Preview 2 November 2004:
Following the preview images for the Tokyo Toy Fair
I have thanks to Skybow the
hull and turret shell test shots from the Tiger I Late (kit#TP4801)
and Tiger
I Early (kit #TP4833) and one thing is for sure, Skybow have done
their homework
on these.
The standard of moulding is superb with crisp clean details that include open engine deck louvers and engine hatch intake as well as very well done weld seams on the hull and turret and I didn’t notice any mould seams that needed attention and the detail is in fact are as good as you will see on many of the 1/35th Tiger kits
The lower hull tubs have fixed axles with the road wheels attached via small screws and include the flanges at the hull/sponson join as well as the correctly depicted access and drain plugs on the hull bottoms for the Early and Late versions.
The tow shackles on the hull front are also the correct shape for the two versions with the late hull including zimmerit on the front and back plates.
The upper hull details are also superb with weld seams, cast texture on the engine deck panels and the hull sides on the early version while the late version has zimmerit included on the hull sides.
The early hull includes the mountings and wiring for the two head lights on the upper hull corners and the mountings for the five smoke grenade launchers located around the hull top while the late hull has the centrally mounted single head light with wiring and the large bullet splash fairing around the turret ring as well as the subtle differences in rear engine deck details from that on the early deck.
Check the images closely to pick the many small variations which match closely to my references and get down as far as different bolt head details on the engine bay door.
The turrets are asymmetrical as they should be with excellent weld beads around the roof edges and join as well as around the commander’s cupola and ventilator on the late turret and around the loader’s hatch surround on the early turret. The eight flush screws on the turret roof are included on the early turret but not on the late turret.
The late turret features fine zimmerit and the spare track mountings as well as the periscope in front of the loaders hatch and open periscopes on the Commander’s cupola while the early turret has very subtle casting texture on the side walls as well as the locating points for the front smoke grenade brackets as well as the correct ventilator position for the two turrets.
While I am not Tiger expert these test shot parts certainly have all the details where they should be as far as I can see from my references and have excellent details as mentioned and certainly bode very well for the rest of the kits when available early in 2005 and hopefully there should be further previews along the way.
The images below are deliberately large to show the excellent details and may take time to load but hopefully will be appreciated by those looking forward to these excellent kits. Also bare in mind that additional alterations could be made to the parts before the final release of the kits, but things look good so far.
Thanks to Skybow for the test shot samples.
Page Updated 2 November 2004
Updated 19 January 2005