Tuesday, July 5

Tanks aplenty in Hobbyboss' August kit release preview...

We waited until we had the images of the sprues, colours, decals, plastic & everything else before we did our preview of Hobbyboss' new August items . Two experimental late WWII German tanks and a reworked French veteran are all in our sneak peek today...

Tanks aplenty in Hobbyboss' August kit release preview...

French R35 with FCM Turret 
Kit No #83894
1/35th scale
While the Renault R35 was being produced, it was found necessary by the French Army for a requirement for some interchangeability with the existing tank fleet. The army had models from Hotchkiss, Renault, Panhard and various other companies that all used very different components, which from a military standpoint was a logistical nightmare. 

The colour choices supplied with this kit
The decals supplied with this kit
While it was determined that the APX R was appropriate for the R35 in a wartime emergency, the FCM turret could be supplemented to existing R35 tanks, as seen by the photo above. R35 serial number 50332 was successfully trialed with the turret from FCM in 1937, while the FCM 36 prototype was trialed with a Renault APX R turret. Following these tests, the 50332 had its original turret re-installed and returned to active service. 

- Photo etched parts included
The plastic sprues of the kit


German Pz.Kpfw.III/IV auf Einheitsfahrgestell (Small Turret)
In March 1944, Wa Pruef 6 awarded contracts for the production of three trial Pz.Kpfw. IV auf Einheitsfahrgestell. A decision was made in June 1944 to start Pz.Kpfw.III/IV series production at Krupp-Grusonwerk in February 1945. 

The colour choices supplied with this kit
The decals supplied with this kit
On 12 July 1944, Krupp was informed that the  Pz.Kpfw.III/IV  was dropped and only the Pznaerjaeger mit L/70 produced.

- Photo etched parts included + Transparent parts
Model Length: 201.5mm   Width: 84.5mm 
Total of 14 sprues , lower hull , upper hull and turret
The kit consists of over 470 parts
Multi-slide moulded lower hull , upper hull and turret
Individual tracks
The plastic sprues of the kit.


German Flakpanzer V Ausf.A 
Kit No #84535
With Allied airpower all but supreme in the later years of the war, German requirements for better equipped anti-aircraft vehicles became ever more urgent. Rheinmetall-Borsig designed the Coelian – marrying a Panther ausf G hull with a fully enclosed turret mounting twin 3.7mm flak cannons. This would give the crews a larger degree of protection when taking on strafing fighters or marauding bombers. The Coelian would also be able to fire at ground targets.

The colour choices supplied with this kit
The decals supplied with this kit
Three other Flakpanzer V designs were designed. One of them was a version with four 20mm MG 151/20 guns, but it kept having to conform to revised designs based on changing government requirements (such as demands for more modern guns with longer barrels).

Transparent parts &  Photo etched parts included
Model Length: 194.3mm / Width: 98mm  
Total of 30 sprues , lower hull , upper hull and turret
The kit consists of over 970 parts
Multi-slide moulded hull and turret
Individual tracks
The plastic sprues of the kit

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