I managed to get my hands on the new Takom limited edition boxing of the new 1/35 PLA ZTZ-100 tank with the ZRY-222 unmanned combat ground vehicle (UCGV) & robot wolves. I ordered it from China, as it’s not yet available in global hobby stores.
This limited-edition boxing includes extra 3D-printed parts and digital camo masks for the tank.
No paint call-outs in the instructions, and no poly-caps for the roadwheels . But other than that, it looks to be a great kit of this very futuristic-looking (light?) tank, with its unmanned turret, clean angular design, multitudes of sensors and cameras, and digital camo scheme.
Looks very interesting. What are the 3D printed parts? Alternative to plastic parts or additional parts? If they are alternative, are they really superior to plastic ones?
Yes, certainly. The upgrade parts of the APS. some kind of sight or sensor at the base of the main gun, etc., with more detail, wires, etc. Of course, you could likely add those extra details yourself with the right reference, but to speed up the build process, they are useful parts to have.
If you don’t want to order from mainland China via ebay or AliExpress, I’d highly recommend the Hobbyeasy in Hong Kong. HobbyEasy | PLA ZTZ-100 + ZRY-222 UCGV & "Combat Wolves" combo - shipping is going to be more than getting it from the mainland but they are a reputable hobby store and I buy a lot of aftermarket from there as shipping costs for smaller packages to Canada are reasonable.
To tell the truth, I’ve bought the box of the robots on Aliexpress. Quick, no mailing fees.
But I was deluded because the offer was ambiguous, they showed the image of the whole set and the price of its cheapest part, the robots. They wrote that it was strongly discounted, but at the end the price was the right one.
Really, I was mainly interested into the tank and the painting masks. I didn’t want to send back the robot kit, and I can still buy the tank separately, but the lack of masks that are given as bonus in the combined box bothers me.
I would strongly suggest getting the Takom kit, not the Border kit. Border have totally screwed up too many models to be reliable. I have stopped buying Border kits entirely.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that on many AliExpress stores the way items that have multiple options are set up, you can often buy the cheaper “wrong” item by mistake. It’s possible either Takom or someone else will release the 3D printed upgrades separately and I am sure they’ll be an aftermarket masking set from someone like Galaxy Models for the standard boxing of the tank.
Yes, I’m sure that Galaxy will do it. But at the end the cumulative price of the base tank and of the masks is more or less the same of the special edition with robots, masks and 3D printing.
To tell the truth, I would have preferred 3D Chinese tankers instead of improved versions of parts that are already provided in plastic.
The price included the mailing in Italy.
. But other than that, it looks to be a great kit of this very futuristic-looking (light?) tank, with its unmanned turret, clean angular design, multitudes of sensors and cameras, and digital camo scheme.
