you!

Ron.

QUOTE: ***Erock68 has not been compensated for this review and is in no way associated with Academy models or their affiliates

Erock, I will send you $5 for the review! Great news! Last time I checked people doubted that the kit even was coming out! Good news. A very cool tank, and a big-cat killer indeed.

My first armor when I get to it will be the soviet Amphibious tank. Which side of the dark side is that.

Thanks, Eric. Great job!

But I want one!!!!!

It's near, if not at, the top of my Christmas models list!!

Bill

Cassibill, you would be in the far left corner of a circled room of the Dark Side. [:0]. Have fun.

"It is well that war is so terrible, lest we grow too fond of it."-R.E.Lee

Watch it tiger or I'll drag you in that room and make you stand in the corner!!!! Anybody seen any good Russian Tankers in 1/35? It's gonna look so odd. I took one look at the sprues and thought 1/72. No its just very small.