A plain brown package just arrived from Bovvy . revealing . .
It’s the Tank Museums own limited edititon 1/35th 3D printed resin kit !
More soon. . . B.
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Nudge nudge , wink wink.
Say no more squire, say no more, say no more. A nod’s as good as a wink to a blind bat. 
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Not so “Little” as if it was Braille Scale…
In the U.K. when the movie “Free Willy” was released T-Shirts featuring the advertising logo were popular, usually with the text added: “See wearer for further details”. Certainly more friendly than that favoured by Bikers which said on the back “If you can read this, the b*tch fell off”…
Cheers,
M
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was it in a plain brown wrapper with “contains little willie inside” your wife you have been getting excited LOL
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When it’s finished does it buzz?
Design by John Thomas…
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Here we go…I went to great lengths to find this…
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That one’s just a little too excited…
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That’s what she said…
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Yeah it had to go down before it could…oh never mind, this thread’ll run & run now
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I say chaps , steady on , there may be grown ups reading this 
Moving along now , here;s more -
- Contents-
- Also , a single sided A4 sheet with a potted history and assembly pic;s.
No rear steering wheels though . This is obviously based on the current displayed exhibit .
Ho hum , research time . . .
* From tank blueprints site
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Looks like a lot of cleanup is needed, although it seems to have gone together without much difficulty.
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As I recall, the name ‘tank’ was given to early vehicles so enemy militaries would think they referred to a water-holding vessel; this is the first time I’ve seen a vehicle that truly looks like a water tank.
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Some care will be needed - the rear jack and headlights - are fairly delicate .
the tracks are almost hidden in supports but are robust and clean up well .
Now for some niggles . . .
the rear block shows some distortion , annoying .
the roof looks like it took a knock here , a little file work .
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On the left side , the upper track run is ‘short shot’.
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a tiny repair job… The surface detail finish is very good here .
Not so much the hull sections - the flat plate surfaces have print lines .
( Caused by different resin / print settings ? )
The back panels are the worst affected . - careful sanding will be needed . Use a MASK ! 
. . . So , I’ll give this an 8 out of 10 .
Rant over - Now for some build fun. . .
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Is this a new design that they have commissioned and supported through drawings and measurement access, or a repackage of the FC Model Trend item from last year?
KL
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Damnit, now I want THAT for my birthday! 
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That’s a hard no. They should have resin printed the whole thing!
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Sadly it seems like my recent 3D printed kits have had similar issues. Including Vargus. I’m starting to believe the tech just isn’t there yet to really compete with direct injection kits.
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I must say that I had high hopes , given the source of this kits providence , I.E. Bovingdon Museum , I did expect something better , and agree that the kit should have been entirely resin printed .
- There are other kits around ,
- Accurate Armour kit no. K016 - better , cheaper too.
The kit is new, from the 3D Gizmo brand. I’ve seen one made up, unpainted, and I thought it looked as good as any other 3D kit I’ve seen. That one didn’t have the slightly distorted rear piece. You should ask for a replacement part. 3D printing still has its limitations. Gizmo’s figures in 1/35 and 1/16 are very nice.
As for the rear appendage, it was removed during WW1 - but after the turret - so it is appropriate not to have it. The purpose was not steering, although the wheels did steer. It was called the Rigid Extension Member and was attached to the 4-bolt round trunnions each side of the rear hull. Its purpose was as a counterweight. Raised when going uphill and lowered when going downhill. Needed to be raised for static turns, which was awkward. Using the gear at the rear of the hull. Found to serve no useful purpose and to be an encumbrance, and not seen after the Mk I tank. And yes, the name “tank” was coined by the factory workers who though they looked like the riveted water cisterns of the day. And stuck when a name other than Landship was being sought.
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The technology is there. What’s missing is a realization that what people want most from 3D printing is not a “kit” that consists of four parts but an accurate, moderately detailed, easy to assemble, and well-engineered representation of something that can’t be found anywhere else. A printed Tamiya kit, if you will. A printed kit with the same approximate parts count as the latest Tamiya kit and T’s quality and engineering could easily be a significant improvement over its injection cousin and almost certainly no worse than a strong overall competitor.
To meet those wants the designers will have to do more research; understand what tanks look like up close and how tanks are built, the limitations of their processes, and what the term “quality control” means. It might also mean that printed kits will price themselves out of the market, but that’s not a technology issue.
The improvements are needed in the humans, not the machines. Until that happens, instead of a new sort of Tamiya kit we’ll keep getting something akin to diecasts with a machine screw holding down the turret.
KL
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