Takom 1:16 Pz.Kpfw.1 Ausf. A

The latest large scale kit from Takom is the 1:16th scale Pz.Kpfw.1 Ausf. A as represented here in this new kit.  The early vehicles were used as training tools for the German Army as well as serving in front line positions in a couple proxy wars, such as the Spanish Civil War and a few vehicles in the Chinese Army during the initial conflicts with Japan.  This kit seems to represent a late model A, with armored engine vents, later model tracks with solid track horns and several other indicating features, like the number of gas hatches on the engine deck.

So lets get into what's in the large box, starting with the box itself. In addition to the image below one side of the long box shows a sprue breakout and the other long side shows 2 of the 4 paint and marking options included in the kit

The instructions come in a nice booklet form with line drawing front and back covers.  Inside there are 22 steps of construction across 13 pages.  There is a 2 page full color spread of the 4 marking choices with call-outs to Mig Ammo colors.  The choices are 2 tanks from the Polish campaign, one from France 1940 and a DAK vehicle from Libya 1941.  The cover also has a brief history of the vehicle.

The instructions themselves look like typical Takom style, clear if somewhat busy at times drawings.  In the past I've had problems with Takom's lack of verbiage when there are optional parts to choose from but that isn't an issue here.  It seems like there are few if any points where you have options to consider.

There is also another page showing the breakdown of kit contents.  I couldn't find the parts count but excepting the tracks, it doesn't look like an overwhelming number

On to the plastic:

One general observation. Each sprue has it's letter as a punched out silhouette.  This makes finding the right sprue much easier.  Also, most sprues have some parts slide molded for extra detail on more sides.  This is also appreciated.  

Sprue A (of which there are two) is mostly road wheels and the like.  Each road wheel consists of the spoked center and 2 rims.

One side of each road wheel seems to have, in addition to nice casting marks on the spokes, a lot of ejector pin marks. It will be interesting to see how easily these clean up.  There is other nice detail, like the Continental marking on the return rollers

Sprue B (also 2 of these) has more suspension parts such as the larger idler wheel.

Sprue C only one of these.  This one has most of the upper hull parts.  Lots of nice detail, screw heads and bolts and slide molded fenders.  It looks like the upper hull will be built of individual plates put on the frame.  It looks like there are plenty of holes for vision ports, but I'm not seeing much interior detail.

Sprue D has the fenders (molded as one giant piece) and more hull details.  There isn't much detail on the underside of the fenders, but many ejector pins and those breakaway tabs. This really starts to give you a sense of the size of the tiny tank.

Sprue E One of these with more detail parts, tools and slide molded barrels, which look ok

Tracks  18 little mini sprues of individual links and another 9  sprues of track-pins.  Detail looks good and clean-up should be easy.  Hopefully assembly is also pain free.

There are also other parts that were packed separately.  The giant bathtub style hull, the engine deck, and the turret. Again there's a lot of detail, bolds, screwheads and the like.  The bottom of the hull is nicely detailed as well.

There's a small sprue of clear parts for headlights, which have nice detail

You also get a copper wire for the cable and a little PE fret with covers for the exhausts

The last piece is the decal sheet, markings for the four vehicles shown above. The carrier film looks pretty thin and the printing looks like the registration is good.  Given the large scale here it might be advisable to trim your markings a little to minimize any silvering

So initial impressions are encouraging.  It looks like a fairly simple build in a scale I've never worked in before.  Despite some ejector pin marks that will probably need to be cleaned up, I don't see any flash or other problems. The major components  all seem to be square and unwarped.  I'm excited to begin this big little tank.

Highly Recommended for Beginner to Advanced builders, pending Full Build.

Thanks goes out to Takom for this review kit.

Reviewed by Dave Mckenny

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