Landships II

Talk of Fine Molds models elsewhere on this forum reminds me that, if the 1920s aren't too late a period for this website, modellers may like to know that a version of the Japanese Type 89 medium tank in 1/35 is available in a slightly unexpected form at a fraction of the original price.

The original Fine Molds kit (of a late mark) was only available as "free" with a set of three issues of a Japanese modelling magazine, and that is still the case for that variant. (The original boxing is here - part one only - you will need to add the other two issues  so it costs three times as much as it seems at first ... http://www.hlj.com/product/MDGAM1011/Mil and the magazine is (logically enough) in Japanese.)

However, the kit has been reissued much more cheaply in a slightly earlier variant (with big cupola and with fuel filler caps along the sponson roofs), in the Girls und Panzer series. (This is an anime cartoon film series about winsome young schoolgirls being trained in the Way of the Tank rather than cha-do or ikebana ... don't ask! Utterly demented as a friend commented, but it is worth googling for the Maus episode on youtube just to get a sense of the love of detail. Personally, I find these lassies insufferably cute and much prefer Porco Rosso ...)

http://www.hlj.com/product/FNM41101/Mil

The only problem with this new boxing, once one has chucked the pink box and the transfer sheet, is finding markings. The easiest option is to do a naval special landing forces machine in dark green or olive drab (not quite sure which), as it only needs naval ensign markings, and the anchor badge is on the sprues already. (The original issue of the kit has spare markings for IJN vehicles anyway, as a bonus thrown in, so if you have this or know someone with it ...).