The yearly new releases in Tamiya’s 1/48th scale Military Vehicle range are getting fewer and fewer in number compared to when the range was launched seven or eight years ago, but when they do turn up, they are well worth the wait. The latest in the range is the massive JS-2 Heavy Tank, produced as a counter to the German military’s Tiger 1 heavy tank. Heavily armored and with a potent 122mm main gun, this beast proved very effective both in battling the heavier German armored vehicles as well as being used in the “breakthrough” role in the mid- to late-war battles on the Eastern Front.

Pro Art Models has another new set of enhancements, and this time it’s a vehicle communications package for those of you who are into super-detailing the newer types of vehicles in the U.S. Special Forces genre. This set comes with 18 pieces of high quality light tan resin which is detailed to the max. I have yet to find any bubbles within the resin that are so often found in lesser quality resins. Also included in the kit is a photo etch fret containing parts which make up the shelves, cases, legs, and small switches for the radios and computers to fit on or into. The resin parts consists of the radios, power inverters, PC screens, keyboards, a hand- held GPS, antennas, and even the plug-in power modules. The detail is the best it can get and the photo etch antennas and shelves (including legs) add to the already fine detail. I have assembled some pieces to show what it could look like, and this will be placed into my vehicle when I reach that point in assembly.

This kit is a representation of the British Army’s attempt to mount the 25 pdr Field gun on the Valentine chassis to create a self-propelled gun. The need was created by the fluid nature of the North Africa battles. This stopgap design served the British Army till replaced by the American M7 Priest and the Canadian Sexton.

Box Contents

Sprues and decals

History

The Sd.Kfz.6 Mittlerer Zugkraftwagen was designed by Bussing-Nag and Mercedes Benz as a prime mover for the German army – one of a number of half-track designs. The unit was produced during the 1930’s. The Sd.Kfz.6 had a five ton pulling force, capable of pulling off the road. It was built from 1935 to 1943 in several versions. In 1942, production ceased, and the Sd.Kfz.11 took its place, as this unit was cheaper and easier to manufacture. The pioneer version had a passenger body of up to 15 soldiers. This vehicle weighed 9 tons and was powered by a 6 cylinder 115 php Maybach NL54 engine, with a maximum speed of 50 km per hour.

Items in the Box

The model is made from injection-molded plastic, tan in color, with thirteen good presentation instructions, decal sheet and clear window and lens sheet, and a photo-etch sheet.

Let me start this out as saying this is my first IPMS review and I hope you find it informative and interesting. The IT-1 was a Soviet Cold War missile tank based on the chassis of a T-62. Instead of a main gun, the tank fires specially designed 3M7 Drakon missiles from a pop-up launcher atop the turret. The vehicle saw very limited usage from 1968-1970. The tank became unpopular with the military due to the limited amount of ammunition and a large dead zone around the vehicle which was created by the missiles minimum range. Eventually the IT-1s were converted to recovery vehicles.