The Tamiya Panzerkampfwagen I (Sd.Kfz 101) is presented in Tamiya typical rigid top opener with nice artwork depicting a unit from the 4^th Panzer Division, Poland, September 1939. Contents of the box are limited as this is of course a small kit.

This 100% newly tooled kit complements the existing 1/35 scale line up of German WWII vehicles in the Military Miniature Series and completes the lineup of main German tanks of WWII for Tamiya.

The box contains a normal Tamiya instruction manual with clear construction steps, 22 in all to complete this kit.

Also included is a glossy ‘background information’ leaflet which is a welcome addition and provides some history, design and deployment details of the Panzer I.

It also contains details of the specifications of this Light Tank including dimensions, crew capacity, engine (with speed and output) as well as range and armament.

The leaflet is presented in Japanese, English, French and German.

Color drawings are provided for both the provided commander figure as well as the 3 different unit designations supplied as choice for the builder.

The Kit

Sprues A – D comprise the entire assembly (two A sprues are included as these build out the wheels, suspension parts and tracks). A small piece of photo etch is provided for the muffler cover and some poly caps to allow for movable mounting of the drive sprocket.

Decals are provided for 3 different units:

• 4^th Panzer Division, Poland, 1939
• 4^th Panzer Division, France, Spring 1940
• and an Unknown Unit, Russia, 1941

Molding is crisp and clean and up to the usual standard expected of Tamiya Military Miniature kits. The Commander figure provided has adequate detail and a choice of two heads depending on choice of headgear. Tracks and link and length and have been molded with a slight sag for the upper track length which should aid in the appearance of the finished model. Detail is adequate for a small kit with some nice consideration in parts to ease the assembly and painting, e.g. the roadwheels are provided with separate components to build the rubber on the wheel allowing both components of the wheel to be painted separately and assembled later.

The Build

Well to start with, it is a Tamiya kit, anyone who has built their kits knows this straight away equals ease of assembly, quality and precision. All parts were well molded, no flash and limited sink marks. No warping or fit issues were noticed at all.

Assembly starts with the hull, normally delivered in one piece bathtub style, this was a six-piece assembly with base, sides, front, rear and fire wall/stiffener. A quick dry fit of the superstructure of the tank onto this built base presented a perfect fit with no gaps or issues.

Wheel assembly was easy if not a little overcomplicated for small running wheels, each wheel was 3 parts, center spoke plus 2 pieces to make up the tires. Fit was excellent and there was no issue here, but many manufacturers, Tamiya included, normally provide these as one piece.

Superstructure assembly is quick and easy and fit is perfect due to excellent guide grooves being added which allows for easy placement of the superstructure onto the hull. Many tools and headlights etc are placed at this point if desired or can be painted on sprue and added after construction and painting if desired. The muffler cover, delivered as a photo etched piece, is placed on the rear hull plate by means of small foldable tabs which are folded into place and then secured with an additional piece of plastic which holds all securely in place.

Turret assembly is also a breeze with limited detail provided for the interior however the two MG’s provided are reasonably well detailed and again, fit is excellent. Commander hatch was left open in my case as I will display with the figure, this can also obviously be modelled closed.

Tracks are provided as link and length and are easy to assemble. A slight sag is added to the upper links towards the rear roller, Tamiya have also added a little notch to the final roller to allow you to accurately line up the positioning of the track. Another longer length is provided for the bottom track and two smaller length pieces for front and rear. These are rounded out with 5 duo links provided for front and rear to circle the drive sprocket and idler.

Tracks were painted with Tamiya Semi-Gloss black and then MIG enamel track wash applied. Some cleats were metalized using graphite pencil on the treads.

Paint

I opted to paint the tank using Tamiya Acrylics with an initial base coat of Tamiya German Grey. Rubber look was added to the tires using Tamiya flat black.

I then lightly misted the kit with Tamiya sky grey before again applying Tamiya German Grey over top to darken the appearance.

A light wash of AK enamel dark blue for grey was added as well as some weathering pigments added to the running gear and lightly over the entire model to dull down the appearance.

The kit was clear coated with matt clear to prep for decals, decals were fitted and softened with Tamiya Mark Fit Decal softener to adhere to the contours of the tank.

Tamiya weathering master was used to add some rust effects and metal effects in places.

Pros

An excellent addition and completion to the WWII German Tanks from Tamiya.

Excellent fit, no flash, new molds.

Good price point, affordable quality kit for the price.

Nice packaging and presentation with clear instructions and good decals.

Cons

More detail would be better for the turret and central interior as it is quite visible due to the large open hatch.

As the figure is quite prominent in the display, a better figure with more detail would have been good here, detail around the hands and face were lacking.

Many thanks to Tamiya for providing the kit and to IPMS for facilitating the review.