Infantry Tank Matilda MK III/IV "Red Army"

Manufactured by Tamiya

Kit Number 30355

1/35 Scale

 

 

Wikipedia gives the following background on Red Army Matildas: "The Red Army received 918 of the 1,084 Matildas sent to the USSR. The Soviet Matildas saw action as early as the Battle of Moscow and became fairly common during 1942. Unsurprisingly, the tank was found to be too slow and unreliable. Crews often complained that snow and dirt were accumulating behind the "skirt" panels, clogging the suspension. The slowness and heavy armour made them comparable to the Red Army's KV-1 heavy tanks, but the Matilda had nowhere near the firepower of the KV. Most Soviet Matildas were expended during 1942 but a few served on as late as 1944. The Soviets modified the tanks with the addition of sections of steel welded to the tracks to give better grip, and redesigned the turret in order to fit a F-32 anti tank gun." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matilda_II

 

Tamiya's new kit is an update of their previous Matilda, and consists of the following:

1. 10 Green coloured sprues
2. 1 Sheet of decals
3. I sheet of highly detailed instructions
4. I sheet of history of the Red Army Matilda

 Upon inspection no visible flash can be seen on the parts but that will be revisited upon the full build. The parts for this kit are very detailed on each sprue. 

The differences from the previous Matilda kit include: new tracks, new side armor plates, covered stowage bins (without the vent slots), new crew figures, and decals.   

 

 

Instructions 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Detailed history

 Sprue A x 2

Sprue C 

Sprue D 

 Sprue F x 4

Sprue G 

 Upper Hull Sprue

Decal Sheet

 

This kit got me excited as this is the first kit by Tamiya with individual links. Having worked with the older Tamiya kits that have link-and-length tracks, these ones seem to be the easier ones to work with and build.

 

Highly Recommended( Pending Full Build)

 

Thanks to Tamiya USA for this review Kit.

 

Reviewed by Graham Ross

                        Southwestern Ontario AMPS

 

If you liked this review, consider joining AMPS. Your annual membership includes six copies of AMPS's magazine, Boresight, and helps to support our ongoing reviews.