Tasca is a new name in the
hobby industry, but this company does have previous form. Its most recent
incarnation was "Bego". They released a very nice Kubelwagen some years
ago which was later re-boxed by both Hasegawa and Dragon.
Tasca's 1/35
Scale "Luchs"
|
This model is a cut above
the earlier release, with terrific detail, a turret interior and working
suspension. I don't mean poseable - the torsion bars flex, the wheels turn
and the vehicle will be able to be displayed in many realistic stances.
The rear idler is adjustable after assembly too, permitting tracks to be
installed and removed .
The flexible tracks are the only limiting factor for the suspension, but
it is my guess that we won't be waiting for long before a selection of
workable individual track links will be available from a number of
sources. If you are using the flexible tracks, the top run can be tacked
to the roadwheels in order to simulate "droop".
A few of the teeth on the
flexible track are short-shot, but fortunately these can be hidden behind
the outside roadwheels.
The model is quite accurate compared to plans in the Kagero book, Panzer
IIc and Luchs. The timing for this recent book is perfect, and it will be
an ideal reference for Tasca's kit.
Some of the hull parts were warped, but they are easily bent back into
shape. The track also has some holes that need to be filled. I used
superglue for this little job.
A nice touch in the instructions is that they show the location of
headlight wiring. I added mine using lead wire, but stretched sprue would
be equally appropriate.
The spare track sections are beautifully detailed, and can be displayed in
a rack on the front of the vehicle.
Two different styles of hatches are supplied for the turret
Installation of the jack mounting brackets is a little fiddly, but the
result is very nice.
The rear deck screens included on the photo-etched fret is also very
impressive, as are the jerry can racks. The gun barrels are hollowed out
at the ends - more thoughtful details from Tasca.
Painting,
Markings and Figure
|
The model was painted with
Tamiya Dark Yellow highlighted with white, applied with the Tamiya HG
airbrush. Disruptive colours are Deep Green and NATO Brown. The underside
and lower hull sides of the vehicle were weathered with Flat Earth and
Buff.
An oil wash of Raw Umber and
Sienna using odorless solvent as a thinner was applied to the finished
paint work.
Kit decals were applied over
Polly Scale Gloss, followed by Micro Set and Micro Sol. Once the decals
were dry and settled down, an overall coat of Polly Scale Flat was
sprayed.
Although I used the kit
decals, which are red, the Kagero book on Panzer II suggests that the
numbers were black and supplies these as decals on their included sheet.
Your choice, but I thought that the digits looked lighter in shade than
the black crosses on the vehicle in the photo. I will leave the debate to
the experten, but I chose the red ones (mainly because I liked 'em!)
Track sag was achieved by
gluing the top run to the top of the first and last road wheels using
super glue.
The figure is okay, but I
will replace it later with an after-market item.
The base was entirely
scratch built by myself, and painted with a bunch of mixed colours
(Tamiya) and Burnt Umber oil wash.
Click the thumbnails below to view larger
images:
Model and Text Copyright ©
2003 by Steve Palffy
Images Copyright © 2003 by
Brett Green
Page Created 27 October, 2003
Last Updated
17 March, 2004
Back to
HyperScale Main Page
Home |
What's New |
Features |
Gallery |
Reviews |
Reference |
Forum |
Search
