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Hi all i've been waiting eagerly before christmas to get my hands on this kit and now that i have iam very very impressed, there are photos included in this review also, so here goes.
Before this kit from Trumpeter Dragon were the only ones who manufactured this kit however the differences between the TR kit and the DR kit is vast, firstly TR are the only ones to provide the railway cars as part of the kit, secondly the detailing on the TR kit far Outstrips The DR kit in every capacity. The TR kit is huge the box dimensions are 25ins, 13.5ins, 6.75 ins, inside the main box there are three smaller boxes which contain the upper and lower hulls, the vynal tracks, 2x Photo etch sprues poly caps for the wheels, track and road way sections, 17 beige plastic sprues and a small bag containing springs and axles as well as on 40 page instruction booklet and good quality decals, all in all 1251 parts. The instructions have clear exploaded view drawings of every single part of the construction.

The standard of the molded plastic is excellent with beautiful detailing, which for the ivet counters is 100% accurate to the real thing. TR have obviously went to great lengths to ensure complete accuracy here, you also have the opportunity to build this kit in firing mode as well as travelling mode somthing you don't get from the DR kit. The TR kit comes with seperate axles which can be raised for travelling or lowered for firing. The upper hull at the front by the drivers compartment contains the instrument panel which is correct in every detail with all the proper levers and foot pedals, which are very basic in the DR kit all of the side walkways can be positioned in the raised or lowered position and the tread pattern detail is excellent. The detail in the TR kits gun cradle is incredible and has been designed exactly like the real thing, this is so it can be removed for road transport just like the real thing. With the TR kit you get the option of the 54 cm and the 60 cm gun tubes with internal rifling tubes that look fantastic you also get the different mounting collars for each gun calibre.

Springs are included in the kit so you can add realistic gun recoil again somthing not in the DR kit although one minor problem here is that the springs are too small for the recoil bolts, however this is easily remedied as as trumpeter will provide you with the correct springs. The shells that are provided in the TR kit is simply the best i've seen without buying resign. The railway cars as i have stated earlier are individual kits in there own right but the amount of detailing is astounding both intricately and delicately molded and they fit beautifully together, again these arn't in the DR kit. The arms asssembly is very straight forward and again with excellent detail the arms only add to the overall impressivness of the kit, also provided with the railway cars is the connecting rods that join both trucks when the Karl is not being carried.

In one of the smaller boxes is the road and track sections including the sleepers these sections incorporate the full length of the Karl whilst it is in travel mode attached to the railway cars and is around 1metre long. It can be mounted on it's own or as i will be doing attaching it to the kreigslocomotve with added wagons, the decal sheet markings are in both white and black for the vehicles Thor, Loki, and Ziu, included in the decal sheet is the decals for the railway cars also. There is also two colour scemes which are German grey and three tone camouflage e.g dark yellow, dark green and red brown. All in all this is the most highly detailed kit i've ever built it is a kit that goes together so well that there is very little or no use of filler and as stated the kit is 100% accurate to the real thing, somthing that some TR kits have been slated for in the past. The kit costs around the £99.99 mark and is worth every penny of that and i highly recomend it as an addition to your collection as it builds nto a most impressive kit, thereis also scope for adding those finer details to make this a totaly impressive kit.

Pictures will follow.
scott

Wow, love it. That will take you till Christmas to paint and weather, im sure. Looking forward to seeing this progress.

Andy