While surfing the 'net I came across this:
While I was familiar with Model Collect's line of what-if German WW II armor kits, I never really fancied any until this one. I had not heard about the E60 line of tanks, only the E10, E25, E50, E75, and E100. The intent of the E series of tanks was to standardize components to be shared across all the different classes of tanks to ease production.
So anyway, the E60 KJP looked to me like a cross between an E10 and a Jagdpanther. So a click of the kepad and three weeks later, the kit showed up. At first glance it looked like a modern injection molded armor kit, with link and length tracks, sundry German OVM equipment, and dozens of road wheels.
But closer inspection revealed some unusual things. For example the upper hull has got to hold some kind of record for largest sprue gate in the world:
That is a SERIOUSLY big and chunky sprue gate. A razor saw is a must to get this thing off without taking a chunk out of the rear deck!
I also noticed the suspension beams have ridiculously short axles, just stubs really:
See those "buttons"? That's all the contact surface you get when attaching the wheels. I wonder what was going through the designers' heads when they chose to do that? Needless to say, they will get drilled out to take proper axles.
One thing I have become spoiled for is the inclusion of PE for at least engine screens. But the kit does not have any:
Those fans as well as rectangular grilles would look better with screens. Maybe an aftermarket company will oblige.
Details are a bit simplified and chunky here and there. In particular, the grab handles look more like candy bars left by the crew. Also, stuff like the air intakes are molded in place, but that is not really too bad.
I have jokingly complained about kits with German jacks comprising 11 parts or more, but this kit has a single piece jack with mounting brackets:
Also, the kit was designed similarly to the real E series, in that Model Collect uses common sprues across several kits. There are two full sets of road wheels and sprockets. Perusing through the instructions, I noticed most of the OVM equipment was not called to be used. But of course, you can use them, as I most certainly will.
But enough of my grousing, this looks like a relatively easy build of a really unusual tank!