Tokyo Marui 1/24 R/C Tiger I in da house!!

Hi, folks!
Although it’s an R/C model, this new 1/24 Tokyo Marui Tiger I I just bought is so cool I just had to tell you about it.
(This text is modified from a post I made over at the Marui Tank Group forums, a forum dedicated to RC armor.)

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The 1/24 Tokyo Marui Tiger I went on sale here in Japan today (Monday, December 13), so I popped on over to Super Kid's Land in Den-Den Town here in Osaka and picked one up. The price was 15,960 yen (about $152.00 USD), tax included. Not bad at all! I've had it out of the box for a couple of hours now, and ran it through its paces.

First, some pix:






This last pic shows the new 1/24 Tokyo Marui Tiger I (left) next to my ol' 1/25 Tamiya Tiger I (right).

Here are some early observations and impressions:

Unlike previous Marui tanks, this one comes completely assembled (previous Marui tanks, such as the Type 90 and M1A2, required some minor assembly of detail parts). All you need to do is slap in the batteries, push in the aerial, screw in the controller's antenna, and you're good to go. The box is different too, in that the tank is screwed onto the bottom of the box, with styrofoam above it for shipping protection. Seems like a sturdy arrangement.

As a scale model, this tank looks great! The barrel of the 88mm cannon is seamless aluminum (the plastic muzzle brake has a slight seam), and the fidelity of detail and molding is excellent throughout. Even the molded-on tools (shriek!) look good (if not a little "flat," as molded-on tools often do. A wash will help there). A couple of pieces (such as the rear fenders) could use some cleaning up, as the sprue attachment points are still evident. Also, you can plainly see the motors and wires and other mechanical bits through the big air intake and output grills on the rear deck. Some screens to cover that up a bit will help.

Although the tank is advertised as "weathered," it just has some sparse puffs of a rusty brown color lightly sprayed randomly on the vehicle (nothing on the tracks). But the German Gray is excellent, as are the markings! I'll probably just give it a sludge wash, do some shadowing with the airbrush, some light drybrushing, huff on a little Dark Earth, and overspray the whole nine yards with Buff to give it a nice dusty (but not muddy) look. The tracks will get the usual treatment: painted flat black, drybrushed with dark metallic gray, then weathered with Dark Earth and highlighted with silver. The figure is decent, but will need some painting to really bring it to life.
The tracks and running gear are stunning, and look great either sitting still or in gear. The tracks firmly snap together. Nice rubber tires, too.

Which brings me to the operational features.
Although the Marui boys told me (at this year’s Shizuoka Hobby Show) that they had slowed down the Tiger to more proportionally scale speeds, it's still a firecracker. You get three speeds: fast, faster, and fastest. Too bad. It looks real good going in a straight line in first gear, and the suspension is quite soft, giving a realistic look when you roll over low obstacles and debris. Just wish it was slower!
The turret rotates nearly 360 degrees (advertised at 320, but it goes farther than that, it seems), stopping only just in front of and behind the aerial, depending on which way you rotate.

To be honest, I could care less about the airsoft BB-gun component of the Marui tanks. I got bored with that feature after the first 15 minutes playing with (oh, um, I meant “operating!”) my old Marui Type 90, over four years ago. At least on the Tiger, the barrel isn't oversized to compensate, like on the Type 90 and M1A2. The bore of the muzzle brake, however, is a bit out of scale to accommodate the 6mm BBs. Anyway, the gun works fine, so those who enjoy that aspect of the Marui tanks should be pleased. Unfortunately, the red “fire warning” lamp (it shines when you’re about to fire the gun) robs all the detail from where the coaxial turret machine gun should be. Not quite sure how to fix that, short of ripping the LED out and sticking a gun in there. Actually, I suppose I am sure how to do it!

So there you have it: some quick first impressions on a great RC scale model. It won't take much effort to turn it into a fantastic scale model (just a bit of cleanup and some minor scratching and weathering), and the soft suspension makes the driving features fun.

Now, if I could just slow this kitty down to scale speed...can’t I just use weak batteries??