In-boxed: Tamiya's German KS600 Motorcycle & Sidecar in 35th scale

Before he starts to build the kit, Clayton pauses to show us just what comes in Tamiya's new 35th scale German KS600 Motorcycle & Sidecar set. We look at the contents in today's review...

In-boxed: German KS600 Motorcycle & Sidecar

From Tamiya

Kit No# 384

1/35th scale

Plastic kit including three figures, a signpost & one KS600 motorcycle.

Decals included.

Motorcycle Length: 71mm (2.8 in) / Width: 47mm (1.9 in)

Price: $19 USD from Hobbylink Japan

Tamiya's German KS600 Motorcycle & Sidecar kit...
Whilst a German side car is nothing new to the Tamiya range, a new release from the titan of the Hobby World always comes as a welcomed inclusion to the menu.

In saying that it was all the way back in 1972 when Tamiya released the BMW R75 with side car, so an upgrade was probably long overdue for a vehicle as common and versatile as the side car was on the battlefields of WW2.

German soldiers of the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler on a Zündapp type KS 600 motorcycle in Berlagebrug, in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

This new release is the Zündapp KS600, with the boxing coming with the inclusion of three figures. The boxing is the typical Tamiya style with a beautifully rendered drawing on a plain white background. 

The vehicle was used throughout the period of the war and was seen in both the German Grey finish during the early stages and then later in the Dark Yellow.

Typically, it would be the details on the license plates that would be the only give away as to the early vs late versions.

The kit promises a signpost with a few road signs, but I was a little disappointed to see the road signs needed to be just cut out of the side of the cardboard box. I’d recently reviewed the MiniArt kit of German road signs and was hoping Tamiya may have followed suit with the moulded timber blades overlaid with full colour decals…but that was not to be.

The instructions come in the usual Tamiya style with easy-to-follow line drawings which include call outs for the Tamiya paint colours.

Assembly of the sidecar is completed over 10 steps with the 11th step showing the assembled figures with extensive colour call outs.

There are 64 parts included over two sprues for the Bike and Sidecar, so there is a reasonable amount of assembly required for such a small vehicle.

Sprue A is essentially all of the bike parts...

...and Sprue B the side car. I guess by keeping them as separate sprues that leave the door open for the bike to be released as a kit unto itself.

The sculpting and the moulding are for the most part very good, albeit ‘safe’.

I say ‘safe’ in that I feel Tamiya have been rather reserved in pushing the boundaries of the injection moulding process. I do say this with no working knowledge or credentials, but the thing I wash they had have refined or tried to push the limits with is the spokes on the wheels. They are just so chunky and overscale.

The other element that left me feeling a bit flat was the sculpting of the saddlebags....

...It just feels a bit lazy or for want of a better word…safe.

The three figures and the signpost come on one sprue.

The sculping and rendering of the soldiers’ uniforms is quite extraordinary for injection moulded figures and continues the trend of these recent release Tamiya figure sets.

I’m currently painting and reviewing the Machine Gun crew that was released around the same time as this set, and I think the facial sculpts in this set are slightly better than those. In saying that there is still no substitute for an aftermarket head to elevate these figures to an even greater level.

And I’m sorry to keep comparing with the Machine Gun Crew set, but that boxing included a lovely decal sheet to detail the uniforms, whereas this set does not. It would have been a nice addition and a missed opportunity by Tamiya, only giving us markings for the bike.

Conclusion
It sounds like I am being overly critical, but I’m trying to point out some of the areas I think this kit could have been improved. Would the chunky spokes and boring saddlebags stop me buying the kit? No way. Its Tamiya and you know it’s going to be awesome…it just feel it has room for improvement and the kit is overly ‘safe’.

I have seen some incredible 3D printed upgrade sets by SOL Resin Factory online, and whilst I haven’t seen them in the flesh I’d go so far as to say these are a must have if you were wanting to build this kit. The in-scale spokes and the upgrade to the bags makes a world of difference to the look of the model.

Unfortunately this set from SOL Model is pretty necessary for this kit..

I can tend to get ahead of myself and understand that some of those finer details may not be as important to some as they would be to others. It’s going to come down to your expectations with this model and I guess the level you are comfortable building at.

There is no question this is a welcomed release and will be a very popular one. I’m glad I have it in the stash and once I cross paths with the SOL upgrade set, I’ll be looking for any excuse I can to get this on the workbench.

Clayton Ockerby

You can pick this kit up from Hobbylink Japan for $19 USD at this link

See more of Clayton's amazing works on his YouTube Channel, his modelling portal "Workbench Hobbies" or his FB page