Three interesting subjects in Hobbyboss' July release preview...

We have the sprues, the colours, decals, plastic & everything else from Hobbyboss' July items in our preview. A German with an odd turret, a Chinese MBT & a Humpbacked Skyhawk are all in our sneak peek today... 

Three interesting subjects in Hobbyboss' July release preview...

GERMAN HEAVY TANK KING TIGER (PORSCHE TURRET) NO. 280009

Kit No #84558

1/35th scale

Price: $68 USD From Hobbylink Japan

In early October 1942, plans for production of the VK 45.03 were reviewed. Initially, two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche. Both used a turret design from Krupp; the main differences were in the hull design, transmission and suspension.

The colour choices supplied with this kit

The Henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armour resembling the layout of the Panther tank. It had a rear-mounted engine and used nine overlapping road wheels per side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the Tiger

The decals supplied with this kit

Henschel won the contract, and all Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production vehicles. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche turret" due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for its prototype. In fact, this turret was simply the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side, to accommodate the commander's cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and used in action. The more common "production" turret, sometimes called the "Henschel" turret, was simplified with a flat face, no shot trap (created by the curved face of the initial-type turret), less-steeply sloped sides, and no bulge for the commander's cupola.

Zimmerit coating film included

The track system used on the Tiger II chassis was a unique one, which used alternating "contact shoe" and "connector" links—the contact shoe link had a pair of transverse metal bars that contacted the ground, while the connector links had no contact with the ground.

     The Tiger II was developed late in the war and made in relatively small numbers. Like all German tanks, it had a gasoline engine. However, this same engine powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I tanks. The Tiger II was under-powered, like many other heavy tanks of World War II, and consumed a lot of fuel which was already in short supply.

Transparent parts

Model Length: 292.3mm / Width: 107.3mm   

Total of 29 sprues, turret, lower hull and upper hull

The kit consists of over 1500 parts - The sprues of the kit

-Multi-slide moulded lower hull, turret

- Individual track tracks

- Photo etched parts included

PLA ZTZ-99A MBT

Kit No #84518

1/35th scale

The ZTZ-99A tank, known as China's king of the land battle, appeared in the military parade at the Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, on the morning of September 3, 2015. This will be the grand debut of the ZTZ-99A tank in China, but it made its name long before. During the "Peace Mission 2014" multilateral military exercises of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), its maneuverability, power and speed wowed the world.

The colour choices supplied with this kit

The decals supplied with this kit

Its turret is not only armed with the tougher new-generation explosive reactive armour (ERA) but also equipped with the new-type compound armour on the top. In addition, China's laser dazzler system makes the tank more powerful.

 The ZTZ-99A tank is slightly taller than the ZTZ-99 tank but more than 30cm shorter than the 2.7m big tank used by NATO. Since there is a 0.45m ground clearance, the chief designer's design and arrangement have to be fitted within a less-than-two-meter-tall body. The ZTZ-99A tank with both manual and automatic operating systems, so that the over-50-ton tank is able to shift gear automatically. It also realizes continuous steering and even pivot steering at any radius through the steering wheel.

Model Length: 328.7mm / Width: 102mm  

Total of 39 sprues, upper hull, lower hull and turret

The kit consists of over 610 parts 

- The sprues of the kit

Multi-slide moulded turret and lower hull

Photo etched parts included

Individual track links

A-4M Skyhawk 

Kit No #87256

1/72nd scale

Price: $50 USD From Hobbylink Japan

The A-4 Skyhawk was designed by Douglas in response to a U.S. Navy call for a jet-powered attack aircraft to replace the older A-1 Skyraider. Douglas opted for a design that would minimize its size, weight, and complexity. The result was an aircraft that weighed only half of the Navy's weight specification. It had a wing so compact that it did not need to be folded for carrier stowage.

The colour choices supplied with this kit

The decals supplied with this kit

 A-4M: Dedicated Marine version with improved avionics and more powerful J52-P-408a engine with 11,200 lbf (50 kN) thrust, enlarged cockpit, IFF system. Later fitted with Hughes AN/ASB-19 Angle Rate Bombing System (ARBS) with TV and laser spot tracker, 158 built.

Model Length: 182.6mm / Wingspan: 116.2mm 

Total of 6 sprues with of over 160 parts - The sprues of the kit

The kit includes 3 clear parts - The transparent parts

These new kits are (or should soon be) available from Hobbyboss' Distributors Worldwide...