Tristar's 1/35 Panzer I Ausf. A By Don Barry

The Panzer Mk I

Brief History: "After the end of World War I, Germany was not allowed to produce any armored machinery besides the minimum of armored cars for the army and police. The Panzerkampfwagen I Ausf. A (Sd.Kfz 101) was the first German tank to go into mass production since World War I. Both 7.92 mm MG 13 machine guns were mounted co-axially in the turret. The first complete Pz.Kpfw. 1A were issued in September, 1934. At the beginning of world War II, the Pz.Kpfw 1A was scattered throughout all the Panzer units. It was used extensively in Poland and France, and was issued to Pz-Abt 40 which took part in the invasion of Denmark and Norway. From late 1940 until 1941, the PzKpfw 1A was withdrawn from units in the main combat areas."

The Kit

This kit consists of 14 sprues of medium tan styrene, 1 clear sprue, 1 small photo-etched fret, and decal options for 4 early and 2 late versions. Parts total works out to be 584, with 12 marked not for use. The instructions are 2 sheets, tri-folded, totaling 13 assembly steps. Alternate parts are called out for either early or late versions in virtually every step, so pick one and take care.
A brief synopsis shows steps 1 and 2 covering the transmission, driver's controls, lower hull floor and sides.
Steps 3 and 4 cover wheel construction, suspension, and construction of the tracks, supplied as separate links. These are molded so that the sprues enter from the front and back, facilitating removal and cleanup.
Step 5 finishes the lower hull, while 6 and 7 cover engine buildup and installation.
Step 8 covers upper hull interior and exterior fittings and installation, while steps 9, 10, and 11 finish the upper hull, engine deck, fenders and other details.
Step 12 deals with the turret, both interior and exterior, and step 13 covers all the final details. Paint color references throughout call for Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo paints. The opaque, well registered decals are supplied by Cartograph.

Overall, I am very impressed with this kit. Details throughout are crisp and well rendered. A very nice yet subtle cast texture is present on transmission and engine block. Separate inner and outer rims on the bogie and idler wheels improve their appearance. This reviewer found minimal to nonexistent flash throughout the kit. Ejector pin marks, where present, are confined to hidden surfaces, and shrinkage marks are conspicuous in their absence. Looking closely, one sees petite, delicate welding beads along the edges of the upper hull superstructure, although not on the turret . The individual track links are totally flash free on this sample, and as stated earlier, the location of the sprue attachment points on their mating surface preserves end detail that can be lost during removal. Close trimming with fine-edged nippers should suffice for cleanup. There is a wealth of detail in other areas as well. The tubes on the radiator, cooling fins on the engine heads, multi-part turret machine guns, delicate bolt detail on the final drives, the list goes on.

Conclusion

I highly recommend this kit, without reservations. It may seem a bit pricey at first, however if the builder wishes to have complete interior detail, doing so with after-market options would greatly exceed the cost of this kit. The large size of the hatches will make all this interior easily visible. There's a lot to like on this diminutive tank, add it to your collection. I would like to thank MRC for the review kit.