PMMS
Tamiya
Tiger I Engine Deck Screens

1:48th Scale
Comparison Review by Terry Ashley
Tamiya
It seems just about everyone in the aftermarket business want's to get in on the 1:48 scale resurgence so following the comparison of M4 barrels, we will now look at the four available Tiger I engine deck screen sets currently available with more coming from ABER and Eduard as well as one set from Haulerfor the yet to be released Skybow Tiger I.

The four sets released to date are from; Hauler (set #HLX48008), Lion Roar (Set #LA48001), The Show Modelling (Set #105) and Voyager (Set #AP 030) and all are designed for the new Tamiya Tiger I Early Production kit#32504 so will have a brief look at each to how they shape up.

Thankfully all sets are the same size and all fit the Tamiya kit okay with only one difference with the Voyager set that has the frame extended around the cut-out for the rear screen securing latch while the other three have the cut-out without any framing as it should be.

So the only other thing to compare is the actual mesh etching and how each set deals with the weave effect of the real screens.

All sets attempt the weave to a certain degree with the Show Modelling set having the plainest appearance, the Lion Roar set weave is very subtle while that on the Hauler and Voyager sets are the most pronounced but lets remember that this is 1:48 scale screen and you have to look very closely to see the weave which will benefit from careful drybrushing to accentuate the effect and if we really want to get picky all the screen wires are too thick but to portray them the correct diameter would be virtually impossible in this scale.

The Lion Roar set is the only one not available separately but comes with the full Tiger I set #LA48001 while the other three are available as separate screen sets as well as two also being part of full Tiger I sets for Hauler #HLX48007 and Voyager #VPE48005.

Conclusion:
In the end all four sets will do the job with the differences as mentioned being very negligible in this smaller scale and probably the main choice is do you buy the screen sets on their own or as parts of more extensive sets?

As mentioned there are still more screen sets to be released so this comparison is only an interim review and will be updated when the others are available.

Images of screen frets and enlargments of the mesh
Hauler
Set #
HLX 48008 		HaulerHauler
Lion Roar
Set # LA48001 		Lion RoarLion Roar
The Show Modelling
Set #105		 The Show ModellingThe Show Modelling
Voyager
Set # AP 030 		VoyagerVoyager


Page Created 22 April 2005

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