Great reviews Wade!
Just curious since I have the airfix cromwell and your comment on the rear hull being wong. Would you know where I can find the post?
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Mark, thank you.
Sure! Please see Ryan’s post, @Tank_1812 in both threads for details and line drawings.
tamiya-cromwell-wip: engine deck
best-tank-that-never-was-part-3: Airfix looks to be the same as Tamiya’s
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Wade’s World Review: Takom Pz III ausf N #8005
[The Modelling News: Construction review: Takom's Panzer III Ausf.M mit Schürzen in 35th scale]
missinglynx: takom-s-new-pz-kpfw-iiiausf-n-with-winterketten
3 Price MSRP $41, Typical Online Vendor $33, paid ~$23 special
Pricing proved too good to be true for a Quality 2020 new tool & molded kit.
3 Instructions Small, difficult to read, inexact, disappointed 
2 Molding Quality Lots of flash, warped parts, some sink marks but with crisp detail!
If the molded detail had been less impressive, this kit would have been pitched into the trash bin due to it’s sloppy imprecise fit with parts in the first three steps.
1 Plastic Quality Very soft, Tamiya Extra Thin proved too aggressive even used sparingly.
Tested plastic making Sprue-Goo with shavings and it was the worst soft low quality Sprue-Goo, I’ve ever made or used.
3 Parts Clean Up Parts could have been better optimized for easier clean up
3 Ease of build Kit built like it was rushed through development by skipping test shots. Flash back (pun intended) to building 1980’s MiniCraft.
Takom molded the upper hull with two attachment points/ injection marks on the TOP of the hull. Seems both could have been moved slightly, say 4mm closer to the turret ring. Then the turret would hide them. Instead Takom gaves the modeler more issues to clean up.
The cupola builds up very nicely and is outstanding.
1 Accuracy - It looks wrong because it is wrong. See missinglynx thread at top of this post for detailed discussion of the dimensional issues of this kit.
1 Fit 
Takom’s road wheels don’t actually fit together. The inner wheel A16 needs the pegs sanded down to allow the wheel to fit together! Once fixed the wheels have the same sloppy imprecise fit as the suspension.
There is definitely a trend with the problem parts, almost all of them are from the two A sprue trees.
A parts with minor fit issues:
A11 & A16 the road wheels
A19,A20,A21 & A22 the torsion bar suspension arms
A41 & A42 fender supports
It’s like the last round of test shot adjustments for A wasn’t made.
The skirts went on with German Mercedes Benz precision. Takom really got this critical part of the model right.
Smoke grenade racks had a lot of slop and the part can be canted like 15 degrees and still fit in the location. Take care to align as desired.
the turret skirt came up about 1/8 inch to 3mm too short and the front edges hit the smoke grenade discharger!
It was instantly obvious what the problem was: those two long attachment supports in middle of the inside face of part J hit the stowage box.
Snipped 2mm off of both tabs on part J. Best trimmed in small adjustments. Resolved the fit issue.
5 Doesn’t Require Aftermarket It’s serviceable as is. Aftermarket tracks would be a nice but aren’t necessary.
MG’s are slide molded…sweet!
Plus an extra housing if one prefers an Aber brass MG.
4 Details built Out of the Box the kit has potential as an OOTB build.
28 of 50 points
28/50 => 56%
Bottom line - I didn’t like building this kit but it paints up nicely once assembled.
Not Recommended.
When there’s a need or desire for a newer, imperfect, fault, flaw filled, inaccurate 1/35 AFV model to build the Takom Pz III ausf N is a good choice.
YMMV
BTW - the Takom upper hull fits pretty well on the Tamiya lower hull…
Looks nice once assembled…
…painted and weathered…
7 Likes
Wade’s World Review: Tamiya Panzer III ausf N w/PE & metal main gun #35290
2 Price $77 MSRP, $65 Online Discounted, pretty spicy for what’s in the box.
IIRC, purchased at a mom & pops hobby shop in Pitman, New Jersey after a work related move for $53 in early 2009.
5 Instructions Clear, concise & correct. However, references will be needed to build anything remotely close a modern 21st era 1/35 Pz III ausf N
4 Molding Quality No mold shift, no short shots, no sink marks, very little flash to speak of, very good quality. However, due to the majority of the kit being from the 1990’s it’s a bit soft and not as crisp as modern molded kits.
5 Plastic Quality Normal top notch we expect from Tamiya.
4 Parts Clean Up Parts are well optimized for easier clean up. Low parts count helps too.
5 Ease of build Goes together very well with no fuss even detailing and adding various fiddly bits. The kit is a basically a cake walk to build. There’s punch marks etc to clean up. Great kit to introduce working with basic photo-etch to new modelers.
The suspension alignment was perfect and tight as installed no adjustment required. Checked with straight edge and glass desk top being level.
Outstanding, joy to build, kits like this are why model building is FUN in my opinion.
2 Accuracy back in the day a 3 or 4 but this kit is well behind today’s standards with what’s in the box. Lot’s of missed weld seams on hull and turret plus hooks are simplified. Basic dimensions look OK to my Mark 1 
eyeball.
Needs love from the builder and the kit responses very well to the time and attention. Built & detailed this kit in less time that it took to build the Takom basically out of the box.
The cupola sucks and isn’t up to the standard of the rest of the kit in my opinion.
5 Fit Precision, head ache free
1 Doesn’t Require Aftermarket I couldn’t be happy with this kit unless the new vinyl tracks were replaced and some aftermarket fiddle bits like Aber MG’s & antenna added. The kit tracks need replacement for most to be happy in 2020 with the kit. That will add to the cost of an already expensive kit.
2 Details built Out of the Box the kit has some potential as an OOTB build but the details will be very lacking. This would reduce visual appeal to a noticeable degree in my opinion.
35 points out of 50
35/50 => 70%
Recommended with reservations The model builds well but has been surpassed in general.
Would you buy this kit again?
No, I’d buy a cheap generic Tamiya Pz III kit and use the lower hull with Takom’s Pz III upper hull and do a kit bash.
9 Likes
Wade’s World Review: Dragon Neo #5 Pz III ausf N #6956
This Track Link - Dragon Neo #5 Pz Ill Ausf N - Tunisia review is well worthwhile if interested in this kit.
Dragon had some hilarious box art but it was corrected. Note the modern jerry cans on the rear of the tank.
3 Price $104 MSRP, $87 Online Vendor, Paid ~$81 in 2021 in a moment of impulsive shopping.
Basically this Neo kit has new plastic link and length tracks (2020) plus a new interior (2020 parts). It also has some basic PE and a jerry can rack with three jerry cans.
With the new plastic and interior felt the kit deserved some consideration on the high price.
0 Instructions = failure
Dragon has 3 three trees labeled A , two are alike and wheels etc the 3rd A tree is totally random collection of parts. Naturally Dragon interspersed use of the three A tree parts. Dragon also included two different trees label B
The hull doesn’t fit together because the poor instructions omitted the step where the lower hull has to be modified by trimming away plastic. Some other Dragon Pz III kit do cover this but it was omitted for this kit.
One PE part referenced not included.
5 Molding Quality Excellent quality, no sinkmarks or short shots etc.
The fender moldings are exquisite top & bottom, well thought out and don’t required much clean up. World Class A++ in Wade’s World 
To put it mildly Dragon schooled every manufacturer on how to do a nice fender! A+++
5 Plastic Quality Normal top notch
3 Parts Clean Up
The exterior face of the turret has EIGHT punch marks. Really sad given how well designed and planned many of the other parts were.
The Notek light is exactly the opposite of world class. Near bottom barrel molding design running the sprue gate into the delicate edge detail.
If the link and length tracks are used, punch marks need to be removed. I used an aftermarket set of plastic individual links from Ryefield Model’s.
4 Ease of build
Suspension fit together very well which was nice after the Takom Pz III ausf N.
While the hull fit had an issue that was due 100% to poor instructions not kit design.
5 Accuracy Items can be improved but overall it’s excellent. Other modeler’s have mentioned the dimensions were spot on with their references from Jentz & Doyle.
5 Fit the kit fits well the jerry cans not so much due to an error with the PE. This can be side stepped by removing the alignment pins.
While annoying it’s fixable.
4 Doesn’t Require Aftermarket what’s in the box is pretty good but there’s lots of potential improvements with an Aber brass antenna, Aber brass MG’s and aftermarket individual link tracks.
5 Details built Out of the Box the kot has a lot of potential with the interior as an OOTB build.
39 out of 50
39/50 => 78%
Best points: Crisp molding, excellent details, excellent fit of major components, some accessories included.
Worst points: Punch marks on Turret face, terrible instructions, , overall mediocre engineering, punch mark covered link & length tracks.
Would I buy this $87 Dragon kit again? NO
Recommended as I think most will like the level of detail, accept the unfun build experience with good grace, tolerant Dragon’s lousy instruction sheet and be happy with the end result.
8 Likes
Really? you do suprise me… 
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I would have questioned anything higher. Dragon does a horrible job with multiple run kits for the examples listed. Great for the spare bin parts but less ideal for figuring out which parts are needed. On the T-34 you have to count bolts to know which is for the build.
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I’ve found that they build up really nice levels of detail and once complete, look great.
But you need a PhD in visualisation in order to interpret the instructions.
Far too much like hard work and I’ll never be buying another Dragon kit.
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@Khouli Roly, thank you for taking the time to read the review. I agree with your take on Dragon.
Dragon would be world class if the instruction sheets were on par with their competitors. Once upon a time in the early 1990’s their instructions were pretty good.
Promised Kali-Kat, not to award negative scores. As editor she ensures reviews accurately reflect my building experience with a given kit.
Sadly my experience with building Dragon kits is pretty unpleasant 
. That doesn’t occur with other manufacturers kits even when super detailing or kit bashing.
One last Dragon Tiger arrives in a few days. My stash has several Dragon kits but I really don’t look to buy another Dragon kit for a very long time.
2 Likes
I have a different Dragon Panzer IIIN.
I can’t figure out which Aber MGs go with it…
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FYI
BTW
Back to regularly scheduled programming…
WWR: Academy Panzer III ausf L (tp) North Africa #13531
4 Price MSRP $68, Online Retail $55, paid $55, it’s high but you get what you paid for a fun model to build.
5 Instructions are best in class 
Academy even suggests the best assembly sequence! Quality instructions? That’s definitely something I’ve NEVER seen in a Dragon kit. A++ Academy.
Academy clearly shows the modeler what needs modified at the start when the modeler decides on which version to build.
3 Molding Quality It could be crisper. Quality is very good.
4 Plastic Quality It’s good but a little soft for my preference. Used the hot Tamiya Extra Thin sparingly before switchto the milder Testors Liquid Cement
5 Parts Clean Up best in class
Really cool that Academy only needed two attachment gates where most others use four. The wheels are very well engineered with NO mold seam on tires. Pretty shocked Academy pulled that off!
Cleaning road wheels took over five hours on the Dragon Pz III Ausf N. These road wheels were cleaned to the same standard in 45 minutes for the Academy kit.
5 Ease of Build best in class
Better Tamiya experience than Tamiya.0p
3 Accuracy It’s good but the details aren’t as crisp. B24 absolutely knocked the breath out of me on this fantastic kit. Ejat a gaudy solution and looks it.
5 Fit best in class Meticulous part clean up rewards with perfect fit.
3 Doesn’t Require Aftermarket Some will be happy out of the box but the model benefits from aftermarket tracks. The kit link & length tracks were unappealing to me so I used Ryefield’s. Likewise, the MG’s are replaced wirh Aber brass.
4 Details built Out of the Box
The model has out of the box potential for contests in my opinion but will benefits from additional attention. The PE engine deck screens are very nice and the kit PE smoke grenade launchers chains are an excellent touch.
41 points out of 50
41/50 => 82%
Enthusiastically recommended for modelers looking for a great build experience that don’t mind the price premium.
In short, a fantastic build experience to savor.
5 Likes
Phil, I like these for the hull mounted MG 34 Andy’s HHQ- Aber German Tank MG 34 machine guns (Universal Set)
For the turret MG Ebay: Aber 1/35 Tank MG34 Tips Barrels x 5, L-83 Aber 1/35 Tank MG34 Tips work very well in my experience. Aber L-83
The ebay link should also list the hull mg barrels.
There may be some more technically correct parts from Master but the Aber parts are in my opinion excellent upgrades from the typical kit parts.
1 Like
That’s the best laugh I’ve had in a long time.
Yes, I know this kid’s name - does anybody else? So I guess I am now OLD?
Ken
5 Likes
Maybe just old (60+) like myself, without the boldface(70+), italics (80+), both (90+)
I remember when that was a brand new TV advertisement back in 1972!
Details Life Cereal Advertisement
WWR Das “Takom” Werks SuperBlitz Late Panther G, DW35041
5 Price ~$24.99 via Pre-order at Andy’s HHQ, incredible 
price
4 Instructions - The instructions are excellent, however I believe all of the paint schemes are suspect and accuracy should be verified. Basically the kit is a MHN production tank and all of the artwork depicted is paint and camo patterns for Damiler Benz or some other manufacturers. I don’t have the appropriate references with me on the road to verify. Folks interested in such hair splitting should enjoy this missinglynx: takom-s-new-super-blitz-is-a-panther-g-late discussion.
I also feel that building the upper hull as shown in the instructions then fitting to the lower hull adds unnecessary risk to breaking detail parts. I skipped around in the instructions far more than typical due to that. Likewise with the the turret assembly.
5 Molding Quality - B tree has a little fuzz on some parts. It’s too fine to call flash.
5 Plastic Quality - The soft plastic is excellent and easy to work with.
5 Parts Clean Up - No sinkmarks or short shots. Some punch marks to clean up etc. Lot of attachment points to remove, fair amount of mold seams. However, it’s all very easy clean up as the plastic is soft, sand or scrapes well with the back of a hobby blade.
4 Ease of Build - goes together without problems but care and attention to details in instructions are important
5 Accuracy - How hair splitting do we want to get? I don’t like the bolts on the wheels they look like rivets to me. I think the color schemes have an inaccuracy. Yet the kit hits the majority of specific details for a late panther. The Missing Lynx thread addresses most specific accuracy concerns for which weeks of 1945 production at MHN the kit best matches etc.
4 Fit - The fit is outstanding. However, I did have to hold parts in place with tape to keep good alignment until cement set. I almost never have to do this so this kit gets a 4 despite everything fitting near perfect.
4 Doesn’t Require Aftermarket - the kit needs an antenna, the MG’s aren’t slide molded, so Aber MG barrels are a nice addition likewise Aber brass antenna.
5 Details built Out of the Box - this kit is a Natural Born Killer for the out of the box category at IPMS/USA style model contest’s.
There’s two sets of mufflers and mantlets etc in the box so a hard core contest modeler’s could build two different looking builds quickly. One for OOTB and one for Axis.
46 points out of 50
46/50
Highly Recommended Kit. I found the model a joy to build almost on par with the Ryefield Model’s KV-1 1942 which is the most enjoyable model kit I’ve ever assembled.
Despite the fast build nature of the kit, this one could be fun to get stupid with Quick Track hollow guide tooth tracks, Ryefield’s infrared light and engine accessories etc.
Mikey died from Pop Rocks.
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mixed them and 
I’m only 41 but know of this because of my mom so I guess I’m edging into the old realm.
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Perhaps one of the most persistent rumors of the pre-internet era.
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