TAKOM WWI Heavy Battle Tank Mark IV Male Model Kit (1/35 Scale)

Good detail. Heavy and well constructed. In my opinion: the best of the MK IV models available. Worth the wait for the lengthy shipping from Japan.

I'm always glad to see a new brand making a wave in miniature world.I wish I can say "This will compete with big brands like Tamiya."But sadly, Takom shot itself in the foot at the starting line.Though I'm a WWII armor guy, I always wanted a Mk IV.Why wouldn't I? It's the origin of all tanks.In fact, the world "Tank" basically came from these vehicles.To hide the nature of this new weapon, British called it "water tank."Since then, an armored tracked vehicle with guns is called a "tank."Takom's Mk. IV would have stayed in history as a good kit for decades.But seriously, ONE THOUSAND PARTS just for tracks?Just go with Tamiya's Mk IV and keep your sanity.I'm kicking myself for buying this torture device.<Woes with Tracks>Fiddling with just 2 track links will take you like 30 minutes. You need to glue 4 teeny-weeny parts on 1 plate to complete just 1 link.The small parts are just barely bigger than a tip of a 0.5mm mechanical pencil.You also need to clean all 5 parts before gluing (10 gate marks or sprue burs for just one track!).At this rate, it would take 48.5 hours to clean 1,940 gates to glue 970 parts.I'm sure I can do it faster as I get used to the repetitive labor, but I doubt that I can finish it in 20 hours.I could use 3 parts only and glue the tracks immobile. It will still take like 12 hours.If Takom wanted to go with immobile direction, Takom could have made length-and-piece tracks and got rid of 52 wheels as well.The whole tank could have been assembled in 3 hours."Hobby" by its definition, is "an activity done in one's leisure time for pleasure."Takom thought a customer like me would find it "pleasurable" to clean 1,940 gate marks?That's not a hobby. That's an indentured servitude.After all that labor, would it work?Working them would be difficult, because 5 parts are so tiny, it's hard to line them up straight.Takom could have devised 2 piece tracks of their own design. Inside of the tracks are not going to be seen anyway.After I bought this kit, I found a good news.Instead of slaving away couple of weeks for iffy-working tracks, I can just spend about $17-20 and buy myself a snap-on tracks!Yes!...... or is it?As I think about it, it's like this $55 kit is taking itself a hostage to have me spend another $20.Tamiya kit is priced about the same, and I don't need to spend another 20 dollars!(You see why I'm kicking myself? Never buy stuff on impulse, read all the reviews of people who bought stuff on impulses!)(... except that I'm the one who is writing about impulse buy... I couldn't have read my own review before I bought it...)<Details>Both Takom and Tamiya are roughly equal in terms of details.Details being shoulder-to-shoulder with Tamiya is really a complement, and Takom should take it proudly.I like the aluminum barrels.One thing that bothers me is that visors are just single pieces.Tamiya's visors are two pieces each, I assume that you can make the visor-in-visor open for driving in combat.Not possible for this Takom kit.I like both kits having gun breech details. You can see them if sponson hatches are open.The real metal Mk. IV's interior was really basic. I would have been satisfied with a square engine block, 3 pipes and 2 seats.But there is no interior. Same with Tamiya.If you must have interior, Meng offers Mark V.It's slightly different from Mark IV, but Meng's kit has a complex full interior and snap-on tracks.In conclusion,1) Takom had a big defeat, when Tamiya's kit includes snap-on workable tracks for the same price (1,940 gate marks to clean vs. 0 ).2) Takom had a minor defeat, when Tamiya's visors are two-part visors (that's where small parts are important).3) Takom had a minor defeat, when Tamiya's kit included an electric motor to make it run (it's a testament to the strength of Tamiya's tracks).I don't know which company started on the Mark IV first, because both came out in the summer of 2014.Takom deserves thanks of many modellers for bringing Mk IV into the light.But I hope Takom thinks of me as a human. I'm not an assembly robot.I pay to get a few hours of fun (not 30 hours of pain).