As a follow up to his popular look at Takom’s Mörser, Andy looks at Takom’s new British version of the Whippet in 35th
scale. He goes right through the kit in his review before he puts together & paints & weathers the kit in the next chapter. Let’s take a look at what's in the box…
Mk.A Whippet Medium
Tank
Takom
Kit no. #2025
1/35th scale
RRP ¥6,210/ USD
$50/ €45 from Hobbylink Japan (Japanese version
in stock)
In their ever expanding range of First World War subjects,
Takom have now brought us the Mk.A Whippet.
The Whippet was designed to complement the existing British
heavy tanks like the Mk.IV which, although well-armed and armoured, were slow
and ungainly. A lighter, faster tank was needed that could exploit gaps in the
enemy lines that the heavy tanks had opened. The Whippet proved to be very
successful in this role, despite only reaching the battlefields relatively late
in the war. The Whippet continued to serve post war, notably in Ireland, while
17 were sent to support the White army in the Russian civil war. A small number
were also exported to Japan.
So let's see what
Takom have given us with this release.
Firstly, a quick note on the box. Good artwork always helps
sell a kit and Takom produce some great box designs and this one's no
exception, featuring an evocative painting of a Whippet ready to move out over
a desolate battlefield. But, of course, it's what's inside that really counts
so let’s take a look at the plastic.
Sprue A (x2)
These feature the tiny road wheels and their axles. Nothing
unusual here and very similar to those supplied with the earlier Mk.IV
releases.
Sprue B
This one's got the main hull sides and floor plate. Having
the upper hull and inner track plate moulded as one will help keep everything
square when building up the body.
Sprue C
Here we've got the outer track plates together with an
assortment of individual hull plates. These will need careful clean-up and
alignment to ensure everything sits squarely and to minimize any gaps.
Sprue D
More hull sections, including the crew compartment roof and
engine hood. We've also got the plates that make up the mud chutes and some
smaller details including the exhaust pipes.
Sprue E (x2)
Another doubled-up sprue, these ones have the remaining
details along with more running gear parts. Unlike their previous Mk.IV's,
Takom haven't included the drive chains which is no bad thing as they were
completely invisible once installed.
So, with the main sprues covered, let's have a closer look
at the parts.
The large, single piece, hull sides feature very nice
detailing on both sides.
The floor plate is fully detailed despite the fact that you
won't really see it, but it's there should you wish to model a knocked-out tank
on its side.
The track tension adjusters have been very well reproduced
right down to the threading on the bolts.
As have the bearing covers and drive gear access hatches
that run the length of the track plates.
Having separate plates for the superstructure means all the
rivets and bolts that festoon these surfaces can be moulded cleanly but, as
mentioned before, a bit of care will be needed when during assembly.
The roof plate has the hatch moulded separately allowing it
to be posed open. The rear access door can also be left open although there's
no interior supplied.
The engine vents have
deeply recessed louvres which gives a good 3D appearance.
The drive sprockets
are well detailed, although you'll never
see them again one installed.
The road wheels are very basic but that's fine as you don't
see them once the tracks are fitted.
The machine guns are a pretty good representation of the
Hotchkiss Mk. I's fitted to the Whippet. There's a bit of flash to clean up and
drilling the barrels out will help too.
The exhaust pipes aren't hollow but they do at least have
indented ends which will make drilling out easier.
Takom have seen fit to include some spare bolts on the sprue
should any get damaged during assembly. In fact they've supplied three versions
– bolt tails with nuts, bolt heads and domed rivets.
Thankfully, Takom have included the single piece click-able
track links and not the earlier multi-part ones that were such a pain to put
together.
These ones are simplicity itself to assembly – just click
together and you're done. There's a small moulding pip on one edge of each link
but that soon disappears with a swipe over from a sanding stick.
The small PE sheet gives you the stowage hooks for the hull
sides and the support brackets for the canvas track guards (not supplied)
together with a few more brackets for the superstructure.
Instructions are in Takom's usual style, well laid out with
a 25 step assembly sequence using 3D illustrations.
The decal sheet's
well printed with everything in register.
Takom have been super generous with the marking options for
this release. Eight schemes are provided with the colour profiles, again,
supplied by AMMO from Mig Jimenez and listing paint references for the AMMO
acrylic range, most of which can be found in their recently released British
& German tank colours box set - A.MIG 7111. A highlight for me being the
inclusion of both Red Army and White Army schemes from the Russian civil war.
I will be using the AMMO WWI set which is featured on these cammo profiles in my build review...
This release looks like being a real winner. Well detailed
mouldings combined with a relatively simple construction sequence should make
this a joy to build. And all those rivets and bolts are my idea of heaven.
What's not to like? The wide choice of markings being the icing on the cake.
Highly recommended.
Andy Moore
Thanks to Takom for sending this kit for
us to build and review – expect to see it painted up in another article soon
here on TMN
