Academy is re-releasing their 1/35 Tiger I, this one being the “Mid” version and in a special boxing for the 70^th Anniversary of D-Day.

Upon opening a large box you are greeted by 10 sprues –many of which are part of the “early” boxing- plus two small photo-etch frets (engine grille covers/zimmerit tool) and plastic tracks, representing the “combat” (wide) tracks.

The part count is considerable (over 250 parts) however several pieces won’t be needed. I estimate a bit over 200 parts are required to complete this model. All the parts are crisp, perfectly molded and have no flash.

This boxing does not include the full interior –as other boxings- but it has a new tooled turret. I will be honest, it looks very similar to the original one (still included in the box) however it is possible to see a slightly asymmetry when looking at it from the top. It is very subtle, but it is there.

Delta One Decal is a new European decal manufacturer. At time of writing, the Delta One Decal website is not live, but they have an email address: delta1decal@gmail.com.

These are limited edition decal sheets that cover generic Bort Numbers (Warsaw Pact nose numbers) in both “square corner” and “rounded corner” versions. For several numbers you get more than one style (see images).

Each set comes with red numbers (black and white edges), blue (black edge) and yellow (black edge). In addition you get some generic Red/Russian stars.

The KV-85 was an interim tank solution to field a heavier gun than the 76mm mounted on the existing KV-1 series. By 1943 the 76mm gun was no longer effective at long range against Germany’s newest tanks like the Tiger 1 and Panther. The solution was to mount the 85mm D-5T in a new larger cast turret. Only 148 were made until production of the new IS series was brought up to capacity.

Bronco’s kit comes in a larger-than-normal sturdy cardboard box packed with sprues, an eighteen page instruction booklet, a small sheet of brass PE, braided copper wire, and a generous decal sheet. The instructions are well laid out line drawings which are not too cluttered given how many small parts there are in the kit. The PE mostly covers the air intakes and exhaust screens. There is an option for solid plastic intake screens but the exhaust screen is only offered as brass.

Thanks up front to Dragon USA and to IPMS leadership for providing this kit to me for review.

This kit is an answer to an oft-repeated wish of the post-WWII armor crowd: A new-tool 1/72 scale atomic cannon. Why 1/72? Because even in transporting position, it is only 1 ½ feet long. The existing, much older and less accurate 1/32 kit from another age, at almost two and a half feet long when in transport position, was just too big to display for many. It had a lot of operating features, and looked like the actual item, but in reality is better served by a 1/72 scale model in my opinion. That said, if Dragon ever scales this thing up. who knows how it will sell?

The Black Label collection from Dragon Models offers an interesting range of novel model kits. Their latest offering, a 1/35th scale Alvis Saladin Mk.II FV601(C), is a 6-wheeled armored car widely used by the British Army from 1958 onwards, as well as by many other militaries. Production ended in 1972, by which time 1,177 examples had been manufactured. The 11.6-ton Saladin featured a turret mounting a 76mm L5A1 gun and a coaxial M1919A4 machine gun, and it was operated by a crew of three. A Rolls-Royce B80 Mk.6A engine powered the vehicle to a top speed of 72km/h. Saladins were widely used in Oman during the Dhofar conflict from 1972-76, in Cyprus during the 1970s, in the defense of Kuwait (1990) and in the Sri Lankan Civil War. The British eventually replaced the Saladin with the Scorpion CVR(T).