This is the engine, transmission, gearbox and drivers equipment and instruments from an early version of the formidable German Tiger I. This model is from Academy, and includes a complete interior. Because of that, I’m taking my time with the build, painting the interior areas as I go.
A Tamiya T34/76 from 1943. The T34 fought the Germans from the beginning, and did more to win the war than any other Allied vehicle.
A Tamiya Panther kit, built from the box. If it appears I have a preference for Tamiya, its due in part to the fact that Tamiya kits are more available locally. The quality if very high, too, which doesn’t hurt! Because the model wasn’t engineered to have the Zimmert mine coating, I’m claiming this one was built after September 1944, then the application of Zimmert stopped.
Two U.S. vehicles. First up is an M7 Priest, which carried a 105mm howitzer. This was an Academy kit, and like the M2 Bradley, was not a simple kit to build. And I still need to add the tracks! The M4 is a Tamiya model, and also needs it tracks. It’s set in a Norman bocage diorama.
This vignette is set in the western Egyptian desert in 1942, and shows a British M3 Lee tank advancing past an abandoned, knocked out Panzerkampfwagen II. Both kits are Tamiya. The Lee is from a very old Tamiya kit that was sold as a consignment from someone’s unbuilt collection. I paid eight dollars for it, and it turned out to be a very nice kit. The PzKpfw II is also an older Tamiya kit. The palm tree is a resin and photoetch kit from Verlindin, and turned out to be beautiful.
A Tamiya M1A1 Abrahms and an Academy M2 Bradley from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both were built from the box. The Tamiya was a simple kit to build, while the Academy was much more difficult. Academy kits seem to be engineered with less support and thought to the builder, and the instructions also leave a bit to be desired. However, the detail quality is uniformly high. Both are weathered heavily, to simulate several weeks of hard travel and fighting on the road to Baghdad. Some details, including machine guns on both vehicles, have not been added.
M2 Bradley by Academy
M1A1 by Tamiya
This is a Tamiya Panther, built straight from the box.
The Panzerkampfwagen VI Ausf. B was the final heavy tank to see action for the Germans. Only 487 were built before the end of the war. The tank mounted the feared German 88mm gun, but was slow and plagued by mechanical problems.
This is the Tamiya kit, built straight from the box.
