Sunday, December 23

Hobbyboss' brace of new kits for January 2019 (already?)

We wait for Hobbyboss to show us the sprues before we preview their latest every month. Just arrived are the sprues, box art, colours & everything else in the boxes of their latest two releases for our January 2019...

Two new WWII kits in 35th scale - one from each side in January from Hobbyboss

Pz.Kpfw.VI Sd.Kfz.182 Tiger II (Henschel 1944 Production) w/ Zimmerit
Model:# 84531
1/35th scale
In early October 1942, plans for production of the VK 45.03 were reviewed,Initially two designs were provided, one by Henschel and one by Porsche. Both used a turret design from Krupp; the main differences were in the hull design, transmission and suspension.
The Henschel version used a conventional hull design with sloped armour resembling the layout of the Panther tank. It had a rear mounted engine and used nine overlapping road wheels per side, mounted on transverse torsion bars, in a similar manner to the original Tiger. To simplify maintenance, however, the wheels were overlapping rather than interleaved as in the Tiger
Henschel won the contract, and all Tiger IIs were produced by the firm. Two turret designs were used in production vehicles. The initial design is sometimes misleadingly called the "Porsche turret" due to the belief that it was designed by Porsche for their prototype. In fact, this turret was simply the initial Krupp design for both prototypes. This turret had a rounded front and steeply sloped sides, with a difficult-to-manufacture curved bulge on the turret's left side, to accommodate the commander's cupola. Fifty early turrets were mounted to Henschel's hull and used in action. The more common "production" turret, sometimes called the "Henschel" turret, was simplified with a flat face, no shot trap (created by the curved face of the initial-type turret), less-steeply sloped sides, and no bulge for the commander's cupola.
The track system used on the Tiger II chassis was a unique one, which used alternating "contact shoe" and "connector" links—the contact shoe link had a pair of transverse metal bars that contacted the ground, while the connector links had no contact with the ground.
The Tiger II was developed late in the war and made in relatively small numbers. Like all German tanks, it had a gasoline engine. However, this same engine powered the much lighter Panther and Tiger I tanks. The Tiger II was underpowered, like many other heavy tanks of World War II, and consumed a lot of fuel which was already in short supply.
Length: 289.9mm   Width: 107.3mm   
21 sprues, upper hull, lower hull and turret
The kit consists of over 900 parts
multi-slide moulded lower hull, turret
individual tracks
zimmerit included
photo-etched parts included



M3A1 late version tow 122mm Howitzer M-30
Model:# 84537
1/35th scale
The White M3A1 Scout Car first produced in 1938, Initially, the scout car was primarily used by armoured and reconnaissance units. But it was more suited to road use than cross-country terrain, During the war, the M3A1s were rarely used in the dangerous role of scout vehicles. Trial versions included the M3A1E1 with a diesel engine, the M3A1E2 with an armoured roof, and the M3A1E3 mounting a 37mm (1.46in) gun on a rotating pedestal. 
Nearly 21,000 were built and the M3, known as the White scout car, was supplied in large numbers under Lend-Lease to the Soviet Union and to Free French forces. After the war, surplus vehicles were exported to nations in Israel and elsewhere, where they often served for many years.
The vehicle could carry a crew of eight and was armed with a .50 M2 machine gun in the front and two .30 1917 Brownings positioned in the rear. All three guns were mounted on a continuous skate rail and could bring down a lot of fire on a target.
Length: 407.4mm   Width:74 mm   
16 sprues and tires
Metal Parts     gun barrel
The kit consists of over 600+ parts
-the kit w/refined detail
-Main tires with very good detail
-Metal gun barrel
-Photo-etched parts for engine fan etc.

These brand new kits from Hobbyboss will be available in your local hobby shop in the next week or so. See the Hobbyboss Website for more info