Tag Archives: tamiya

American Tank Destroyer M18 Hellcat (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 376-3800 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘American Tank Destroyer M18 Hellcat’.

American Tank Destroyer M18 Hellcat

History

The M18 Hellcat was an American tank destroyer developed to counter the German Army tanks, and it featured an open top design turret and powerful 76mm gun, plus a main gun breech rotated 45 degrees around the gun barrel to save space in the turret interior.

It had a compact, lightweight hull, automatic transmission and the first torsion bar suspension seen on U.S. armor. Its radial 9-cylinder engine at the hull rear was capable of 80 km/h maximum speed which was the highest speed among tracked vehicles during WWII.

The production started in July, 1943 and the Hellcat was in service for the first time at the Italian Front in 1944. After that, this tank destroyer was deployed in the North-Western European and Pacific War theaters, notably besting the German Army tanks with super performance and firepower based on hit-and-run tactics. The Hellcat contributed to U.S. victory as a pioneer of tank destroyers.

Source: Tamiya website

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German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 374-4000 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F’.

German Panzerkampfwagen IV, Ausf. F

History

In service throughout WWII, the Pz.Kpfw.IV was a durable servant to the German Army.

The Ausf. F was the last variant to utilize a short-barreled gun: the L/24 7.5cm KwK37, and was also equipped with wider tracks to cope with the increasing thicknesses of armor.

470 Ausf. F Pz.Kpfw.IVs were manufactured between May 1941 and February 1942, mainly seeing action on the Eastern Front and in North Africa and taking on enemy armor such as the Soviet KV tanks and the British Matilda.

Source: Tamiya website

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Russian Heavy Tank KV-2 (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 375 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank KV-2’.

Russian Heavy Tank KV-2

History

In December 1939 the KV-1 was officially adopted by the Soviet military; it was followed by the KV-2, a heavier design based upon the KV-1 chassis, but upgunned to a 152mm howitzer with the intention of breaking enemy strongholds.

In order to accommodate the larger gun, the KV-2 was given a remarkably tall turret. Around two hundred were produced, and supply to the military began in July 1940.

The following June, Nazi Germany invaded and the KV-2 – while suffering a number of breakdowns – took part in Soviet resistance against the invaders, their 152mm guns and impressive survivability enabling some amazing feats, helping stem the tide.

Source: Tamiya website

Manufacturer

German Brummbär (Late production) (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 353 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Brummbär (Late production)’.

German Brummbär (Late production)

History

Developed for infantry support during WWII, the Assault Tank IV married the trusty Pz.Kpfw.IV chassis with a simple fighting compartment featuring 100mm of front and 50mm of side armor, plus a high-powered 15cm gun that could defeat 160mm of 30-degree armor from 5km.

Its variants can largely be grouped into early, mid and late production types, the latter of which was most numerous with 160 examples manufactured between May 1944 and March 1945. Feedback from crews of earlier Brummbärs had led to new a fighting compartment design and cupola, plus partial use of steel road wheels.

Brummbärs were assigned to their own dedicated Assault Tank Battalions and fought on the Eastern Front and in Italy as the war drew to its conclusion.

Source: Tamiya website

Manufacturer

German Marder I (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 370 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Tank Destroyer Marder I’.

German Tank Destroyer Marder I

History

With the fall of France in June 1940 Nazi Germany came into not only new territory, but also a large amount of captured materiel.

Many of the French armored vehicles were pressed into German service, including the Marder I. It was based upon a late-1930s Lorraine tractor vehicle, paired with the German 7.5cm anti-tank gun and based in a new fighting compartment installed on top.

The Marder I fought on numerous fronts in WWII and its offensive potential made it a foe for Allied forces to fear.

Source: Tamiya website

Manufacturer

Russian Heavy Tank KV-1 Model 1941 (Early production) (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 372 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian Heavy Tank KV-1 Model 1941 (Early production)’.

Russian Heavy Tank KV-1 Model 1941 (Early production)

History

The Soviet KV-1 was officially adopted in 1939 and went through a number of variants. Model 1941 KV-1s employed the 76.2mm ZIS-5 gun, which could tear through the armor on contemporary German tanks.

The early production variants had a welded turret with armor up to 75mm thick, and hung tough in fierce fighting with German armor following the Nazi German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, contributing to the Soviet resistance that would eventually turn the tables and push back the German advance.

Source: Tamiya website

Manufacturer

JGSDF Type 90 Tank w/ammo-loading crew (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 260-4400 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘JGSDF Type 90 Tank w/ammo-loading crew’.

JGSDF Type 90 Tank w/ammo-loading crew

History

The Type 90 tank is the current main battle tank (MBT) of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF). It is built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and was designed as a replacement for all deployed Type 61s and a portion of their Type 74 tanks, and entered service in 1990. It is slated to be complemented by the Type 10.

The Type 90 mounts a licensed copy of the German Rheinmetall L44 120mm smoothbore cannon product by Japan Steel Works Limited. This is the same gun that is mounted on the German Leopard 2, American Abrams, and the South Korean K1A1 tanks. The gun is armed and loaded through a mechanical bustle autoloader (conveyor-belt type), developed by Mitsubishi of Japan.

The Type 90 tank is the first western tank to achieve manpower savings by reducing the crew to three through the development of the turret bustle autoloader (with the exception of the turretless Strv 103). This design allows the tank crew to operate without a loader, which allows the use of a smaller turret.

Source: Wikipedia

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German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35 290-3600 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N’.

German Panzerkampfwagen III, Ausf. N

History

During the middles stages of WWII, most German military vehicles had trouble providing adequate support to troops, therefore the N type tank was built to help solve this problem. The N type tank replaced its Marder III main battery with a 7.5cm gun which could fire high-performance high-explosive bursting projectile shells.

From June 1942 through to August 1943, existing J, L, & M models also received these upgrades and 663 tanks were fitted, and another 37 were also upgraded later in 1944. In the summer of 1942 these tanks appeared on the battlefield with their highly explosive shells, and they proved to be highly efficient in their role of reinforcing the ground troops.

They were deployed into newly organized heavy tank battalions, to make up for the lack of Tiger I tanks. As a support tank, the N type was easy to manage and very reliable, and in the latter half of WWII it fought at many fronts.

Source: Tamiya website

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Russian BT-7, Model 1937 (Tamiya)

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This is the Tamiya 35327-3800 kit in 1/35 scale, of the ‘Russian BT-7, Model 1937’.

Russian BT-7, Model 1937

History

An Important Step in Russian Tank Evolution – The BT-7 was a highly-maneuverable tank with a powerful 45mm main gun in addition to sloped front armor, which made it the pillar of the Russian tank divisions.

The 1937 model was a defensive upgrade to its predecessors, featuring as it did sloped armor all around the body in place of the previous flat version.

This design proved to be successful enough for use in its successor, the T-34.

Source: Tamiya website

Manufacturer

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